South Chicago (formerly known as Ainsworth) started as a series of scattered Native American settlements prior to turning into a village. They used the area as well as the Calumet River for portages.
After the Civil War, Developer James H. Bowen, the “Father of South Chicago,” and others in a massive land grab wrested the land from its former existence and founded “Ainsworth” among other communities. The area grew as industry created employment in the area.
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 further stimulated migration along with the convergence of railroad and river routes.
The incorporation of the neighborhood to Chicago in 1889 and the acquisition of South Works by U.S. Steel Corporation in 1901 brought a new wave of settlement.
Though only a fraction original topography and habitat exist on the city’s lakefront, there still remains a small stretch of semi-secluded beachfront just north of the Southworks Site due to the deeply embedded bedrock of granite. It is the only natural beach frontage left and virtually unknown on the entire Chicago coastline.
South Chicago does not have a CTA line that passes through the area, but is connected to the Metra, as well as the I-90 that passes along its western border.
