Ashburn

Chicago’s first airport, Ashburn Flying Field, was constructed here in 1916 on what it now the Scottsdale subdivision and shopping center at 79th Street and Cicero Avenue. When the airport closed in 1939, the entire Ashburn community consisted of fewer than 1,000 residents. It grew rapidly after World War II, as returning GIs took jobs in Southwest Side industries and purchased Cape Cods and ranch-style homes to raise their families. Today Ashburn is a racially and ethnically mixed community of about 40,000.

Ashburn is home to the Laredo Lanes bowling alley (3900 West Columbus Avenue) and borders the West Lawn neighborhood which includes the popular Ford City Shopping Mall and Richard J. Daley College.

Read, Learn, Discover at the Chicago Public Library. Search programming and event information at your neighborhood branch (Wrightwood-Ashburn, Scottsdale).