| Before you delve into what Chicago has to offer, | | | | Commissioners in 1889. |
| perhaps some information about its neighboring areas | | | | In 1892 the Bohemian Catholic Church, Our Lady of |
| will help paint a clearer picture. Chicago has many | | | | Lourdes was established at the corner of 15th & |
| influences, but none is stronger than the Polish. The | | | | Keeler, and in 1909 the Czech Freethinkers School |
| neighborhood of North Lawndale has a long history of | | | | Frantisek Palacky was built at 1525 S. Kedvale. The |
| Polish immigration. The result is a culturally rich | | | | Czech immigrants that settled there termed the |
| neighborhood with beautiful homes and tree-lined | | | | Merigold Novy Tabor (New Camp). The ultimate |
| streets. If you are considering a move to the | | | | Czech institution to come to North Lawndale in 1912 |
| Chicago area, North Lawndale is a fine choice. | | | | was the Ceska Beseda (Bohemian Club) at 3659 W. |
| Once part of Cicero Township in 1869, the eastern | | | | Douglas Blvd. Chicago's Czech elite, as well as the |
| section of North Lawndale to Crawford Avenue | | | | visiting Czech elite of the rest of the United States |
| (Pulaski Road) was annexed to Chicago by an act of | | | | and Czechoslovakia attended this club. |
| the state legislature, later streets were platted and | | | | This was the place for its refined members to |
| drainage ditches were installed between Western and | | | | celebrate and enjoy literature, drama, and music by |
| Crawford Avenue. Millard and Decker, a real estate | | | | the most celebrated and talented Czech artists. The |
| firm that subdivided the area in 1870, supplied the | | | | Bohemians spread throughout the rest of the North |
| name ÒLawndaleÓ. In 1871, after the fire, the | | | | Lawndale neighborhood and were the original owners |
| McCormick Reaper Company (later International | | | | of many of the beautiful graystone buildings that |
| Harvester) occupied a new large plant in the South | | | | graced the picturesque streets of the neighborhood. |
| Lawndale neighborhood. As a result, many plant | | | | Many of the elite members of the Bohemian |
| workers moved to eastern North Lawndale. The | | | | community resided in the vicinity of the 1800 & |
| remaining area west of Crawford Avenue was | | | | 1900 blocks of S. Millard Ave. |
| annexed by a resolution of the Cook County | | | | |