South Lakefront (continued)

In 1889 the entire district became part of the city of Chicago when the Township of Hyde Park voted in favor of annexation. The area was greatly affected by two events: the annexation and the Columbian Exposition, which followed soon afterwards in 1893. Paul Cornell was one of the first to try to capitalize on the World's Fair that was held in Jackson Park. The park, which separated Hyde Park from South Shore, promised to be a boon to all the surrounding areas. Cornell opened a huge wooden hotel. The Calumet, at 75th Street and the IC tracks. The railroad connected the fairgrounds with downtown and, of course, with South Shore.

A housing explosion followed the fair, and developers quickly subdivided the farm land. The Windsor Park Golf Club, located between 75th and 79th Streets east of Yates Boulevard was sold to Charles Ringer shortly after the fair. He hoped to attract the Armour Institute to the site, but failed, and eventually he sold the land to apartment house developers.

With the construction of more and more housing. South Shore took on the characteristics of a middle-class neighborhood. In 1905 the Jackson Park Highlands west of Jeffrey and south of 67th Street were subdivided and developed. This was followed the next year with the opening of the South Shore Country Club (See Fig. 1). Both of these developments were related to events which were happening to the northwest of the neighborhood in the Washington Park community. In fact, these same events set a trend that would continue to shape the history of South Shore for the rest of the century.

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Figure 1: South Shore Country Club, c. 1910. »