Norwood Park Historical District

Norwood Park is a residential district on Chicago's Northwest Side, bounded roughly by Harlem, Nagle, Bryn Mawr and Avondale Avenues. It began in 1868, when a group of Chicago businessmen formed a land association and bought 860 acres of farmland beside the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad depot. They platted lots around a circle, set aside parks and laid out curving streets in the picturesque manner, in deliberate contrast to the city's grid. Most of the 788 contributing buildings date from the 1880s to 1940. Early Italianate and Queen Anne houses stand alongside Colonial Revival, Tudor, Craftsman, Prairie and Arts and Crafts homes, four-squares and bungalows. Brick and wood frame are used in nearly equal amounts. The district also contains schools, churches and ethnic retirement homes. Within its boundaries is the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House, begun in 1833-34 and the oldest house within Chicago's current limits. The district is significant as a surviving example of an early railroad suburb.