Jefferson Park Overview
If you're looking for Jefferson Park homes for sale, you'll find that this Northwest Side community offers great schools and parks and is convenient to all transportation, as well as a vibrant shopping strip along Milwaukee Avenue.
The community was originally settled in the 1830's by John Kinzie Clark. He was soon joined by others, who built their first settlement near what is now the intersection of Milwaukee, Lawrence, and Higgins Avenues today.
Abraham Gale built the first frame home in the Town of Jefferson. In 1850 Jefferson Park was linked to the city by Milwaukee Avenue and Elston Plank Road. Amos Snell owned these roads and he imposed a toll to use them until 1889 when the city of Chicago annexed the town of Jefferson and the citizens happily burned down the tollbooths.
The Esdohr Family owned a farm near where the Jefferson Park field house and pool are today. They shared water from their well with residents nearby.
Growth picked up with the arrival of the Kennedy Expressway in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The CTA Jefferson Park Blue Line Terminal was completed in 1969 and has grown to over 800 buses arriving and departing daily, in addition to a steady stream of Blue Line L trains running down the center of the Kennedy Expressway, and regular Northwest Line METRA service.
Jefferson Park Homes for Sale
Older brick and frame homes and small apartment buildings are most common in Jefferson Park; however, there is a growing number of exclusive condos being constructed, enhancing the neighborhood’s appeal to those working downtown.
Using the public transportation system, downtown Chicago and The Loop is a 25-minute train ride away even during busy rush hour periods. The Kennedy Expressway itself, via the Lawrence Avenue entrance and exit ramp, provides a less than 10-minute commute from every home in the neighborhood.
Local restaurants include the very popular Gale Street Inn (great ribs – very busy during weekends), as well as many other ethnic restaurants. The historic Copernicus Center (formerly known as the Gateway Theatre) is located on Lawrence Avenue, just west of the Kennedy Expressway. It hosts a number of community and cultural activities every year, including the well-attended Jefferson Park Cultural Fest which is held each September.
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