The soil is abundant with clay deposits, which made it a brick-making center for the developing city of Chicago. Park Ridge was originally called Pennyville to honor George Penny, the businessman who owned the local brickyard along with Robert Meacham. Later it was named Brickton.[4] The Des Plaines River divides Park Ridge from neighboring Des Plaines, which is west of Park Ridge. Chicago is south and east of Park Ridge, and Niles and unincorporated Maine Township are to its north.[5]
History
This Civil War memorial is located in Maine Cemetery at Dee Road and Touhy Avenue.
The area of Park Ridge was inhabited by the Potawatomie until they were removed in 1833. The area was a convenient portage between the Des Plaines and Chicago rivers for the French explorers and in the early 1830s, the first settlers arrived from New England and New York. In 1854 George Penny established a brickworks in the area. Due to the brickwork and the abundance of clay, Park Ridge was nicknamed "Brickton" by locals. In 1910 Park Ridge had a population of 2,009. In 1930 the population was 10,417. In 1950 the population was 16,602. In 1960 the population was 32,625, with 99.9% of the population white. There were five African-Americans and 31 people classed other than black or white. By 1970, the population had risen to 42,466.[6] In 2016, graduate of the first class of Park Ridge's Maine Township High School South (1965) former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, campaigned as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States. [7]
Geography
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Park Ridge has a total area of 7.14 square miles (18.49 km2), of which 7.09 square miles (18.36 km2) (or 99.34%) is land and 0.05 square miles (0.13 km2) (or 0.66%) is water.[8]
As of the 2020 census[13] there were 39,656 people, 14,384 households, and 10,323 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,557.95 inhabitants per square mile (2,145.94/km2). There were 15,366 housing units at an average density of 2,153.61 per square mile (831.51/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.10% White, 4.87% Asian, 0.53% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.82% from other races, and 6.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.20% of the population.
There were 14,384 households, out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.61% were married couples living together, 9.94% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.23% were non-families. 25.27% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.29% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 2.56.
The city's age distribution consisted of 23.5% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 20.5% from 25 to 44, 29.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $113,809, and the median income for a family was $145,995. Males had a median income of $82,222 versus $51,371 for females. The per capita income for the city was $58,978. About 2.4% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.
Park Ridge city, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Park Ridge's most recognizable landmark is the Pickwick Theatre, an Art Deco building dating back to 1928. It is a movie theater and a venue for plays and concerts. In 1975, the theater was named to the National Register of Historic Places. Although smaller theaters have been added to the rear of the building, the main auditorium theater remains intact in its original large five-aisle state. The main auditorium can seat up to 800 people. In the 1980s, the Pickwick's facade was one of many used as the backdrop for the opening credits of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's At the Movies. Up until 2017, it also had a restaurant next door.[18]
Park Ridge is served by the Park Ridge-Niles School District 64, which has its headquarters in the Raymond E. Hendee Educational Service Center in Park Ridge.[19] Area middle schools include Lincoln Middle School and Emerson Middle School in Niles. At one point there were nine public K–6 elementary schools: Oakton, Madison, Edison, Merrill, Carpenter, Field, Franklin, Roosevelt, and Washington. Only the latter five remain today, and all are in Park Ridge. Jefferson School is also part of the district and houses the special needs preschool for children ages 3 and 4.[20]
K-5 after-school programs are hosted by the Park Ridge Park District.
St. Paul of the Cross and Mary Seat of Wisdom are the two Catholic elementary schools.[21] St. Andrews is a Lutheran elementary school.
District 207 shares student-run radio and television stations operating with the call letters WMTH-FM (WMaine Township High). Actor Harrison Ford, known for his roles in the Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Blade Runner movies, went to Maine East, and has been credited as being the radio station's first sports announcer. Since 2007, WMTH Radio can be heard live on any of the district high school homepage.
Pace provides bus service on multiple routes connecting Park Ridge to destinations across the region. Additionally, CTA operates the Route 68 bus to Chicago.[22]
Park Ridge is the hometown of Hillary Rodham Clinton. When she visited Park Ridge on the occasion of her 50th birthday in 1997, the city renamed the southeast corner of the intersection of Elm and Wisner streets, next to her childhood home, "Rodham Corner". Clinton graduated from Maine Township High School South, a new school built to accommodate the population of baby boomers coming through at the time.[23]
The first U.S. citizen to be canonized, Mother Frances Cabrini, attended St. Paul of the Cross Church and owned a farm at the north edge of Park Ridge.[24]
Actor Harrison Ford, known for his roles in the Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Blade Runner movies, went to Maine East, and has been credited as being the radio station's first sports announcer.
James Pankow, a trombone player, songwriter, composer, and brass instrument player, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago.
Artist Grant Wood once owned a shop in Park Ridge,[25] and he lived in Park Ridge.[26]
In popular culture
In film
The 1980 film The Blues Brothers had some scenes filmed in Park Ridge, including the scene in which the brothers are first pulled over by the state police and the beginning of the subsequent chase. The Nelson Funeral Home and Shell gas station which the brothers drive past as the police pull out to intercept them are still in business at the intersection of Talcott and Cumberland avenues. The brothers are pulled over at the intersection of Cumberland and Gillick. As the chase progresses, a trooper radios that the chase is "proceeding on Courtland Avenue"; the subsequent scene in which the Blues Brothers and the police spin out in a three-way intersection occurs at the intersection of Devon Avenue, Talcott Road, and Courtland Avenue.[27][28][29][30]
A curved-shaped house on Dee Road, located on Park Lake, appears several times in the TV police drama Crime Story, in which it is owned by crime boss Phil Bartoli (played by Jon Polito).
In one episode, while driving away from the house, Pauli Taglia (John Santucci) says, "We're in Park Ridge; nothing happens in Park Ridge."
In the Route 66 episode "Voice at the End of the Line" (season 3, episode 5), Todd Stiles (Martin Milner) and Buzz Murdock (George Maharis) are seen exiting a building labeled Park Ridge Medical Center, which was located at the southwest corner of Talcott and Canfield. The scene continues as they walk toward the corner of Yost and Canfield, where several Park Ridge houses on Yost are in view. Later in the episode, Todd and Buzz park in front of a white house located at the northeast corner of Prospect and Stewart Avenues, which was used as a boarding house in the episode. A later camera angle shows the house in the background as Todd and Buzz talk to a cab driver.
^"USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map". Agricultural Research Center, PRISM Climate Group Oregon State University. USDA. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
^"banner_dist.jpgArchived 2013-02-21 at the Wayback Machine." Park Ridge-Niles School District. Retrieved on January 10, 2012. "164 South Prospect Avenue Park Ridge, IL 60068"
