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Chicago's Hyde Park Neighborhood
Chicago’s most interesting neighborhood, Hyde Park, is an integrated community near Lake Michigan and The University of Chicago. It is a very short commute to Down Town Chicago and the many cultural attractions of this great city. Hyde Park’s Founder, Paul Cornell Born in 1822 of a distinguished New England family, Paul Cornell was a cousin of Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University. He came to Chicago in 1847. A lawyer and entrepreneur, he became friendly with many of the leading citizens of the rising new town. On the advice of Senator Stephen Douglas, he invested in land south of the city. In 1853 he bought 300 acres of lake front land--and named his purchase Hyde Park, after the London park. By deeding land for a right-of-way to the Illinois Central Railroad he assured connections to the city. He built a hotel and sold wealthy Chicagoans the idea of Hyde Park as a resort. Soon he was able to sell lots to some of the same people for year round houses in the new suburb, Hyde Park Village. Within ten years there were one thousand residents in the community. His holdings grew to comprise forty-eight square miles--some areas designated for manufacturing, others for lower-cost housing. This larger area, Hyde Park Township, was annexed to the city of Chicago in 1889. Among his many accomplishments, one that remains a delight to the present day is the park system Paul Cornell developed-- Jackson and Washington Parks, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. His dream of having a university in his new community came true with the founding of the University of Chicago in 1892. The gray city--the Gothic buildings of the University--arose next to the White City, the World's Columbian Exposition. Beginning the Historical Society The Hyde Park Historical Society began when a very young man, Clyde Watkins, had the inspiration to form a historical society for this very historical Hyde Park community in the 1970's. A personal narrative of his effort and the people involved in building the Hyde Park Historical Society is described in Pioneer Days of the Hyde Park Historical Society.
The small, neat brick building which houses the Hyde Park Historical Society began life as a waiting room for the cable cars serving the Hyde Park community and the World’s Columbian Exposition (1893). In 1898, no longer needed for selling tickets and waiting for the cars, it was converted to a lunchroom. Hearty breakfasts were served to workingmen every morning, by the proprietors, the Keller brothers and their wives. By 1977, the lunchroom known by then as "Steve's Lunch" was no longer in business. The newly formed Historical Society acquired the building from its owners, Robert and Lucille Rouse, and leased the land underneath from the Illinois Central Railroad. John Vinci, well-known preservationist architect, restored the interior to its original appearance, pot-bellied stove, paneling, and all. The more than 300 members maintain the building, volunteer as docents, publish an excellent newsletter, provide exhibits and programs of historical interest, maintain a web site, and support an ever-increasing archive.
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Headquarters of Hyde Park Historical Society
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