Hyde Park Real Estate

Hyde Park’s Location

The Hyde Park community area is bounded by Hyde Park Boulevard (5100 south) on the north, 60th Street on the south, Cottage Grove Avenue (800 east) on the west, and Lake Michigan on the east. Hyde Park has consistently been, for over 150 years, a very desirable place to live. Just ask President Obama and his family (who, technically, live in Kenwood, about 100 feet north of Hyde Park's northern border, but we still call them Hyde Parkers).

Hyde Park’s History

In 1853 a lawyer named Paul Cornell (who has a Hyde Park street named after him) purchased 300 acres of property between what are now 51st and 55th streets. Shrewdly, he deeded 60 acres of this to the Illinois Central Railroad, in exchange for the railroad's agreement to locate a passenger station in Hyde Park and have daily service between downtown and Hyde Park. Residential development of Hyde Park, principally as a suburban retreat of single-family homes, steadily expanded for the next 4 decades.

The Illinois State Legislature in 1869 created a body called the South Park Commission. That commission hired Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, planners of New York's Central Park, to design a 1,000-acre park system to be located in the township of Hyde Park. The plan envisioned two large parks connected by a grand boulevard. Eventually these were called Jackson Park, Washington Park, and Midway Plaisance, and have ever since endowed Hyde Park with a magnificent natural asset.

Three major changes in the 1880s had profound impacts on idyllic Hyde Park. The University of Chicago began construction of its campus in Hyde Park in 1890, Hyde Park and its surrounding township were incorporated into the City of Chicago in 1889, and the World's Columbian Exposition opened in Hyde Park in 1893.

Housing in Hyde Park

Housing in Hyde Park is a mix of single-family homes, walk-up apartments, and elevator buildings. The very earliest houses are long gone, but some houses from the 1860s still exist. Streets adjacent to the U of C campus saw development of many large houses, beginning in the 1880s and continuing to now (when a vacant lot can be found). Multi-unit housing can be in two- and three-flat Victorian buildings, as well as six-flats and larger courtyard buildings from the 1910s and 1920s. Originally rentals, many of these buildings have been converted to condominiums. Elevator buildings began to be built in the 1920s, and are more clustered on the east end of Hyde Park. A few are still rentals but most, if not initially built as cooperatives, have since been converted to condominiums or cooperatives. More recent construction has usually taken the form of townhouses, particularly from the 1950s and 1960s. A buyer is sure to find just the right home from the vast assortment of housing types and sizes available in Hyde Park.

Hyde Park Highlights

Some of Chicago's major cultural institutions are in Hyde Park. To name but a few: the University of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Oriental Institute, the DuSable Museum of African American History, the Smart Museum, the Hyde Park Art Center, and the Frederick C. Robie House at 5757 S. Woodlawn (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright).

Among the most anticipated seasonal events are the 57th Street Art Fair, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and the 57th Street Children's Book Fair.

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Other Neighborhood Information
Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Kenwood, South Loop, South Shore and Woodlawn