Washington Park Subdivision

The Washington Park Subdivision is the name of the historic 3 block by 8 block subdivision in the northwest corner of the Woodlawn community area, in Chicago, Illinois that stands in the place of the original Washington Park Race Track.

Historical significance

Between 1928 and 1940 the subdivision was a hotly contested legal racial battleground. In 1928, landlords in the subdivision signed covenants that they would not rent to non-whites. The great depression decreased white demand for the properties. Landlords subdivided them and rented to blacks. This led to the Hansberry v. Lee, ussc|311|32|1940 case regarding residence at 6120 South Rhodes. The U. S. Supreme Court struck down the covenants, which led to racial succession. By 1950, the subdivision was over 99 percent black.Seligman, Amanda, "Washington Park Subdivision", Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 "The Encyclopedia of Chicago", pp. 859-860. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9] Seligman, Amanda, "Woodlawn", Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 "The Encyclopedia of Chicago", p. 886. The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9] This led to the racial transformation of the Woodlawn and Hyde Park community areas.

Location

Due to the non-rectangular shape of the Washington Park community area, the original Washington Park Race Track actually occupied the Southern two-thirds of the Washington Park subdivision, which is bounded by Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to the west, South Cottage Grove Avenue to the East, East 60th Street to the North and East 63rd Street to the South in northwest corner of the Woodlawn community area. This is the area directly south of Washington Park and both south and east of the Washington Park community area. It would be part of the Washington Park community area if the community area were to complete its logical proper rectangle. Although the prestigious track operated intermittently from 1884 to 1905, it was redeveloped by 1912 with residential subdivisions. ]

External links

* [http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_ATTACH/Community_Areas_WASHINGTON_PARK.pdf Official City of Chicago Washington Park Neighborhood Map]
* [http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_ATTACH/Community_Areas_WOODLAWN.pdf Official City of Chicago Woodlawn Neighborhood Map]

Notes