![]() ![]() Their greater volume of traffic increased the commercial value of their real estate, prompting more frequent replacement of older structures with larger, newer buildings. The north-south arteries (South Halsted, South Western, South Ashland, South Blue Island), on the other hand, grew busier because they connected the city's South Side to the downtown business district. As an east-west thoroughfare surrounded by residential avenues, West 18th Street primarily served the local community. This pattern can be explained by the role of the streets within the neighborhood and larger city. While a very high percentage of buildings erected between the late 1870s and 1910 survive on West 18th Street, the other main arteries preserve only scattered structures from this period. Unlike the District's other residential streets, West 18th Street includes few cottages or single-story commercial buildings. Many structures include first-floor storefronts with apartments on the floors above. Most of these buildings along West 18" Street rise to three or four stories and share party walls. West 18th Street forms a distinctive spine for the District, boasting a high-density blend of public, commercial and domestic spaces, with numerous buildings designed to accommodate mixed uses. The major commercial arteries in the Pilsen Historic District are West 18th Street, South Halsted Street, South Western Avenue, West Cermak Road, South Ashland Avenue, and South Blue Island Avenue. Pilsen has an architectural and urban vitality and character that makes it especially notable among Chicago neighborhoods. Brick and stone are the dominant building materials in the District. Encompassing approximately 5243 buildings (4405 contributing and 838 non-contributing), the neighborhood includes cottages, back lot houses, two- and three-flats, three- and four-story apartments, hybrid commercial-residential structures, factories, churches, schools, banks, meeting halls, and parks. Many buildings reveal Baroque architectural forms and stylistic expressions carried from Europe to Chicago by the neighborhood's earliest builders and residents, Bohemian immigrants. ![]() (Image left - Boundary sketch map of the Pilsen Historic District included with the National Park Service Document) The architecture of the district is characterized by its density, variety, and lively architectural embellishments, including ornate cornices, projecting bays, variegated brickwork, and rusticated stonework. Many of the historic buildings in Pilsen were constructed in the 1880s and 1890s. ![]() Although real estate investors platted many of the streets in the 1850s, builders did not begin constructing the neighborhood until after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. ![]() The completely flat topography makes the streets' adherence to the city's rigid urban grid readily apparent. The general boundaries are Halsted Street on the east, Cermak Road on the south, Western A venue on the west, and the railroad viaduct just north West 16th Street on the north. The Pilsen Historic District is located approximately two and one half miles southwest of Chicago's downtown. Below are several pages of that public document describing the history of the Czech settlement in the Pilsen District.Ĭlick on this for the complete document in PDF format. In December of 2005, the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, published the document leading to the establishment of the Pilsen Historic District. ![]()
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