Hyde Park

The historic and picturesque South Side community of Hyde Park recently entered the public eye as the home of our nation’s 44th President, but the neighborhood offers much more than just Obama sites. For over 100 years, the community has been home to one of the nation's best universities, the University of Chicago. The university was a major factor in Hyde Park's birth, a history reflected by the many ivy-walled buildings and grassy quads that make up a large part of the neighborhood. Young, eager college students constitute the majority of the on- and off-campus population. With such a prominent role in the area, many attractions are affiliated with the university, like the Oriental Institute Museum, where visitors can experience a 17-foot tall statue of King Tut, a 40-ton sculpture from Assyria and other ancient Near East artifacts. The soaring, Gothic-inspired Rockefeller Memorial Chapel is another campus spot worth visiting. Admission for both the Oriental Institute Museum and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel is free.

Aside from the many sights the campus offers, Hyde Park is also home to the world-famous Museum of Science and Industry (MSI). The MSI has been delighting families and children of all ages for decades. From a replica Illinois coal mine to a captured German U-boat from World War II, the museum offers everyone a great and fun way to learn more about the world around them. The Museum is housed in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition's Palace of Fine Arts, one of the few intact structures remaining from the famed Expo. Another remnant from the World's Columbian Exposition is the mile-long Midway Plaisance, which serves as a "green bridge" connecting Washington Park and Jackson Park, a green space for University of Chicago students taking a break from the books, and an ice skating rink in the winter!

After exploring the university campus and visiting the MSI, stop in at Ragun' Cajun, a neighborhood staple that is a delicious but somewhat odd juxtaposition of two unrelated cuisines: Indian food and fried chicken, among other down-home Southern comfort foods. Serving breakfast until 4 pm, Valois is another popular neighborhood favorite frequented by none other than Hyde Park’s most famous local, President Barack Obama. Professors, students and Hyde Park residents brave the lines at the popular campus hangout, Medici on 57th, where seats are tough to snag, especially on weekends. Finally, nestled away in the unlikely locale of a strip mall is La Petite Folie, a fine-dining French restaurant owned by two University of Chicago alumni and known for their fine, exclusively French wine list.

Located throughout the city, Chicago Tribute Markers of Distinction celebrate notable Chicagoans by marking the places where they lived or worked. Hyde Park has nine markers commemorating writer Ben Hecht, lawyer Clarence Darrow, novelist Edna Ferber, physicists and peace activists Enrico and Laura Fermi, former Mayor Harold Washington, educator John Dewey, artist Lorado Taft, U.S. Senator Paul Douglas, and the women of Hull House (Jane Addams, Ellen Gates Starr, Alice Hamilton, Florence Kelley and Julia C. Lathrop).

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