:West Argyle Street Historic District

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = West Argyle Street Historic District

| added = June 3, 2010

| locmapin = Chicago#Illinois#USA

| image = Argyle CTA 20100729.jpg

| caption =West Argyle Street, at the Argyle 'L' station

| location= Chicago, Illinois

| coordinates = {{coord|41|58|24|N|87|39|25|W|display=inline,title}}

| area =

| built =

| architect= Multiple

| refnum= 10000311

}}

West Argyle Street Historic District (also known as Little Saigon,{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-11-29-0711270340-story.html |title=THE ESSENTIALS: Argyle Street |last=Eng |first=Monica |date=November 29, 2017 |website=Chicago Tribune |access-date=January 9, 2019}} New Chinatown, and Asia on Argyle) is a historic district in Uptown, Chicago, Illinois.

The historic district covers an area of about {{convert|41|acre|km2}} along Argyle Street from Broadway to Sheridan Road, extending north to Winona Street in some areas and south toward Ainslie Street in others.{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Transit Oriented Development Plan: Historic Preservation Plan - West Argyle Street Historic District |url=https://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/6/FINAL_LBMM_HPP_ARGYLE_07_10_18.pdf |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Chicago Transit Authority |publisher=Chicago Transit Authority & City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development |format=PDF}} It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 2010.

History

=Argyle Park=

The area covered by the historic district originally developed in the 1880s as a suburb called Argyle Park. The suburb was named by Chicago Alderman and developer James A. Campbell for his ancestors the Dukes of Argyll in Scotland.{{cite book|last=Callary|first=Edward|title=Place names of Illinois|year=2009|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-03356-8|page=13}} Development was centered on a station on the new Chicago & Evanston line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway that opened in May 1885.{{cite news|title=The Chicago & Evanston|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=May 22, 1885}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/138674486/ Clipping] at Newspapers.com.{{cite news|title=Suburban|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=November 8, 1885}}

The village, along with the rest of the Lake View Township, was annexed into Chicago in 1889.{{cite news|title=Ten New Sister Wards|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=July 20, 1889}} In 1908 the Northwestern Elevated Railroad was extended north from Wilson Avenue, using the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad,{{cite journal|title=Electrification of the Evanston Suburban Line of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul|journal=The Railway Age|date=October 4, 1907|volume=44|issue=14|page=467|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5RMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA467|access-date=July 29, 2010}} This linked the suburb into Chicago's 'L' network, and the area became popular with people of limited means who wanted to live on the Lake Michigan shore.{{cite web|title=Uptown's Argyle Street Named To Historic Register |url=http://cbs2chicago.com/local/argyle.street.historic.2.1750415.html |work=CBS2 Chicago: Chicago Area Local News |publisher=CBS Broadcasting Inc |access-date=July 29, 2010 |date=June 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621030820/http://cbs2chicago.com/local/argyle.street.historic.2.1750415.html |archive-date=June 21, 2010 }} The railroad tracks were elevated onto an embankment between 1914 and 1922.

=New Chinatown=

File:Argyle restaurants 20100729.jpg

Chicago restaurateur Jimmy Wong bought property in the area in the 1960s and planned its rebirth as New Chinatown. He envisioned a mall with pagodas, trees and reflecting ponds to replace the empty storefronts.{{cite news|last=Madhani|first=Aamer|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-07-06-0107060363-story.html|title=Jimmy Wong 1914-2001 - Restaurateur helped start 'new Chinatown'|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=July 6, 2001}} The Hip Sing Association, a Chinese cultural group, moved its Chicago offices to Argyle Street in 1971,{{cite news|last=Congbalay|first=Dean|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-03-31-8601230696-story.html|title=Argyle Street shopping strip weaves pattern of prosperity|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=March 31, 1986}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105638490/ Map seen in clipping at] Newspapers.com. and by 1974 Wong and the Hip Sing Association owned 80% of the three-block stretch on Argyle. Wong had an accident and broke both hips, leaving him unable to follow through on his plans. In 1979 Charlie Soo, founder of the Asian American Small Business Association, took up the cause, and the area developed not solely as a Chinese enclave but also including Vietnamese, Lao, Cambodian, and Japanese businesses.{{cite news|last=Heise|first=Kenan|title=N. Side's Argyle Street takes on Far East flavor|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=November 20, 1981}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/138673503/ Clipping at] Newspapers.com. Soo campaigned to get the Chicago Transit Authority to give the Argyle 'L' station a $250,000 face-lift, then in 1981 he started the "Taste of Argyle," an annual food festival. He also secured funds from Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne to fix the sidewalks, and later from Mayor Harold Washington to repair building facades. Because of his tireless work in promoting the neighborhood, Soo would later be known as the unofficial "Mayor of Argyle Street."{{cite news|title=Charlie Soo 1945-2001: Argyle Street 'Mayor,' bold promoter of Asian shops|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-04-04-0104040310-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=April 4, 2001|author=Lynch, Kevin|author2=Janega, James}} By 1986 it was estimated that Uptown had about 8,000 Chinese and Vietnamese residents.

The concentration of Vietnamese restaurants, bakeries and shops, as well as Chinese, Cambodian, Laotian and Thai businesses along Argyle Street, centered on the Argyle 'L' station, has led to the neighborhood being nicknamed New Chinatown, Little Saigon, or Little Vietnam. On June 3, 2010 the area roughly bounded by Broadway to the west, Winona Street to the north, Sheridan Road to the east, and Ainslie Street to the south was entered into the National Register of Historic Places.{{cite web|title=Weekly list of actions taken on properties: 6/01/10 through 6/04/10|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20100611.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=July 29, 2010}}

:West Argyle Street Historic District

History

=Argyle Park=

=New Chinatown=

See also

References

Further reading