Armour Square, Chicago

Armour Square
Community area
Community Area 34 - Armour Square
Map of Armour Square
Location within the city of Chicago
Coordinates: 41°50.0′N 87°38.0′W / 41.8333°N 87.6333°WCoordinates: 41°50.0′N 87°38.0′W / 41.8333°N 87.6333°W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Cook
City	Chicago
Neighborhoods	List Chinatown Armour Square Wentworth Gardens (CHA).
Area
• Total	0.99 sq mi (2.56 km^2)
Population (2010)
• Total	13,391
• Density	14,000/sq mi (5,200/km^2)
Demographics 2010[1]
• White	12.26%
• Black	10.6%
• Hispanic	3.47%
• Asian	72.59%
• Other	1.08%
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	parts of 60609 and 60616
Median household income	$27,619[2]
Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services

Armour Square is a Chicago neighborhood on the city's South Side, as well as a larger, officially defined community area which also includes Chinatown and the CHA Wentworth Gardens housing project. Armour Square is bordered by Bridgeport to the west and Bronzeville to the east, with Pilsen and the near South Side bordering the area to the north and Fuller Park bordering its southernmost boundary along Pershing Road.

Armour Square neighborhood

Bounded by 18th Street to the north, Pershing Road to the south, the Union Pacific railroad tracks on the west and the Dan Ryan Expressway to the east, Armour Square has historically been a predominantly white, working-class neighborhood with a particularly significant population of both Italian-Americans and Croatian-Americans.^[3] With its location being immediately south of Chinatown, today the neighborhood also has a large Asian population as well.^[4] Armour Square's most recognizable landmarks are the historic Armour Square Park and nearby US Cellular Field, which sits at the southeast corner of W.35th and Shields Avenue, on the neighborhood's southernmost end. US Cellular is home to the Major League Baseball franchise, the Chicago White Sox. There are three Catholic parishes in Armour Square: Santa Lucia, St. Therese Catholic Community at 218 W Alexander St., and St. Jerome Croatian Catholic Church. The southernmost census tract in the area (3406) is 99% black or African American.^[5]

Chicago White Sox

In 1900, Charles Comiskey moved his St. Paul Saints to Chicago, where they became the team now known as the Chicago White Sox. They began play at the South Side Park on 39th Street in Armour Square, and have remained in the neighborhood ever since. No other major professional sports franchise has played in the same neighborhood longer than the White Sox.^[6] In 1910, Comiskey Park opened just 4 blocks north of South Side Park on a site that was formerly a junkyard.^[7] The Park remained the home of the Sox until 1990, when it was the oldest park in Major League Baseball.^[8] The new Comiskey Park, currently known as U.S. Cellular Field, opened in 1991 across 35th Street from the old ballpark.^[9] Comiskey Park was then demolished in 1991 and converted into a parking lot. A plaque embedded in the asphalt marks the spot where home plate was on the original field.^[10]

Chinatown

The Chinatown Gate in Chinatown, Chicago, Illinois.

Chinatown is in the near South Side (located in the Armour Square community area), centered on and around Cermak and Wentworth Avenues, and is an example of an American Chinatown, or ethnic-Chinese neighborhood.

It is not to be confused with an area sometimes called "New Chinatown", which is on the North Side around Argyle Street, and which has a larger number of Southeast Asians.

Mass transit stations

Armour Square is served by the Dan Ryan branch of the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, with stops at Cermak-Chinatown and Sox-35th.

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1930	21,450		—
1940	18,472		−13.9%
1950	23,294		26.1%
1960	15,783		−32.2%
1970	13,063		−17.2%
1980	12,475		−4.5%
1990	10,801		−13.4%
2000	12,032		11.4%
2010	13,391		11.3%
[11]

External links

• Official City of Chicago Armour Square Community Map

References

1. Paral, Rob. "Chicago Demographics Data". Retrieved 12 June 2012.
2. Paral, Rob. "Chicago Census Data". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
3. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/71.html
4. http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Armour-Square-Chicago-IL.html
5. "American Fact Finder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
6. Bova, George. "Sox Fan's Guide to Sox Uniforms". White Sox Interactive. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
7. "Beginnings". White Sox Interactive. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
8. "Reinsdorf: Rebirth And Death". White Sox Interactive. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
9. "Progress? New Comiskey Park". White Sox Interactive. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
10. "The Parking Lot". White Sox Interactive. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
11. Paral, Rob. "Chicago Community Areas Historical Data". Chicago Community Areas Historical Data. Retrieved 29 August 2012.