| Origins | |
|---|---|
| Area | West Side |
| Boundaries | Division Street on the north, Chicago Avenue on the south, Dan Ryan Expressway on the east, Ashland Avenue on the west. |
| Gangs founded | Ashland Vikings, Harrison Gents, Playboys, Ventures, Pulaski Park, Rice Boys, |
| Gangs headquartered | Ashland Vikings, Harrison Gents, Gangster Disciples, |
Early history on Noble Square is hard to find; however, I can say that this neighborhood was originally settled by at least Germans by 1865 as they built the neighborhood’s oldest churches. Eventually, I believe in the early 20th century, this neighborhood was settled by Polish immigrants, and this became a Polish dominated neighborhood by the 1890s. Unlike neighboring East Village Noble Square was not home to nearly as many impoverished Polish families.
During the 1950s Noble Square experienced scattered settlement of Puerto Rican migration; however, it was not enough migration for the neighborhood to react negatively as early Puerto Ricans blended in with the Polish community. During this time this neighborhood had small greaser gangs as all of West Town was experiencing a surge of white greaser gangs.
In the year 1958, the Gaylords formed just over the Noble Square border in the southern West Town area. The C-Notes formed in the same year and same neighborhood. The Playboys formed in nearby Wicker Park that same year and all these gangs victimized groups of youths attending Wells High School. These groups were dominating and often picked on kids that gathered in groups. Gaylords loved to hang out in Eckhart Park in the late 50s and very early 60s which was just over the border in Noble Square which brought them into conflict with more youths from Noble Square. A group of German, Polish and Irish youths had enough of these groups and formed the Pulaski Park gang in 1960 that fought all these dominating greaser gangs from other neighborhoods. Pulaski Park was named after the very park they started in. The youths also gathered at Blackhawk and Bosworth. Pulaski Park would become the first significant gang to walk these streets.
In the year 1963, Puerto Rican migration intensified all over West Town and this is when Puerto Rican gangs formed to fight against attacking gangs of white youths that were angered at the Puerto Rican migration wave. There were concerns this Polish community would turn Hispanic and Pulaski Park was out to push out groups they considered undesirables. This is when the Skulls, a Puerto Rican gang from the Near West Side migrated to Eckhart Park. The main reason for the arrival of the Skulls was not Pulaski Park but instead it was the Gaylords that aimed to keep Puerto Rican kids out of Eckhart Park.
The Skulls were a tough group of Puerto Ricans but not tough enough to take on the Gaylords, so they moved out of the area in 1964 to become one of the pivotal groups that formed the Latin Kings in 1964 in Wicker Park. Latin Kings would not settle in Noble Square though.
In the year 1967, the Ashland Vikings, a Puerto Rican gang, formed along the Ashland Avenue corridor and became dominating in the entire neighborhood in the 1970s.
The Harrison Gents arrived in this community in the year 1971 during their expansion campaign which launched a major war with the P.V.Ps of Blackhawk and Bosworth.
In the year 1975 the Playboys and Pulaski Park moved out of the area and were replaced by the Harrison Gents.
By the 1970s Noble Square became a rather rough neighborhood as some urban blight and high crime became prevalant; however, the Ashland Vikings worked very hard to protect the community and stop as much crime as possible.
In 1987, the Harrison Gents and Ashland Vikings erupted into war. The war between Gents and Vikings cooled down until 1995. During the devastation the Harrison Gents left the Blackhawk and Bosworth region and temporarily left all of Noble Square.
In the year 1988, the Latin Jivers arrived in the Blackhawk and Bosworth area and at first they blended in with Ashland Vikings, Harrison Gents and Spanish Cobras as they were all Folks and all under the Insane alliance. The Jivers in this area would claim Insane while the Jivers in the original East Humboldt Park area were Maniacs. This began a permanent legacy of the Latin Jivers in Noble Square.
In the year 1995 the Harrison Gents went to permanent war with the Ashland Vikings. Now these streets became more violent as the neighborhood experienced the most violent decade. This is also when the Harrison Gents moved back into Noble Square and took over some old former Ashland Viking territory after key Viking leadership faced incarceration.
In the 1990s the Noble Square Cooperative Apartments located at Milwaukee and Noble now experienced a small wave of African American migration as these apartments were now affordable for lower income black families from the south side and west side of Chicago. Alongside this migration wave came Conservative Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples. These two gangs are enemies but because they saw potential for making money from drug trafficking in this complex that was located at a busy intersection, they decided to become allies as “Gangster Lords” at the intersection of Division and Noble for the purposes of making money (drug trafficking). I do not know if the Gangster Lords conflicted with the Hispanic gangs in the area or any other groups nearby, I only know this was a money-making group focused on profit.
The Hispanic population of Noble Square would grow since the 1960s, but I am not sure how large the Hispanic population became but it surely began to shrink in the 2000s when this neighborhood began intensive gentrification that weakened the strength of the neighborhood gangs.
By the 2010s the Conservative Vice Lords had left this neighborhood leaving Gangster Disciples to run the Cooperative and some elements of the Harrison Gents and Ashland Vikings remained on the streets. Since the 2010s gang activity has been suppressed and minimal as gentrification has taken over and this is now one of the more expensive neighborhoods to live in. Hipsters and Yuppies have found this place to be home making this neighborhood very much changed since the past decades.
In the 1960s Playboys and Pulaski park dominated this neighborhood as allies
In the 1970s and 1980s Noble Square was dominated by the Ashland Vikings
In the 1990s and 2000s Noble Square was dominated by Ashland Vikings, Latin Jivers and Harrison Gents
In the 2010s and later Noble Square is not dominated by any gangs, but Harrison Gents, Ashland Vikings and Gangster Disciples still lurk in this neighborhood.
Noble Square is the birthplace of the Ashland Vikings and Pulaski Park
If you are from the Young Urban Professional class, you might be interested to know these significant gangs once walked these streets over time:
Harrison Gents Established 1971-present years
Blackhawk to Division, Ashland to Bosworth Established 1971-1987
Cortez to Walton, Ashland to Noble Established 1995-present years
Ashland Vikings Established 1967-present years
Ashland to Noble, North Ave to Chicago Ave (The Fist of the North) Established 1967-present years (Harrison Gents were in the Blackhawk and Bosworth area north of Division in the 70s until present years)
Latin Jivers 1988-present years
Blackhawk to Potomac, Bosworth to Noble (Brown Jungle, Blackhawk Park, Killa Side, Pistol Park) 1988-present years
Division & Greenview Late 1988-present years
Playboys Ventures Pulaski Park Established as Pulaski Park 1960-1975
Blackhawk & Bosworth Established as Pulaski Park Established 1960-1975 (PVP)
Cleaver & Potomac (Pulaski Park) Established as Pulaski Park 1960-1975 (PVP)
Skulls Established 1963-1964
Chicago Ave & Noble (Eckhart Park)
Gangster Disciples 90s-present years
Milwaukee to Division & Noble (Noble Square GDs) 90s-present years
Conservative Vice Lords 90s, 2000s
Milwaukee to Division & Noble (Gangster Lords, shared with Gangster Disciples)
Spanish Cobras Established 1980-1990s
Lemoyne from Bosworth to Ashland 1980-1990s