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Hermosa is one of 77 designated Chicago community areas and is located on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. The Hermosa community area contains the Kelvyn Park and Hermosa neighborhoods. The area includes the birthplace of Walt Disney and is the former headquarters of the Schwinn Bicycle Company.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Tour of Belmont-Cragin and Hermosa )〕 While being one of the smaller community areas Hermosa is one of the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods. Today, Hermosa is a predominantly Hispanic blue collar community, with a sizable manufacturing base. Many of the people who reside in Hermosa have done so because of its convenient location to work, its relative proximity to downtown, and because of its healthy public transportation options. The Consulate-General of Honduras in Chicago〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Consulados de Honduras en Estados Unidos )〕 is located in Hermosa at 4439 West Fullerton Avenue. ==Background== The Hermosa area originated as one of the many suburban crabgrass communities of Jefferson Township. The first verifiable proof of European settlement in the area occurred in the early 1880s after railroads where constructed through the area. In 1872, an extension of the Chicago and Pacific Rail Road was extended, passing through Hermosa from east to west.〔 One of the first settlers was named Mr. Lathman, who built his house in the spring of 1882.〔 In the same year, James F. Keeney, who owned much of the land that now comprises Hermosa, started building a number of houses within his subdivision.〔 In 1884, the first large scale successful industrial enterprise, the Laminated Wood Company, was founded.〔 In 1886 several other factories were also established such as the Expanded Metal Company, the Eclipse Furnace Company, and a warehouse belonging to the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Hermosa )〕 The Keeney Company actively promoted the growth of Hermosa and ultimately helped convince the railroad to build a station in the area, which Mr. Kenney constructed at his own expense.〔 By 1884, there were 30 houses and 150 people living in Hermosa, most of these original settlers were Scotch, German and Swedish immigrants. The first schools and churches were established in the area in the late 1880s-1890s.〔 The first name for Hermosa was likely “Pacific,” but there is no verifiable record to prove this.〔 The first official name for the area was Garfield, in honor of the late president.〔 In 1885 the name of the town was changed to Hermosa for the reason of establishing a post office at Kenney’s rail station—there already was a post office named Garfield and the name could not be duplicated.〔 A Mr. Peebles, secretary to the superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Rail Road, is credited with suggesting the name Hermosa, which means beautiful in Spanish.〔 In the fall of 1889, Hermosa was annexed into the City of Chicago. The area grew slowly throughout the remainder of the 19th century and was mostly characterized by the construction of simple worker’s cottages,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= The Worker's Cottage )〕 but began to see rapid growth in the first two decades of the 20th century. Streetcars were extended through the community along Armitage Avenue in 1895, Fullerton Avenue in 1914, and Belmont Avenue in 1917.〔 The Hermosa Improvement Association was organized in 1912 for the purpose of securing needed improvements including a park.〔 The organization is primarily responsible for the establishment of Hermosa Park. By 1920 Hermosa had swelled to over 15,000 residents.〔 Hermosa went through a building boom during this decade; most of the area neighborhood of Kelvyn Park was built out during this decade and was composed mostly of brick bungalows and two-flats.〔 In addition, the remaining open land in southern Hermosa was built out and filled with brick bungalows, two- and three-flats, and smaller 5+ unit apartment buildings.〔 With Hermosa being surrounded by railroad tracks on three sides, industrial development continued to occur along these railroad tracks and along industrial spurs throughout the 1920s. One of the more notable industrial players was the Schwinn Bicycle Company, which had its headquarters and manufacturing base in Hermosa at 1718 N. Kildare Ave. & 1856 N. Kostner Ave, respectively.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Schwinn Bicycles / 1718 N. Kildare Ave. & 1856 N. Kostner Ave. Chicago, IL. , 1895-1982 )〕 Schwinn had facilities in Hermosa from 1895-1982.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Schwinn Bicycles )〕 The railroads also created many dead-end streets in Hermosa, which isolated residents geographically from surrounding communities, but also created a sense of security.〔 By the end of the 1920s, Hermosa’s infrastructure and building stock was nearly completely built out, representing much of the community as it exists today.〔 Indeed, the average media age of a home in Hermosa (in 2012) dates back to 1919, with nearly 63% of the structures in the community having been built before 1940.〔 By the 1930s Hermosa’s population had grown to over 23,500 residents. The area was populated primarily by Germans, Scandinavians with newer groups of Poles, Hungarians, and Austrians.〔 After an expansive period, Hermosa’s population began to decline, most prominently in the 1950s and 1960s.〔 By the 1960s, Puerto Ricans had become the largest ethnicity in the area.〔 By 1980, the population had decreased below 20,000 with over a third of the population being Hispanic.〔 In 1980, Hermosa was still principally a white community of mostly older Polish, German and Irish ethnicities.〔 The decade of the 1980s proved to be a monumental one for Hermosa, however, transforming the area into a mostly Hispanic community.〔 In the 1980s, Hermosa’ population swelled dramatically and the ethnic composition shifted radically, changing from one-thirds Hispanic to two-thirds Hispanic by the end of the decade.〔 Puerto Ricans remained the largest ethnic group, with a large Mexican community also establishing roots in the area.〔 Most of the Hispanic population growth was concentrated in the areas south of Fullerton during the 1980s. The average size of households jumped dramatically in this decade, with large increases in the population of children 13 years or younger.〔 Total population increased by 3,500 in the 1980s. Families in poverty increased during this time with a 17.4% poverty rate in 1989 and an unemployment rate of 10.9% in 1990.〔 The percentage of overcrowded housing doubled in Hermosa to more than 10% (up from 4%).〔 The housing situation deteriorated starting in the 1970s-1980s, with Hermosa having the second lowest number of housing repairs among the 77 communities.〔 The first appearance of gang violence also appeared in Hermosa in the 1980s.〔 Several organizations were created during this time including the United Neighbors in Action (1982) which primarily fought against a proposed increase in subsidized housing in the area.〔 Neighbors joined together to stop crime and gang violence. The Kelvyn Ken-Well Community Organization and the Hermosa Community Organization were two successful community organizations created during this time to combat crime. In 1992, nearly 800 neighbors marched from Kelvyn Park to Hanson Park to protest the continued presence of gangs.〔 The sustained increases in population helped Hermosa reach an all-time historical high of nearly 27,000 residents in 2000, making Hermosa one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Chicago at the time. By 2000, Hermosa had become 84% Hispanic, up from 68% in 1990.〔 Issues of overcrowding and gang violence started to subside in the 1990s. While Hermosa’s housing stock remained mostly buildings built prior to the 1940s many renovations and rehabs have occurred which have improved the housing stock in recent decades.〔 In recent years Hermosa has seen some gentrification as surrounding areas, such as Logan Square and Avondale, have started to see rising housing prices and business activity. Hermosa is among the top 10 Chicago communities with the fastest increasing housing prices, with home prices having increased 33% since 2012-2014. Violent crime has subsided (in 2012 there were 5.9 violent annual crimes per 1,000 residents in Hermosa) and is now on par with the surrounding communities of Logan Square (5.5) and Avondale (5.1) and has a much lower crime rate than that of neighboring Humboldt Park (15.5), or within Chicago as a whole (10.08).〔 Crime remains more problematic in Hermosa when compared to Belmont-Cragin (4.7) or Irving Park (4.7), however.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hermosa, Chicago」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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