Bridgeport / Back of the Yards

Once known as Hardscrabble, Bridgeport was established to house the workers who built the 1848 Illinois and Michigan Canal. Five Chicago mayors have called Bridgeport home, including Edward Joseph Kelly in the 1930s and '40s and both Daleys, father and son. Today, Bridgeport boasts a vibrant arts community and numerous cafes and restaurants. It is a melting pot and one of the most diverse areas of Chicago, with descendants of the early Irish, Italian and Lithuanian communities mingling with first and second-generation Mexican- and Chinese-Americans. Back of the Yards, so named for its proximity to the former Union Stock Yards, housed many of the Irish and German immigrants who worked in the area’s slaughterhouses and factories. Bordering Bridgeport and McKinley Park and sharing in those neighborhoods' particular blend of quiet residential streets and old factory complexes, today Back of the Yards is home to some of the most cutting-edge sustainable industry and technology in Chicago.