Clark Street is named for George Rogers Clark, an American Revolutionary War soldier who captured much of the Northwest Territory from the British.
Within the Chicago Loop Clark Street is one of the original streets laid out by James Thompson in his 1830 plat of Chicago.
North of the Loop, from North Avenue, it roughly follows part of the path of an Indian trail called Green Bay trail (later Green Bay Road) that ran all the way to Green Bay, Wisconsin.
In the 1950s Clark Street between Ohio and Armitage Streets was a substantial neighborhood barrio home to the first Puerto Ricans in Chicago.
It was unofficially known as La Clark by the Puerto Ricans that lived there arriving from the steel mills of Indiana and rural migrant camps.
This was primarily during the Great Migration and war effort during and after World War II.
They worked at the downtown hotels, the meat packing plants and the nearby factories then located near downtown industrial areas.
Many original members of the Young Lords, a former street gang that transformed into a Latino civil and human rights movement, were sons and daughters of these immigrants and grew up in La Clark.
Clark Street is named for George Rogers Clark, an American Revolutionary War soldier who captured much of the Northwest Territory from the British. Within the Chicago Loop Clark Street is one of the original streets laid out by James Thompson in his 1830 plat of Chicago. North of the Loop, from North Avenue, it roughly follows part of the path of an Indian trail called Green Bay trail (later Green Bay Road) that ran all the way to Green Bay, Wisconsin. In the 1950s Clark Street between Ohio and Armitage Streets was a substantial neighborhood barrio home to the first Puerto Ricans in Chicago. It was unofficially known as La Clark by the Puerto Ricans that lived there arriving from the steel mills of Indiana and rural migrant camps. This was primarily during the Great Migration and war effort during and after World War II. They worked at the downtown hotels, the meat packing plants and the nearby factories then located near downtown industrial areas. Many original members of the Young Lords, a former street gang that transformed into a Latino civil and human rights movement, were sons and daughters of these immigrants and grew up in La Clark.
Clark Street (Chicago)