“Sauganash doesn’t look like the city,” Joe Manrriquez, 68, a resident of the neighborhood for the past 40 years said. “It is so much quieter.”
Michelle Baldwin, park supervisor of Sauganash Park, said, “We are kind of hidden. The neighborhood is hidden.” The neighborhood is hidden from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Located between North Pulaski Road and North Cicero Avenue to the east and west and West Devon Avenue and West Foster Avenue to the north and south, Sauganash prides itself in well-kept lawns and tree-lined streets.
“Size is important,” Ellen Peirce, 43, a Sauganash resident, said. “People who visit can’t believe they can park in my driveway in Chicago.”
Peirce’s driveway is not as unique in Sauganash as elsewhere in the city. Most properties in the neighborhood are single family homes and have driveways up to the houses, surrounded by green space on both sides.
The buildings in the neighborhood represent different architectural styles, a major draw for Peirce. She moved to Sauganash from the Lincoln Park neighborhood almost 14 years ago.
“The houses all look different,” Peirce said. She said she felt although many residents call Sauganash a “suburb in the city,” she likes how the houses are architecturally different.
The different architectural styles show the history of the neighborhood. According to the Sauganash Community Association, the neighborhood settled in 1912. The name comes from the Potawatomi Indian Chief Sauganash, whose English-given name was Billy Caldwell. Sauganash worked for peace between Native Americans and the newcomers.
The community commemorates the history of Sauganash, and the neighborhood, with a mural on the viaduct off Peterson Avenue and stained glass windows in the Queen of All Saints Basilica.
The bells of the basilica interrupt the nearly silent part of the neighborhood surrounding this Church, a part void of all traffic but scattered with the voices and laughs of the students attending Queen of All Saints School for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
“The Church is beautiful from the outside,” Joan Melville, 82, said, “but I love to spend time inside there most.” Side streets and homes surround the Church.
Manrriquez, as he put his holiday lights on his bushes, said, “I love being outside here.” He planned to take his two dogs on a walk to the nearby LaBagh Woods and Sauganash Prairie Forest Preserve later that day, a regular occurrence for the retired Manrriquez and his two huskies.
Owners can be seen walking their dogs along the sidewalks and on trails throughout the neighborhood at almost any hour of the day. Peirce even describes trick-or-treating for the dogs. “My dog Butler and all the dogs go to the neighbors’ houses anytime,” she laughs, “and they give them treats, or bones.”
Melville still walks her little dog a couple times a week. She said, “I get to see all the children come home from school when I walk my baby girl dog.”
Many families live in the neighborhood. “Families move into all the houses up for sale,” Peirce said. “They never move away then because they like it so much.” Peirce attributes this to a good school system and friendly neighbors.
Sauganash Park, a part of the Chicago Park District, offers dozens of programs for all ages and puts on special events directed toward these families, according to Baldwin.
On Friday, Dec. 10, 2010, Sauganash Park held their annual “Dinner with Santa” for the community. Baldwin believes the event was a huge success. She says about 80 families attended.
“Santa came, and that was fun,” Baldwin said. “We have a really tight-knit community, so events work.”
Baldwin said their “Movies in the Park” program during the summer draws in larger crowds than any of their other events. “We get a lot of people coming from outside the neighborhood, especially for the movies,” she added.
The park and the Community Association also team up to plan an annual Fourth of July party in the summer for neighborhood residents.
On Sep. 10, 2010, Sauganash Park opened a new playground to the community in place of an outdated one. “The new playground has got a tremendous amount of use,” Baldwin said.
The children in the neighborhood, however, are not wholly convinced about the new playground. Jack Knabe, a sixth grader at Sauganash Elementary School, and Thomas Shaw, a fifth grader there, have been neighbors in Sauganash for five years.
The two boys were walking home from school with their backpacks on wheels and carrying books, ready to go play on the playground in the snow.
“The old park had woodchips,” Shaw said. “It was maybe better.”
“Yeah, well the new park has better slides and stuff,” Knabe responded. “I like this one.”
The two boys went back and forth, unable to decide which park they preferred. Either way, the boys said they go to the park a lot.
Baldwin has never lived in the neighborhood, but she remembers going to Sauganash Park as a kid to play. “I mean it’s a beautiful, beautiful area,” she said, “and now I get to work where I used to have fun as a kid.”
Sauganash residents enjoy the convenience of the businesses within the small neighborhood as well. “I can walk to everything I need,” Peirce said, “so I don’t go into the city as much as I probably should.”
Manrriquez said, “I have a grocery store. I have a pharmacy. I have a church. Peterson (Avenue) has a lot.”
The Sauganash Chamber of Commerce office says a lot of residents commute to different parts of the city for work, but over 50 companies in Sauganash are members of the chamber.
Those commuting to work have the I-94 Edens Expressway just a couple hundred feet from the neighborhood’s western limit.
Those staying within the neighborhood borders can find the newest member of the Chamber of Commerce, Whole Foods Market, which opened in February 2007. “I shop at Whole Foods for all my groceries,” Peirce says. “I’m glad Sauganash now has one.”
Tarpey’s Pharmacy, on the other hand, is one of the oldest companies in the Chamber of Commerce. They opened a new store in 2009. “I use Tarpey’s instead of those other big drugstores,” Melville said.
Combining an active business sector with green space and a community feel makes Sauganash an appealing place to live for those already in Chicago or those making a move to the city. As families make up a large number of residents in Sauganash, Knabe’s opinion on why he thinks his neighborhood is special matters. “I can walk to my neighbors’ houses and play anytime, my cousin’s can’t do that where they live,” he said.
Sources
Baldwin, Michelle. Personal Interview. 10 Dec. 2010.
Baldwin, Michelle. Telephone Interview. 14 Dec. 2010. (773) 685-6122.
Knabe, Jack. Personal Interview. 3 Dec. 2010.
Alexander, Lois. “All About the Sauganash Community.” Sauganash Community
Association. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.sauganash.org/histbound.htm>.
Manrriquez, Joe. Personal Interview. 3 Dec. 2010.
Melville, Joan. Personal Interview. 3 Dec. 2010.
Peirce, Ellen. Personal Interview. 3 Dec. 2010.
Shaw, Thomas. Personal Interview. 3 Dec. 2010.
Sauganash Chamber of Commerce. General Questions. 1 Dec. 2010. (773) 545-9300.
