Chicago - Edgewater

Edgewater is bounded by Lake Michigan to the east, Foster Avenue to the south, Ravenswood Avenue to the west and Devon Avenue to the north. The neighborhood began in the 1890s as a retreat for members of Chicago’s elite society. Later, the affluence of the area was symbolized most by the Edgewater Beach Hotel that opened in 1916 right on Lake Michigan and Sheridan Road. The extension of Lake Shore Drive from 1951 to 1954 cut the hotel off from the beach and the hotel closed in 1967.

The CTA’s Red Line has stops at Loyola (Devon), Granville, Thorndale, Bryn Mawr and Berwyn. Buses run along Sheridan and Lake Shore Drive. The Metra train stops near Lawrence and Ravenswood. Edgewater is easily accessible to Lake Shore Drive.

Edgewater has five lakefront parks including Osterman Beach, George Lane Park, Berger Park and two others between Ardmore and Devon.

ANDERSONVILLE

Andersonville, located west of Broadway and stretching over to Ravenswood, and running approximately from Winnemac to Elmdale on the north, is one of the city’s most vital neighborhoods. It was once a quiet village founded by Swedish immigrant farmers who moved north of downtown in the mid-nineteenth-century towards what were then cherry orchards. Today, Andersonville is one of the most diverse neighborhoods on the north side of Chicago. Its Swedish roots are still reflected in the restaurants, delicatessens, and the Swedish American Museum which opened in 1976.

Andersonville is served by the CTA’s Red Line with stops at Bryn Mawr and Berwyn. Several CTA buses also run north-south along Ashland, Clark, Broadway and Sheridan with some express buses running along Lake Shore Drive to the Loop. East-west buses run along Bryn Mawr, Peterson and Foster.

Many recreational opportunities exist in Andersonville and the lakefront is close by to the East.