Гермоса: История и современность чикагского района

Community area in Chicago

Hermosa is one of 77 designated Chicago community areas and is located on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. The Hermosa community area contains the Kelvyn Park and Hermosa neighborhoods. The area includes the birthplace of Walt Disney and is the former headquarters of the Schwinn Bicycle Company. While being one of the smaller community areas, Hermosa is one of the city's most densely populated neighborhoods. Today, Hermosa is a predominantly Hispanic blue collar community, with a sizable manufacturing base. Many of the people who reside in Hermosa have done so because of its convenient location to work, its relative proximity to downtown, and because of its healthy public transportation options. The Consulate General of Honduras in Chicago is located in Hermosa at 4439 West Fullerton Avenue. On December 31, 2018, the Hermosa Bungalow Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Hermosa area originated as one of the many suburban crabgrass communities of Jefferson Township. The first verifiable proof of European settlement in the area occurred in the early 1880s after railroads were constructed through the area. In 1872, an extension of the Chicago and Pacific Rail Road was extended, passing through Hermosa from east to west. The Keeney Company actively promoted the growth of Hermosa and ultimately helped convince the railroad to build a station in the area, which Mr. Kenney constructed at his own expense. most of these original settlers were Scotch, German and Swedish immigrants. The first schools and churches were established in the area in the late 1880s and 1890s. but began to see rapid growth in the first two decades of the 20th century. Streetcars were extended through the community along Armitage Avenue in 1895, Fullerton Avenue in 1914, and Belmont Avenue in 1917. Schwinn had facilities in Hermosa from 1895 to 1982. The railroads also created many dead end streets in Hermosa, which isolated residents geographically from surrounding communities, but also created a sense of security. By the 1930s Hermosa's population had grown to over 23,500 residents. The area was populated primarily by Germans, Scandinavians with newer groups of Poles, Hungarians, and Austrians. The average size of households jumped dramatically in this decade, with large increases in the population of children 13 years or younger. Violent crime has subsided (in 2012 there were 5.9 violent annual crimes per 1,000 residents in Hermosa) and is now on par with the surrounding communities of Logan Square (5.5) and Avondale (5.1) and has a much lower crime rate than that of neighboring Humboldt Park (15.5), or within Chicago as a whole (10.08).

Per the 2020 Census, there were 24,062 people residing in the Hermosa community area. Per the 2016 2020 American Community Survey five year estimates, the racial makeup of the Hermosa community area was 9.9% non Hispanic White, 4.5% non Hispanic Black, 2.3% non Hispanic Asian, and 0.8% non Hispanic some other race. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 82.5% of the population. UIC's Gentrification Index classifies the Hermosa community area as a geographic region that has experienced ‘moderate decline’ over the period 1970 to 2010.

Located 6 miles northwest of the Loop, Hermosa's borders are mostly defined by railroad tracks and embankments. The Metra Milwaukee District / West Line forms Hermosa's southernmost border, at Bloomingdale Ave (1880 N). The westernmost border is Cicero Ave. (4800 W.) while the easternmost is the Metra Milwaukee District / North Line. Hermosa's northernmost border is Belmont Ave (3200 N.) Zip codes: 60639, 60641, and 60647.

While Hermosa is the namesake for the general community area, Hermosa as a community is generally defined as being the tract of land south of Fullerton (2400 N) to Bloomingdale Ave (1800 N), west of the Milwaukee District/North Line, and east of Cicero Ave (4800 W). Zip codes: 60639, 60647. Unofficially, Hermosa is generally recognized as bounded by the land north of North Ave (1600 N) and west of Pulaski Ave (4000 W).