Maywood, Illinois
 |
Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was founded on April 6, 1869[1] and organized October 22, 1881.[2] The population was 26,987 at the 2000 census. Its current zip code is 60153.
Long a blue collar community, Maywood had experienced many changes since the closing of American Can Company in the late '70s. There is a Metra commuter railroad station in the village and it is also served by Pace Bus Service.[3]
Since the current administration took over in 2005, the crime rate has gone down significantly, and many professional families are moving into the area. The village has, however, gained a reputation for crime.[4][5]
Maywood has an ideal central location 10 miles west of downtown Chicago. Interstate 290, the Eisenhower Expressway, bisects (north and south) the town as it goes from Chicago west to join Interstate 294, the Tri-State Tollway west of Maywood in Hillside. It is located between O'Hare and Midway Airports.
Property values are rising sharply in the recent 3 years, at a rate of approximately 15% per year.[citation needed] There are many gracious century-old homes in relatively unaltered condition, and Maywood boasts 16 homes and properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[6] Maywood and the rest of Proviso Township has a rich history as shown by the Franzosenbusch Heritage Project.[7]
At one time there were two airports in Maywood. One was on the location where the Loyola University Medical Center is today, at the southwest corner of First Avenue and Roosevelt Road. It was the airfield used by Charles Lindbergh during his days as an airmail pilot. Checkerboard Field was on the southeastern corner of that intersection and was a private field. It is now a forest preserve meadow. There was some apparent consolidation of the fields in later years. The current Hines Veterans Hospital's long narrow building is built on the foundation of the former grandstand of an automobile racetrack from many years ago. It is said that Barney Oldfield raced on the track.
On Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at around 1:25 PM CDT the Union Pacific West Line (12:25 PM Departure) train inbound to Chicago struck a yet to be identified woman and killed her just east of the Maywood Metra train station. Witnesses at the scene claimed they saw a woman walk in front of the train and the rumor was she committed suicide. Police and other emergency crew were at the scene within a few minutes. The train was stopped for approximately two hours for police to investigate and a coroner to survey the scene. The body was removed, and the train continued to Chicago at around 3:30 PM CDT. Trains running on the same line were delayed up to two hours due to the accident.
Geography
Maywood is located at 41°52′52″N 87°50′36″W / 41.88111°N 87.84333°WInvalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (41.881181, -87.843309).Template:GR
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 122.7 square miles (77.0 km²), all of it land.
Neighboring towns are: Broadview and Westchester and North Riverside(S), Forest Park and River Forest(E), Melrose Park (N), which is the location of Maywood Park, a harness (trotting) racetrack, and Bellwood (W).
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 26,987 people, 7,937 households, and 6,151 families residing in the village. The population density was 9,965.7 people per square mile (3,844.9/km²). There were 8,475 housing units at an average density of 3,129.6/sq mi (1,207.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was, 85% African American, 15% White, 0.1% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.56% from other races, and 1.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.53% of the population.
There were 7,937 households out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were married couples living together, 30.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.38 and the average family size was 3.84.
In the village the population was spread out with 31.7% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $41,942, and the median income for a family was $46,776. Males had a median income of $41,638 versus $37,316 for females. The per capita income for the village was $12,915. About 9.2% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and 1.8% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Irving Elementary School is an elementary school in Maywood. Enrollment as of 2006 was 565 students.[8] The school teaches grades kindergarten through eighth grade. Other elementary schools in Maywood include Lexington, Garfield, Lincoln, Washington and Emerson Elementary Schools.
Proviso East High School is in Maywood.
The Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine is also located in Maywood. The Jesuit school is home to around 600 medical students.
Notable natives
- Dee Brown, former guard for the Utah Jazz
- Shannon Brown, guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers
- Steven Hunter, player for the Philadelphia 76ers
- Michael Finley, guard/forward for the San Antonio Spurs
- Glenn "Doc" Rivers, former NBA player and current Boston Celtics head coach
- Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party
- Flozell Adams, offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys
- John Prine, singer/songwriter
- Dennis Franz, actor
- Carl Sandburg, poet/author, famously called Chicago "City of Big Shoulders" in a poem written while living in Maywood.
Other notables from Maywood: Maywood became the home of the 33rd Tank Company, Illinois National Guard (Company B). The Armory was located on Madison Street, two blocks east of First Avenue. It was organized on May 3, 1929 with the purpose of training men for combat. On November 25, 1940, 122 men of Company B were inducted into active service to become part of the famous 192nd Tank Battalion which fought on the Philippine Islands. They were destined to become victims of the notorious Bataan Death March in April 1942. Of the 122 men of Company B only 41 returned to Maywood alive.[9]
