Overview

Founded in 1884 as the company town of the United States Rolling Stock Company, Hegewisch became Chicago's most remote and isolated neighborhood in 1889. Surrounded by waterways and railroads, the community even today is mistakenly considered an independent town. In order to gain amenities that other neighborhoods seemed to take for granted, Hegewisch often went toe to toe with bureaucrats who in some instances claimed it was not even a part of Chicago due to its remote location. In the 1970s, the city allowed landfills to burgeon on Hegewisch's outskirts and then threatened to replace the entire neighborhood with an airport in 1989. The resilience of Hegewisch in the face of big business and politics has given it a history unique in the annals of Chicago and the Calumet Region.

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9781467160667

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Cynthia L. Ogorek is a public historian and native of Hegewisch. In her other Arcadia books, she has documented the history of the Calumet River system, the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad, and the Chicago South Shore & South Bend rail line, all of which ran through Hegewisch. The Southeast Chicago Historical Museum hosts most of the photographs illustrating this neighborhood's history. Also included are rare images from collections in Alabama, Ohio, and Minnesota as well as from individuals across the country.

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