Village of Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village adjoining to the West Side of the town/city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States.
In the 1960s, Oak Park faced the challenge of ethnic integration, devising many strategies to integrate clean water re-segregate the village, which so far are successful.
Oak Park includes three historic districts for the historic homes: Ridgeland, Frank Lloyd Wright and Seward Gunderson, reflecting the focus on historic preservation.
When the first postal service was set up, it could not use the name Oak Ridge as another postal service was using that name in Illinois, so the postal service chose Oak Park, and that name became the name for the settlement as it grew, and for the town when it incorporated in 1902. By 1850, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was constructed as far as Elgin, Illinois, and passed through the settlement area. In the 1850s the territory on which Oak Park sits was part of the new Chicago suburb, the town of Cicero.
"In 1872, when Oak Park received its own barns depot on the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, its rapid emergence as a residentiary suburb of Chicago began.
In 1877, the barns was running thirty-nine trains daily between Oak Park and Chicago; in the subsequent year, more barns s and street car lines, with increased service, came to link Oak Park and Chicago.
As Chicago interval from a county-wide center to a nationwide metropolis Oak Park period from 500 inhabitants in 1872 to 1,812 in 1890, to 9,353 in 1900, to 20,911 in 1910, to 39,585 in 1920.
Oak Park thus emerged as a dominant Chicago suburb." A review of Oak Park's history by Wiss, Janny, Elstner Associates in 2006 further explains the importance of barns s and street cars in the evolution of Oak Park: As suburban residentiary evolution continued in the 1880s and 1890s, streetcars and elevated trains supplemented the initial main line steam barns s to connect Oak Park commuters to jobs in downtown Chicago.
In the future village of Oak Park, this fitness ran east-west on Madison Street and Lake Street, with a north-south connection on Harlem Avenue.
The Lake Street Elevated Railroad (today's CTA Green Line) was extended into Oak Park in 1899 1901, although the trains ran at ground level until the 1960s.
The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (today's CTA Blue Line) was extended into Oak Park in 1905, providing small-town service over tracks originally placed by the Chicago Aurora & Elgin electric interurban train.
The Village of Oak Park was formally established in 1902, disengaging from Cicero following a popular vote.
According to the small-town historical society, "The reconstruction - 1892 1950 saw the assembly of almost all of the housing stock in Oak Park, and most of the village's current buildings." The village populace interval quickly, and "by 1930, the village had a populace of 64,000, even larger than the current population", while cherishing a reputation as the "World's Largest Village." Chicago interval quickly in the 19th century, recording 4,470 residing in the 1840 Enumeration in the place so recently a fur trading post, reaching 1,099,850 in 1890, and then 1,698,575 in 1900, passing Philadelphia to the number two spot in the US, and in that year, the fifth biggest in the world.
Chicago was well positioned on the shores of Lake Michigan for transport; after the fire of 1871, Chicago rebuilt its center and exploded with new ideas; Oak Park interval along with its neighbor to the east, having locale and barns and street car connections in its favor.
After World War II, "Oak Park was affected by larger developmental trends in the Chicago Metropolitan area.
Starting in the 1960s and 1970s, Oak Park has made a conscious accomplishment to accommodate changing demographics and civil pressures while maintaining the suburban character that has long made the Village a desirable residentiary location. Beginning in the 1960s, Oak Park faced the copy of ethnic integration with effective programs to maintain the character and stability of the Village, while encouraging integration on ethnic basis.
The company entrance of Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio in Oak Park.
In 1889, Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife settled in Oak Park.
Oak Park attracts architecture buffs and the rest to view the many Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes found in the village, alongside homes reflecting other architectural styles.
Other attractions include Ernest Hemingway's place of birth home and his boyhood home, the Ernest Hemingway Museum, the three Oak Park homes of writer and Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, Wright's Unity Temple, Pleasant Home, and the Oak Park-River Forest Historical Society.
Oak Park and River Forest High School is a elected college preliminary school, with a long list of alumni who have made primary or notable contributions to their fields of endeavor.
Oak Park is positioned immediately west of the town/city of Chicago.
The boundary between the two municipalities is Austin Boulevard on the east side of Oak Park and North Avenue/Illinois Route 64 on the village's north side.
The entire village of Oak Park lies on the shore of ancient Lake Chicago, which veiled most of the town/city of Chicago amid the last Ice Age, and was the forerunner to today's Lake Michigan.
As with the geographical setup of the Chicago River, which joins to the present day Lake Michigan just north of the city's Loop, the ancient Des Plaines river once emptied into glacial Lake Chicago, making prehistoric Oak Park a "Plains river Delta" system.
Oak Park is accessible from Chicago by service on the Green Line and the Blue Line at four stations in Oak Park.
Major east-west streets in Oak Park continue east into Chicago.
Oak Park has its own street numbering fitness that begins, for east-west streets at Austin Boulevard (no east or west designation), and for north-south streets, at the elevated train tracks positioned just south of Lake Street, which divides the numbers, getting larger going north or south from there, and requiring north or south designation on addresses.
The border streets do not follow the Oak Park numbering system; rather they match the address fitness with the metros/cities sharing those border streets.
Augusta Boulevard through the village is part of the Grand Illinois Trail; the trailhead of the Illinois Prairie Path is less than a mile from Oak Park.
With a several cycle clubs and groups, Oak Park is considered a bicycle-friendly community, and the tree-lined streets of the improve as well as its adjacency to trails in nearly communities attract cyclists to Oak Park, easily accessed by the Green Line, Blue Line, or Metra.
Divvy bike sharing, which serves the town/city of Chicago, came to Oak Park in 2016. Racial steering and block-by-block panic peddling caused rapid ethnic change on Chicago's west side, including the Austin Community Area adjoining to Oak Park.
The Village of Oak Park passed a fair housing ordinance in 1968 (in the same year as the federal Fair Housing Act) to ensure equal access to housing in the community.
In 1972, the Oak Park Housing Center was established by Roberta "Bobbie" Raymond to promote integration in the community, by ensuring equal access and discouraging white flight. Part of this accomplishment encompassed banning "for sale" signs on homes.
An evaluation of the policy in Oak Park to promote integration, written in the early years of the 21st century noted the gradual increase in the share of Village populace that is black, at 22% in 2000, and further observed '"as late as 2000 there were no resegregated census tracts, with tracts ranging from 7% black to 36% black.
These include the Oak Park Township, the high school precinct (which also levies from adjoining River Forest), the elementary school district, the library district, and the park district.
The United States Postal Service operates the chief Oak Park Post Office at 901 Lake Street and the Oak Park South Post Office at 1116 Garfield Street.
Oak Park's Village Board, Village President and other propel officials are propel through a two-stage election process.
In the 2012 Presidential Election, Oak Park had the highest voter turnout in suburban Cook County, 79.8% of registered voters cast a ballot. Municipal elections for the Board of Trustees and Village Clerk generally have much lower voter turnout, averaging around 20% and are held in spring, consistent with state law.
The enhance major schools (Lincoln, Mann, Longfellow, Beye, Irving, Holmes, and Hatch) and the middle schools, Percy Julian Middle School (formerly Nathaniel Hawthorne) and Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School are directed by the Oak Park Elementary School District. These schools are part of elementary school District 97, which regularly adopts medium-term strategic plans. Performance of schools in Oak Park as evaluated by standard statewide tests is released periodically, known as the school report cards. Oak Park is the home of two high schools: Oak Park and River Forest High School, the sole school in educational District 200, and Fenwick High School.
Oak Park and River Forest High School is a enhance school which is jointly run by Oak Park and neighboring village River Forest, and Fenwick High School is a Catholic college preliminary school run by the Dominicans.
Oak Park and River Forest High School bestows the Tradition of Excellence Award to distinguished alumni, including Ernest Hemingway, Ray Kroc, Dan Castellaneta, football Hall-of-Famer George Trafton, actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, astronomer Chad Trujillo, geochemist Wally Broecker, and surroundingal prestige Phil Radford.
Oak Park and River Forest High School is one of seven in Illinois with the ability to induct students into the Cum Laude Society.
Oak Park is home to a Park District, first organized in 1912 as the Recreation Department of the Village of Oak Park.
In the late 1980s the Recreation Department was dissolved, and the Oak Park Park District, a separate tax-levying body, was created.
It comprises thirteen parks scattered throughout the village, for a total of 80 acres (320,000 m2) of parkland, a historic home available for functions with payment of fees, the Oak Park Conservatory, and two outside pools.
Founded as a enhance library in 1903, after electing its first Board of Trustees, the Oak Park Public Library has a rich and jubilated history in Oak Park.
The library has a chief campus overlooking Scoville Park at the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street, as well as two branch libraries, the Dole Branch Library and the Maze Branch Library. As a member of the SWAN library consortium, the Oak Park Public Library offers its cardholders access to nearly 8 million items.
Providing Fire Protection and Emergency Medical Services, the Oak Park Fire Department presently operates out of 3 Fire Stations, positioned throughout the Village, Fire Station # 1 (Headquarters), Fire Station # 2 (North) & Fire Station # 3 (South) under the command of a Battalion Chief per Shift.
The Oak Park Fire Department operates 3 ALS Engines, 1 ALS Truck, 3 ALS Ambulances, 1 ALS Paramedic Squad, 1 Command Unit, and a several specialized MABAS Divisional Apparatus. Combating crime and providing safety programs in the community, Oak Park's police department is the third biggest in the state per capita. In 2011, crime had dropped 16 percent on average in Oak Park, as stated to data released at a improve forum. Oak Park has an active arts community, resulting in part from its favorable locale adjoining to Chicago (seven miles west of the "Loop").
Oak Park is home to a several experienced dance and theatre companies, including Circle Theatre, Oak Park Festival Theatre, and Momenta.
Oak Park, with neighboring River Forest, also plays host to the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, which jubilated its 75th anniversary in 2009.
Oak Park is also home to WPNA, transmitting from the former Oak Park Arms Hotel at 1490 on the AM dial since 1951.
The July 4 celebration featuring fireworks draws thousands from Oak Park as well as neighboring communities to the Oak Park-River Forest High School football stadium.
Frank Lloyd Wright spent the first 20 years of his 70-year longterm position in Oak Park, building various homes in the community, including his own and Walter Gale House.
Oak Park's housing stock reflects the decades of its rapid expansion while it was part of the town of Cicero and since 1902 when it became a village.
Historic preservation has been a before ity since an ordinance passed in 1972 and since revised. There are 2,400 historic sites in Oak Park, the majority of which are homes assembled in the Queen Anne, Prairie School and Craftsman styles of architecture. The Village of Oak Park displays these on line in an interactive web site. Three historic districts recognize the range of styles often standing next door to each other.
Oak Park and River Forest High School "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Oak Park village, Illinois".
The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest.
"RIDGELAND OAK PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form" (PDF).
"Village of Oak Park Madison Street Corridor Architectural Historical Survey" (PDF).
"Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park, Illinois (1889 1909)".
The Village of Oak Park.
"Selected Economic Characteristics: 2009 2011 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates (DP03): Oak Park village, Illinois".
"How Oak Park Became Oak Park".
Oak Park Elementary School District 97.
"2014 Illinois school report cards, Oak Park Schools".
"The Learning Community Performance Gap at Oak Park River Forest High School" (PDF).
"Oak Park Public Library".
The Village of Oak Park.
"Oak Park expands Frank Lloyd Wright historic district: Village Board redraws boundaries to include 444 more homes".
The Village of Oak Park.
Village of Oak Park.
Village of Oak Park official website Visit Oak Park Official Tourism Site for Oak Park and Western Cook County Illinois Oak Park Elementary School District Oak Park and River Forest High School Fenwick High School Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie School of Architecture Historic District Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Unity Temple Ernest Hemingway homes and exhibition Edgar Rice Burroughs homes Oak Park Conservatory Oak Park-River Forest Historical Society Pleasant Home George W.
Balch House Oak Park Arms Walter Gale House Arthur Heurtley House Oak Park Metra station Green Line (CTA) Blue Line (CTA) Around Oak Park Oak Park Journal Oak Leaves Irish American News Wednesday Journal Oak Park Festival Theatre Prominent citizens from Oak Park
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