Chicago Ridge

History

Chicago Ridge takes its name from ridges left behind when trainloads of dirt were brought out by the Wabash Railroad during construction of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Incorporated on October 17, 1914, the village has an area of approximately and is located in the southwestern portion of Cook County, Illinois, about southwest of downtown Chicago. The path of Stony Creek arcs through the village. It is not only an old creek but also the remnants of a feeder canal for the Illinois & Michigan Canal that reached from the Little Calumet River westward through the Saganashkee Slough. Although the work on the feeder canal brought some settlers in the 1840s, German and Dutch farmers arrived after the 1850s. Settlement increased when what would become the Wabash Railroad 6th district was constructed through the area in 1879. Later, the Wabash would be crossed in the middle of Chicago Ridge by the Chicago and Calumet Terminal Railway, which also established rail yards in the village. In 1898, the Paul E. Berger Company, manufacturers of cash registers and slot machines, located adjacent to the railroad. The Berger Company built housing for its employees, and a settlement emerged around the factory, with a tavern, rooming house, and grocery store. The first post office opened in 1900 in the Berger factory, and in 1902 the Wabash Railroad established a train station. Both Chicago Ridge and Worth benefited from the activity and economic influences of a racetrack operating on 111th Street. Local residents proudly recall that a member of one of the founding families of the Chicago Ridge area, Fred Herbert, won the Kentucky Derby in 1910. The racetrack was torn down in 1911 and is now the site of Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. After Oak Lawn incorporated in 1909, Chicago Ridge…

Geography

Chicago Ridge is located at (41.702482, -87.778690). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Chicago Ridge has a total area of , all land. Located in Cook County, the village is southwest of the Loop. Chicago Ridge's irregular shape is bounded by Oak Lawn on the north and east, Bridgeview and Palos Hills on the west, and Worth on the south.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  55,435
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  47,845
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  42,097
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  37,570
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  37,089
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  36,301
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  36,220
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  35,704

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-07-08
  21 km ENE of Kenilworth, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2025-03-15
  6 km W of Dwight, Illinois
• M 3.1 — 2024-07-15
  2 km WNW of Somonauk, Illinois
• M 2.9 — 2015-03-25
  3 km WNW of Lake in the Hills, Illinois
• M 3.2 — 2013-11-04
  1 km SSW of Lyons, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2013-06-10
  4 km NNE of Virgil, Illinois