Englewood

The railroad boom of the mid-1800s contributed to Englewood’s birth, but the resettling of refugees to the city’s outskirts Great Fire of 1871 was the impetus for its growth. Englewood has seen waves of new housing construction in recent years, along with the arrival of its first new shopping center in decades and the newly-opened campus of Kennedy-King College. Students at the college’s Washburne Culinary Institute get real-life training at Sikia, an upscale African-influenced restaurant and welcome addition to the local dining scene.

Englewood: Kennedy-King College and the ‘Devil in the White City’

Written by Alan Solomon, with research assistance from the Chicago Neighborhood Tourism Project.

Englewood has been many things since its beginnings as a bog-side railroad village in the 1850s: haven for refugees who lost their homes in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, destination for immigrants of all persuasions, successful retail hub, focus of open-housing advocates and foes, unsuccessful retail hub.

This is a neighborhood that has had its ups and downs, one of those long-ago "downs" featured in a best-seller.

The devil in "The Devil in the White City" -- Erik Larson's truth-based tale of Chicago's first serial killer and the 1893 World's Fair held not far from here in Jackson Park -- was one Dr. Henry H. Holmes. His mansion of terror stood at 63rd and Wallace Streets, in Englewood.

The mansion burned more than a century ago; a post office is on the site now.

Let's move quickly to one of the "ups" -- and it's one of today.

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