Homewood, Illinois

Homewood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 19,323 at the 2010 census. Homewood is a sister city to Homewood, Alabama. In 2007, Forbes magazine rated Homewood as one of the three most "livable" suburbs in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Homewood has a total area of 5.259 square miles (13.62 km²), of which 5.21 square miles (13.49 km²) (or 99.07%) is land and 0.049 square miles (0.13 km²) (or 0.93%) is water. It lies on the Calumet Shoreline. The ancient shoreline can be seen clearly as the sand ridge along Ridge Road. A south suburban village, Homewood is 22 miles (35 km) due south of The Loop/downtown Chicago at 800 west and 18300 south on the Chicago grid system.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1900	352		—
1910	713		102.6%
1920	1,389		94.8%
1930	3,227		132.3%
1940	4,078		26.4%
1950	5,887		44.4%
1960	13,371		127.1%
1970	18,871		41.1%
1980	19,724		4.5%
1990	19,278		−2.3%
2000	19,543		1.4%
2010	19,323		−1.1%
2015 (est.)	19,373		0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,543 people, 7,552 households, and 5,256 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,755.5 people per square mile (1,451.1/km²). There were 7,827 housing units at an average density of 1,504.1 per square mile (581.2/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 56.50% White, 33.70% African American, 0.09% Native American, 1.40% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 2.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.9% of the population.

There were 7,552 households out of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the village, the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 85.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.3 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $57,213, and the median income for a family was $70,941. Males had a median income of $50,689 versus $35,978 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,074. About 3.2% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Homewood is in Illinois' 2nd congressional district, currently represented by Rep. Robin Kelly.

Early history (pre-1945)

Homewood sits on the edge of prehistoric Lake Chicago, which was formed by retreating glaciers long before Lake Michigan. One of the main east-west roads through the town, Ridge Road, runs along the old sandy shoreline of that lake. The area is rich in limestone deposits, and neighbors Thornton Quarry. In its beginning, the area featured excellent topsoil, making it an appealing place for farmers to settle.

James and Sally Hart were the first confirmed settlers in the area in 1834. They were New Englanders, as were the families that immediately followed them: the Butterfields, the Campbells, the Clarks, and the Hoods. In 1839, German and Dutch families began to move into the area as well. The town began to use the name of Hartford.

The first store in Homewood was Hasting's General Store; Dr. William Doepp was its first doctor. Attracted by the country life after his Chicago practice was burned down, he moved to the area in 1851. His practice extended from Crown Point, Indiana, to New Lenox, Illinois, and he was required to keep two teams of horses in order to make all his calls.

In 1853, the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) established a station in Hartford, calling it Thornton Station, as most of the passengers came from nearby Thornton. This began a period of serious confusion, as mail for the two separate towns was regularly mixed up. In 1869, settlers petitioned the post office to be renamed as Homewood, after the woods that the residents lived among.

The 1870s brought a new era to Homewood, ushered in by trains and by the crowded conditions of the city. Country clubs such as the Homewood Country Club (later changed to Flossmoor Country Club), Dixmoor, Ravisloe, Idlewild and Calumet brought in trains just for golfers. The IC established the Calumet station specifically for their convenience. Wealthy families, impressed by the area and by the ease of getting to the city, established residences in the area, as permanent or summer homes.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was determined that the small two-room schoolhouse that had been built in the 1880s was inadequate. The Standard School was built in 1904 on Dixie Highway and Hickory for a cost of fourteen thousand dollars. It had four classrooms, two cloakrooms, a tiny office, attic and basement storage. It provided the community with a variety of entertainments in the form of spelling bees, box socials, school entertainment, and a play festival. As many of the children were expected to become farmers, garden and corn clubs were established. Nearby land was turned into gardening plots, but a dry season kept the project from being successful. However, one student, Elizabeth Szanyi, made a total of fifty-nine dollars from her produce patch.

Enrollment for the schools continued to grow, and in 1914 the school was forced to convert the cloakrooms into classrooms. In 1918, a nearby residence, the Zimmer house, was rented to house primary grades. In 1923, construction on Central School began. The new school had three more classrooms, an assembly hall, a teachers' room, and a room for health services. By 1928, there were enough students in the district to make a kindergarten class feasible, and extensive additions were made to the school. These renovations included eight new classrooms and a gymnasium-auditorium.

In the 1920s, Homewood became an important railroad depot, and many IC workers and their families moved to the area. Automobiles became a common sight on the streets of downtown. As traffic in the area continued to increase, village officials decided to install the town's first manually operated traffic signal at the corner of Ridge Road and Dixie Highway. This period marks the change from Homewood as a farming community to Homewood as a suburb, as families began to use stores and businesses to supply their needs. The population of the town increased from 713 to 1,593. Thirteen housing developments were recorded in Homewood from 1905 to 1930.

On July 3, 1926, Washington Park Race Track opened in Homewood and became home to a number of thoroughbred horse racing's major events, including the American Derby. Some of the sport's greatest horses, including Citation, Native Dancer and Whirlaway, competed at the track. Its most celebrated occasion was likely the August 31, 1955 match race between two champions, Nashua and Swaps, that featured a $100,000 prize to the winner. Nashua won by several lengths. On Feb. 5, 1977, the grandstand of Washington Park was destroyed in a fire, and the track was never reopened.

With the crash of the stock market in 1929, life in Homewood changed dramatically. People who worked in factories in Harvey and Chicago Heights lost their jobs, and many almost lost their homes. The Homewood State Bank was closed in the spring of 1932. Optimistic residents who had invested money in the bank until the day before it closed lost everything they had. The flood of trains to and from the city trickled down to three or four trains daily. Those people trying to make an income by bootlegging were raided, and shut down. Transients were common, and the police officers gave them a place to stay at night, a cup of coffee and a doughnut before they left in the morning. In 1932 alone, the jail housed 1,224 people. The schools, which had already been operating in the red, scraped through by cutting programs and by the determined efforts of the PTA, which opened a thrift shop as a fundraiser. The village was reduced to issuing scrip notes to its employees that could not be honored by local business; however, a rental of a large parcel of land by the Illinois Jockey Association ended this problem.

As the factories slowly began to reopen, the city began to tear down old buildings and replace them with new businesses. The most important of these was the Homewood Theater. At its "typical Hollywood opening" it was said, "bright lights will flood the sky, bands will blare, and the theatre will be officially presented to Mayor Fred Borgwordt of the town of Homewood." The opening picture was Double or Nothing with Bing Crosby and Martha Raye. The theater seemed to symbolize the return of hope to the city, and remained an important landmark for many years. In 1983, Richard Haas painted a mural on the backs of several buildings in the business district, matching their fronts to their backs. Most famous among these was on the back of the Homewood Theater, depicting it with three young women waiting to view It's a Wonderful Life. It was demolished in 1992, despite the comparison made by a local student of "throwing away the Mona Lisa just because the frame is broken."

Recent history (1945– )

In 1948, ground was broken for the new Ridge School, which was located immediately west of the Central School. It was immediately followed by the construction of Willow School, in 1953. In 1958, a junior high school was built and named after the area's first settler James Hart.

Homewood-Flossmoor High School opened in 1959. Almost immediately afterward, in 1962 and 1966, large additions were made to the school. The student body grew so large that students were taught on half-day schedules until a second building to house them could be built in 1972.

The building of Westgate Shopping Center, Ridge-Mar Shopping Center, Northgate Shopping Center, Cherry Creek, Washington Square Plaza, Southgate Shopping Center and the West Homewood Commons. Washington Square Plaza was torn down in the nineties.

In 1981, the first Homewood Fine Art Fair was held in the center of the village, on Ridge Road.

In 1993, Homewood celebrated its centennial.

Education

Children in grades K-8 attend schools under the jurisdiction of Homewood public school district 153, although some may attend Flossmoor School District 161 if they live west of Governors Highway street and south of 183rd street. School District 153 has three schools: Winston Churchill Elementary, Willow Elementary, and James Hart Junior High School. Children in grades K-2 attend Willow, then move on to Churchill for grades 3 and 4, then move on to finish grades 5-8 at James Hart. The catholic school is St. Joseph's School.

The majority of students in the area then go on to attend the local public high school, Homewood-Flossmoor High School. Homewood-Flossmoor High School is its own school district, school district 233. H-F is a three-time winner of the U.S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Award for excellence. HF also owns WHFH 88.5, the highest powered high school radio station with 1,500 watts.

Rail transportation

See also: Homewood (Amtrak station)

Amtrak provides rail service to Homewood. Amtrak Train 59, the southbound City of New Orleans, is scheduled to depart Homewood at 8:54 pm daily with service to Kankakee and points south through Tennessee and Mississippi to New Orleans. Amtrak Train 58, the northbound City of New Orleans, is scheduled to depart Homewood at 7:44 am daily with service to Chicago Union Station. Homewood is also served by Amtrak Train 390/391, the Saluki, daily in the morning, and Amtrak Train 392/393, the Illini, daily in the afternoon/evening. Both the Saluki and Illini operate between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois. Metra also provides commuter rail service on the Metra Electric line between Millennium Station and University Park.

Notable Residents

• Peter Doran, Ph.D.
• Brian Colin
• Susan D. Page
• Sarah Bloom Raskin
• Jason Benetti
• Brian Kerwin
• George Nolfi

External links

• Village of Homewood official website
• Homewood Public Library
• Homewood-Flossmoor Park District
• Homewood-Flossmoor Science Pub The only regular Science Pub in the south suburbs.