Back of the Yards history

Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood, a part of the New City community area, came from its former life of blood, sweat and tears to its current state involving some of the same, but instead of slaughterhouses violence has taken to the streets.

The neighborhood has typically been home to the working class, giving jobs to people in slaughterhouses and packaging warehouses. (Right: poll in 1920 about the neighborhood's aroma.)

In the early 1900s, the neighborhood was home to Polish, German, Bohemian, Lithuanian, Slavic and Irish families (see map to left).

Now, the neighborhood is more than 50 percent Hispanic, with the next highest population being African-American.

Most of the current neighborhood's residents have less than a high school degree. As of 2008, approximately 36.6 percent of residents were below the poverty level, compared to the Chicago average of 19.6 percent.

The unemployment rate in the neighborhood was reported to be 14.9 percent in the most recent census data.


Demographics available here