| Origins | Settled in 1860 and annexed in 1889 |
|---|---|
| Area | Far Southeast Side |
| Boundaries | 79th Street on the north, 91st Street to Burnside Avenue on the south, railroad tracks to 87th Street to South Dauphin Avenue on the east, South Wallace Street to 83rd Street to South Stewart Avenue to South Holland Road on the west |
| Gangs headquartered | Gangster Disciples, Black P Stones, Black Disciples, |
This area became settled after the area was annexed into Hyde Park Township in 1861 by farmers that built scattered homes in this swampy area that they called either “Mud Lake” or “Hogs Swamp.” The farmers mainly used this area for duck hunting. The area did not gain significant settlement until the construction of the Avalon Park community nearby that brought Italian stonemasons to settle in the area as they built homes in Avalon Park.
In the year 1889 this community was annexed into the city of Chicago then Hungarian and Irish railroad workers came to live in the new Dauphin Park subdivision which further developed the community.
In the 1900s decade as more steel mills opened their doors in surrounding communities more European migration came to Chatham.
In the year 1914 the subdivisions of Central Chatham and Chatham Fields began construction, and the community adopted the name “Chatham” for the neighborhood name.
In the 1920s Chatham experienced a major housing boom as many more Irish, Hungarian and Swedish immigrants moved into the area and built several more homes. The new arrivals were middle class as the neighborhood moved from being working class to middle class.
In the year 1941 the Chatham Park housing complex subdivision was constructed and this brought a shopping strip along Cottage Grove Avenue.
In the 1950s Chatham experienced some white greaser gangs that mainly battled gangs in neighboring communities, also in the 1950s African Americans began moving into this neighborhood; however, white community leaders wanted to ease this transition to prevent disinvestment and violence; therefore, churches and public places were integrated, but this would not stop crooked real estate agents that used block busting tactics to scare away the long time white residents this was especially prevalent starting in 1958 when the Dan Ryan construction forced many African American families from their homes in other south side and west side neighborhoods. In 1958, African Americans began moving in rapidly into Chatham as whites rapidly moved out.
The Dan Ryan Expressway built through the neighborhood served as a border in the 1950s and early 1960s for where whites and blacks lived, the whites just wanted the western part of the neighborhood; however, they did not resort to violence or discrimination to achieve this it was more of a coordination with the blacks in the community.
By the year 1960 this neighborhood was about 64% African American and more black families were moving in throughout the 1960s because of the block busting tactics used to scare the white families. The arriving blacks were middle class and had a strong desire to upkeep the community and keep it as a middle-class area, thus, continuing on the legacy that the old European former residents started.
By the year 1964 Chatham had become a black community and among the migrating black families came members of the Blackstone Rangers and Devil’s Disciples that settled these streets for the first time. In the year 1968 the Outlaw Supreme Gangsters arrived and soon exercised much dominance over these streets. At the time when the Stones and Disciples arrived there were issues with undesirables criminal elements arriving, the Stones and Disciples arrived to squash these elements and protect the growing black community.
Starting in the 1960s Chatham became the home of many successful black owned businesses such as: Johnson Products Company, Independence bank Of Chicago, Seaway National Bank Of Chicago and a chapter of the Illinois Federal Savings And Loan Association was operated exclusively by African Americans.
The rest of the white community left the neighborhood by 1970. Gang and drug wars ensued and the violence especially escalated by the later 1990s and into the 21st century.
Chatham is still a predominately middle-class black neighborhood that keeps a watchful eye on crime in the community; however, outside forces and street gangs tend to cause trouble in the community to the point where this neighborhood has made the top 20 most violent neighborhoods list at times and is one of the harder and more dangerous Chicago neighborhoods because of it.
Since the 1960s Gangster Disciples and Black P Stones are the dominant groups.
The well-known gangs to have walked these streets are:
Black P Stones Established 1964-present years
87th to 88th, State to Wabash (Bash Town Apache Stones)
87th to 89th, Martin Luther King Dr to Cottage Grove (STL Ray Ray World)
93rd & Martin Luther King Dr
83rd & Cottage Grove (El Rukns)
Four Corner Hustlers
91st to 93rd, Cottage Grove to Dauphin (GMC D Block, Formerly the Waste Lands)
Black Disciples
79th to 80th, Drexel to Ingleside (Drill City)
81st to 83rd, Ingleside to Cottage Grove (Whiz City Brain Dead)
83rd & Ellis
Mickey Cobras
90th from State to Indiana
Cottage Grove from 90th to 91st Pl (Spook Town, Hot Spot)
89th Pl & Dauphin
Gangster Disciples Established 1964 as Devil’s Disciples, 1968 as Outlaw Supreme Gangsters. Establishment 1964-present years
Burnside & Langley
79th & Vincennes
78th to 80th, St. Lawrence to Cottage Grove (Hittzsquad Evansmobb) partially in Greater Grand Crossing
79th to 80th, State to Wabash (Bashville, formerly known as Dopehouse)
81st to 83rd, St. Lawrence to Cottage Grove (8Tre Mob)
87th to 89th, Cottage Grove to Dauphin (CMB Tinez City 7 Gang)
90th & Martin Luther King Dr. (Tuley Park)
Conservative Vice Lords
89th to 89th Place, Langley to Cottage Grove (Nuke Side)
Gangster Stones Established 70s, 80s, 90s
92nd to 93rd, Martin Luther King Drive to Cottage Grove Ave