West Side Roots: Uncovering Austin’s Legacy in Chicago’s Story

Neighborhood Snapshot

Tucked into Chicago’s far West Side, Austin is one of the city's largest and most storied neighborhoods. Bounded by North Avenue to the north, Roosevelt Road to the south, Austin Boulevard to the west (the city border with Oak Park), and Cicero Avenue to the east, Austin offers a dynamic blend of rich architectural heritage, deep-rooted activism, and a strong sense of community resilience.

Despite its challenges, Austin remains one of the most culturally vibrant and historically significant neighborhoods in all of Chicago.

Trivia Question: What major figure in American civil rights history once spoke at a church in the Austin neighborhood just months before their assassination?

Austin by the Numbers

History of Austin

In 1865, real estate speculator Henry Austin purchased 470 acres of swampy prairie just west of Chicago, laying the foundation for what would become one of the city's most significant neighborhoods. By the 1870s, the area known as “Austinville” began its transformation into simply “Austin,” spurred in large part by the extension of the Lake Street Elevated train, which suddenly made the neighborhood accessible to downtown commuters.

Home to stunning examples of Queen Anne, Prairie, and Romanesque architecture, the area was once one of the most desirable commuter suburbs before it was annexed into Chicago in 1899. Austin is not only one of Chicago’s largest neighborhoods by land area and population — it’s also a place of contrasts. Wide, tree-lined boulevards with beautiful 19th-century homes, grand churches, and once-booming commercial corridors sit alongside areas working through disinvestment. It’s a neighborhood with an unbreakable pulse — one of pride, reinvention, and progress.

Between 1870 and 1920, Austin evolved from rural farmland into a thriving urban enclave. This period marked the neighborhood’s golden era, as city planners and architects set their sights on creating grand civic landmarks and green spaces. Columbus Park, designed by renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen, came to life. The stately Austin Town Hall and elegant mansions along Central and Midway Park soon followed, signaling Austin’s emergence as a prosperous, self-contained community.

Following World War II, African Americans began settling in nearby neighborhoods like East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, and West Garfield Park. As the Great Migration brought more Black families to Chicago in search of opportunity, Austin soon became a destination as well. But their arrival was met with systemic resistance. White flight took hold, triggering a mass exodus of white residents, along with white-owned businesses, essential city services, and industrial employers. Racially discriminatory real estate practices hastened the transition. By 1970, Austin’s population was 32% Black. Just ten years later, that number had risen to 73%.

As disinvestment deepened, so did the challenges. With the departure of capital came rising poverty and the erosion of the social fabric. Austin’s once-thriving streets began to see prostitution, open-air drug markets, gang activity, and gun violence. Many trace this era of decline to the devastating impacts of the crack epidemic, the HIV/AIDS crisis, mass incarceration, and later, the opioid crisis. As conditions worsened, many middle- and upper-middle-class Black families also began leaving for the suburbs, continuing the cycle of disinvestment.

The latter half of the 20th century was marked by further loss. In 1973, the Central station of the CTA’s Congress Line closed. In 1988, the West Side Health Authority was created in response to the shutdown of St. Anne’s Hospital. By 1991, even Loretto Hospital—long a community staple—was handed off to a private management company.

By 1992, the toll was stark. The 15th District Police Station in Austin recorded 48 homicides that year, making it the fourth-deadliest police district in the city—behind only Harrison (93 homicides), Englewood (80), and Wentworth (69).

There were attempts at revival. In 1999, developers proposed transforming the abandoned Galewood Railyard into an industrial park. But the project became mired in scandal when then-Alderman Ike Carothers was convicted for soliciting bribes to approve zoning changes. Despite the controversy, the $60 million project eventually brought new homes and a movie theater to the area—offering a glimpse of what investment in Austin could look like.

Local Landmarks Worth Exploring

1. Austin Town Hall Park & Cultural Center
   Originally built in 1928 as the town hall for the independent suburb of Austin, this elegant Classical Revival building now serves as a cultural center and community gathering space. Its architecture was inspired by Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, and the surrounding park hosts a range of programming year-round.
2. Columbus Park
   A designated National Historic Landmark and one of the city’s finest examples of Prairie-style landscape architecture, Columbus Park was designed by Jens Jensen, the famed Danish-American landscape architect. Its winding lagoons, stonework, and native plantings are a living testament to early 20th-century urban park design.
3. Austin Branch Library
   More than just a library, this branch has served as a safe haven, cultural hub, and educational resource for generations. It's also the site of numerous community-organized literacy and justice initiatives.

Historical Figures with Austin Ties

Harold Washington (1922–1987)
Though born in Bronzeville, Chicago’s first Black mayor made frequent visits to churches and community centers in Austin during his grassroots campaigns. The neighborhood was a stronghold of his West Side support.

Dr. Percy L. Julian (1899–1975)
A trailblazing African American chemist and civil rights activist, Julian lived just west of Austin in Oak Park, but he lectured and held STEM outreach events for Black students in Austin during segregation, helping mentor future scientists and scholars.

Sister Jean Hughes (1938–2012)
A Dominican nun and fierce advocate for restorative justice, Sister Jean lived and worked in Austin, helping to run the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation and fighting for alternatives to incarceration for youth on the West Side.

Hugh Marston Hefner (1926 – 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the Playboy brand into a world network of Playboy Clubs. He also resided in luxury mansions where Playboy Playmates shared his wild partying life, fueling media interest.

Hidden History: Did You Know?

• Oak Park Avenue used to be a dividing line not just between suburbs and city, but between heavily segregated communities during the 20th century. Despite systemic redlining, Black families built strong networks of ownership and community organizing throughout Austin.
• The Austin Woman’s Club, founded in 1891, played a key role in the city’s movement for women’s voting rights, organizing lectures, rallies, and fundraisers from their clubhouse near Central Avenue. While many such efforts were centered downtown, Austin’s club brought civic activism into a predominantly residential, middle-class enclave, quietly shaping Chicago’s political history from the west side.
• The “Laramie State Bank” building at 5200 W. Chicago Avenue is an Art Deco masterpiece and one of the last of its kind on the West Side. After sitting vacant for years, it’s now undergoing a $37 million revitalization that will turn it into a cultural and commercial anchor once again.

Community Today

Today, Austin is home to a passionate community of residents working to reclaim their narrative. Organizations like BUILD Inc., Austin Coming Together, and Westside Health Authority are investing in youth, education, violence prevention, and workforce development.

New arts spaces like the Austin Arts Center and Austin Town Hall’s Creative Collective are fostering creativity while preserving the stories of those who built and rebuilt this neighborhood.

And the food? Don’t miss Uncle Remus for classic Chicago-style mild sauce wings, MacArthur’s for soul food served with a side of neighborhood pride, or check out our black business directory for other West Side businesses to support.

Final Thoughts

To know Austin is to understand a critical part of Chicago’s identity — a neighborhood forged in the fires of movement, music, migration, and hope. It’s a place where stories matter, where neighbors stand together, and where the past and future meet on every block.

So next time you hear someone mention “the West Side,” take a moment to ask them: Do you really know Austin?

Trivia Answer: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
King delivered a sermon at Third Baptist Church in the Austin neighborhood in 1966 as part of his Chicago campaign to fight housing discrimination and urban poverty. It was one of his final public appearances in the city before his assassination in 1968.