| Nicknames | Scummit |
|---|---|
| Settled by | Provide info |
| Year infiltrated | 1978 |
| Crime impact | Whole |
| Worst areas | 63rd and Harlem area |
In my earlier years growing up in the 1980s and 90s up until I was a young man in early 2000s, I used to always notice the pronounced gang graffiti and large murals painted near the 1st Avenue and Harlem Avenue exits that connected to the interstate 55 expressway. One could see the heavy tags which installed a sense of doom and gloom that you were about to enter a dangerous and violent neighborhood. These tags may have seemed scary to many travelers, but the community of Summit was not all that bad, it just mostly had a lot of good graffiti artists; however, the graffiti was also telling of a rather serious gang culture in this community in the 80s and 90s that was quite legendary for a Chicago area suburb.
Summit has been charted on maps for centuries as it was the home of ancient Native American tribes and was first passed through and charted by Europeans in 1673 when Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet made their original voyage of the Chicago area. It became no surprise that official settlement came here in the early 1830s when Russell Heacock built an inn and a farm becoming the first European settler. In the year 1836, Irish immigrant Illinois and Michigan Canal workers settled this land while they built the canal, many stayed afterward turning this into a rural farming area. Once these Irish workers arrived the name of the area “Summit” was made official because the term “Summit” is the highest point on the Chicago Portage, the rise between the Chicago River and Des Plaines River. In 1845 the Canal Commission began selling land when construction on the canal was entering the final phases. The biggest buyer from the Canal Commission was Peter Kern who made large purchases on land in 1851. Many of these settlers after the Irish were German immigrants. Starting in the 1880s Polish, Croatian, Slovak, Russians, Italians and the Dutch made their way into this area and a small town developed that brought about official incorporation in 1890. In the 1900s decade first African Americans and Mexicans moved to Summit, which was rare settlement for this mostly white general area. Because of this early settlement African Americans and Mexican people have long regarded Summit, especially Mexicans. In the early decades Summit was known for vegetable production, and this was the earliest economy. This vegetable economy caused a business district to grow along Archer Avenue and for railroad tracks to be heavy in Summit adding to the local economy. In 1907, the Corn Products Refining Company built the largest corn milling plant in the world. This brought about the annexation south of 63rd Street into an area known as “Argo” which was named after one of the corn company’s products (Fact Source: www.Encyclopedia.Chicagohistory.org)
By the 1950s, the economy continued to boom in Summit as manufacturing and railroad brought several jobs to Summit-Argo area residents which established a thriving working-class community as many modest houses were built. Interstate 55 construction dug out the old Illinois Michigan Canal in the 1950s but this made Summit ideal for even commuting residents that held employment elsewhere.
The gang banging in Summit all started in the year 1978 when the Logan Square based street gang La Orquestra Albany moved into the suburb at 52nd and Harlem and began recruiting some youths to join. In the year 1979 some youths that did not like the OAs started their own gangs that were made right in Summit. The “Night Cruise” was a gang for junior high aged kids to join while the “Spanish Brothers” was a gang for high school aged youths. Both Night Cruise and Spanish Brothers eventually came into contact with Latin King gang members that moved in from Chicago and both Summit based gangs joined the Latin Kings in 1979 which was a rival gang of Orquestra Albany.
In 1979, it became official that Latin Kings formerly started an official chapter on these streets within the apartment buildings located right at the corner of 62nd and Harlem and all the houses in and around this area. This Latin King territory is known as “Harlem City.” I have heard that the legendary Latin King leader Raul “Baby King” Gonzalez assembled this chapter of Latin Kings, but that story is flawed because Gonzales was in prison in the late 70s. Perhaps Little Village area Latin Kings started the Summit Latin Kings and maybe Gonzelez authorized it from behind bars. In any case the Summit Latin Kings of 62nd and Harlem is legendary. The Latin Kings were the biggest taggers near the I-55 interchange and those tags were like the welcoming signs to Summit letting you know the Latin Kings are here. Orquestra Albany was located north of Latin King territory at 52nd and Harlem area as was the land of the Albanian Gangsters located at 57th and Harlem, but the Albanian Gangsters, who were formed in 1980, were more west of Harlem. Both OAs and AGs were living among single family houses and were not apartment dwellers. The founder of Orquestra Albany was a kid from the city that moved here with his family and was the first active Chicago gang member in the village.
Around 1989 to 1990 Summit began an escalation into its darkest years as gangs were at their peak. The Saints from the Back of the Yard moved at 54th and Harlem near the OAs and AGs and battled both gangs. During the Saints’ stay in Summit in the early 90s they mainly got along with Latin Kings since the Saints were temporarily People alliance back then. The suburb was ideal for hardcore gangbanging drug dealers as they could move drugs up and down Harlem Ave and 171 while getting on and off the expressway.
The 1989-1990 era brought in many African American families from Chicago seeking a better life in the Argo section of Summit. Most African Americans moved south of 63rd Street to 64th Place and from Harlem to Route 171. A building right next to Argo High School located at 64th Street and 74th became a low-income housing apartment building where impoverished African American families were moving in. Members of the Gangster Disciples moved into this building and began heavy gang activity while starting the “Argo Gangster Disciples.” Gangster Disciples were drug trafficking in this building as many police busts happened in this building and many residents complained about the gang activity. Gangster Disciples became large at this intersection and grew in Argo becoming Summit-Argo’s largest African American gang and perhaps the second largest overall gang in Summit. As the GDs spread in Argo, they allowed a faction of the Black Souls street gang to move into the public housing building at 64th and 74th and both gangs were drug trafficking in the area. The Conservative Vice Lords would also move to Argo, but I do not know where their territory was.
Another group of Latin Kings came to Summit in 1989-1990 and moved into the apartment building at 61st and Harlem and the houses in the area. Summit now had two different Latin King groups in the community and since they were both near 63rd and Harlem racial issues became a major problem between African American and Hispanic youths. Latin Kings and Gangster Disciples were in the middle of the racial conflict and used the conflict to recruit into their organizations, the two gangs then battled viciously at 63rd and Harlem. 63rd and Harlem is where Argo High School is located, and this was also the intersection of the legendary Studio 63 nightclub. During school hours lots of gang drama kicked off in the 1990s mainly between GDs and Latin Kings. Every Summit gang needed to go to 63rd and Harlem to go to school so there was much drama in Latin King and GD neighborhoods. Studio 63 nightclub brought out much of the drama at night. Studio 63 was a nightclub that attracted Hispanics from all over the area and even the city. I myself went to this nightclub in the early 2000s and there was lots of dancing and people had a good time. I had also heard the stories of the 1990s about shootings, stabbings and fights in the wee hours of the night after much alcohol was consumed. Many of the fights were not gang related but many of them were. Latin Kings often frequented this establishment, and GDs would often walk around or drive around the area looking for Latin Kings as they left the club, many times violence ensued. Studio 63 eventually closed in the mid-2000s but the legacy is something not to forget.
In the mid-1990s the gang issues continued in their peak as Orquestra Albany now left the village in about 1995. their founder moved away in the early 90s and after he left the Summit OAs were not the same and not as active until they faded away. AGs became less active starting in about 1995. I am not sure how long the Saints lasted, I have heard they lasted a long time, and I also heard they left around 1995 like the OAs did.
By the later 1990s all that was left was Latin Kings and GDs, but GDs declined in size and Vice Lords and Black Souls left as the African American population heavily declined in number. Albanian Gangsters completely left around the year 2000. For some reason African Americans later found Summit-Argo to be undesirable and left the community and they continue to move out even as of 2022. A 2022 census only shows just over 1,000 African Americans in the village. In the 1990 census Summit-Argo housed over 6,000 African Americans but not there is less than 1,000 which is puzzling.
In recent years there have been heavy crackdowns on gangs and crime in the village and this community has pulled in very safe crime statistics throughout the 21st century. The once large murals and tags are long gone. Gangster Disciples and Latin Kings will likely always be here but operate low key. These once storied streets are now quiet.
