Gage Park

      Prayer Points

• Many deaths have come as a result of gang affiliation in Gage Park. Pray against the history of violence that exists in the neighborhood.

• Many people in Gage Park do not speak English, making it difficult to secure employment and adapt to the culture in the United States. Pray that the Latino population in this areas would know how to make Gage Park their home and find employment.

• Pray for the provision of education, financial, and social assistance so that opportunities will be available to the community residents.

• Pray for those who are combating the system to become legal citizens through the immigration challenges.

      Ethnic Breakdown

• Asian (0.4%)
• Black or African American (5.7%)
• Hispanic or Latino (85.7%)
• White (7.2%)

Neighborhood Background

At the time Gage Park was annexed to Chicago in 1889, the town consisted of thirty wood-framed cottages with no paved streets. Once the electric trolley was extended to Gage Park in the early 1900s, the area experienced a building boom with increased industrial and residential development.

The area was comprised of mainly Bohemian and Polish residents, many who were faithful to the Roman Catholic Church. Decades later, Gage Park was influenced greatly by racial and civil unrest. It became the focal point for piloting open housing for African Americans and was the site of a march led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that was met with violent resistance.

In the 1970s and 1980s several neighborhood organizations formed in order to neutralize and ease racial tension. As a result to these efforts Gage Park was a racially diverse community while maintaining an established middle-class. More recently, the Latino population has rapidly increased, and is now the dominant ethnic group.