Edgewater consists of several neighborhoods. In the southwest quadrant is Andersonville. North of it is Magnolia Glen and Edgewater Glen—and Edgewater Beach is located in the eastern part of the neighborhood, the portion of the community that borders the lake, east of the elevated tracks of the Red Line.
Andersonville bell tower, on Broadway, has long been used by community residents and businesses as a symbol of Edgewater on signage and other media. Andersonville is a
neighborhood in western Edgewater and northwestern
Uptown. Once a sleepy little village made up primarily of
Swedish immigrants, the community is particularly known for its diversity, including a continued Swedish cultural presence led by the
Swedish American Museum and other Swedish businesses. From the 1980s through the present time, the neighborhood has been well known as a neighborhood where many lesbians live, although the reality is more akin to the diversity mentioned above. Swedish businesses include the bar Simon's Tavern, a former
basement speakeasy, which serves the Swedish wine drink
as glögg, and Svea restaurants. At one time there were more Swedes in Chicago than any city outside of Stockholm. Many of Andersonville's Swedes were carpenters, contractors and architects, and played a significant role in building the city. It joined the nearby residential
Lakewood Balmoral Historic District. The approximate street boundaries of Andersonville, as defined by the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, are Lawrence (4800 N) to the south, Victoria (5800 N) to the north, Ravenswood (1800 W) to the west, and Magnolia (1250 W) to the east. The heart of the Andersonville commercial district is Clark and Berwyn (5300 N). Andersonville's roots as a community extend well back into the 19th century, when immigrant Swedish farmers started moving north into what was then a distant suburb of Chicago. The neighborhood traces its name to a parcel of land in Uptown bounded by Clark Street, Ravenswood Avenue, Foster Avenue, and Winnemac Avenue, which was then surrounded by a large cherry orchard. As families began to move to the area, the neighborhood's first school, the Andersonville School, was built on the parcel in 1854. It served as the area's primary school until 1908. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, wooden homes were outlawed in Chicago. Swedish immigrants, who could not afford to build homes of stone or brick, began to move outside of the city's northern limits. Swedish immigrants continued to arrive in Andersonville through the beginning of the 20th century, settling in the newly built homes surrounding Clark St. Before long, the entire commercial strip was dominated by Swedish businesses, from delis to hardware stores, shoe stores to blacksmiths, and bakeries to realty companies. The local churches, such as Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ebenezer Lutheran Church, and First Evangelical Free Church were also built by Swedes, and reflected the religious diversity of the new arrivals. Like most other European-American ethnic groups, Swedes began to move to the suburbs during the Depression and post-war periods, and the neighborhood began to decline. Concerned about the deteriorating commercial situation, the Uptown Clark Street Business Association renewed its commitment to its Swedish heritage by renaming itself the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce. On October 17, 1964 Andersonville was rededicated in a ceremony attended by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and Illinois Governor Otto Kerner. At about the same time, the annual Swedish tradition of celebrating the summer solstice blossomed into Midsommarfest, which has since grown into one of Chicago's largest street festivals. While some of the Swedish-owned businesses gave way to stores and restaurants owned by Koreans, Lebanese, and Cubans, many remained in Andersonville, serving the remaining second- and third-generation Swedes as well as the new arrivals to the neighborhood. In 1976, a Swedish American Museum that had been on the drawing boards for fifty years was opened to the public in a ceremony attended by King
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. He was also present when it later moved into larger quarters at 5211 N. Clark, where it remains today. In the late 1980s, Andersonville began a period of revival as professionals rediscovered its lovely housing stock and proximity to the lakefront. A large lesbian and gay population developed, spurred by the opening of such businesses as
Women & Children First, a bookstore focusing on feminist authors and topics.
Edgewater Glen Historic District Edgewater Glen Historic District is a residential area located within the Edgewater neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. In 2024, it was officially listed on the
National Register of Historic Places as the Edgewater Glen Historic District. The name "Edgewater Glen" originated in 1972 with the incorporation of the Edgewater Glen Association (EGA), a volunteer-led neighborhood organization. The name was derived from Glenwood Avenue and Glenlake Avenue, two streets that intersect near the center of the neighborhood, along with its association with the greater Edgewater community. The Edgewater Glen Association continues to be active, organizing seasonal events, beautification initiatives, and an annual neighborhood-wide yard sale. The historic district is generally bounded by West Hood Avenue to the north, West Granville Avenue to the south, Broadway to the east, and Clark Street to the west. It comprises over 400 contributing structures, primarily single-family homes constructed between 1900 and 1928. The prevailing architectural style is American Foursquare, with vernacular influences from Queen Anne and Prairie School design. The district falls within the attendance boundary of Helen C. Peirce School of International Studies, a public elementary school in the
Chicago Public Schools system serving grades pre-K through 8. The school offers an
International Baccalaureate curriculum.
Broadway Broadway (along with Andersonville's Clark St., to the west) is the main commercial street running North and South through Edgewater. It separates the Edgewater Beach area (dominated by highrises and apartment buildings) to the east, from Andersonville and Edgewater Glen (dominated by single-family homes) to the west. In the 1920s, Broadway became a center of the new automobile trade with elaborate stylized showroom buildings. While these businesses are now gone, the street maintains commercial trade and at least one of those car palaces remains. In addition, a wide array of dining is available including Ethiopian, French, Japanese, Thai, and fine American, as well as pubs, fast food, and pizza.
Sheridan Road and Edgewater Beach Sheridan Rd., which follows the lakefront in eastern-Edgewater is the main North–South thoroughfare for traffic to/from
Lake Shore Drive -- at the Hollywood exit all traffic is routed onto either Hollywood Ave. or Sheridan Rd. As it is the north end terminus of Chicago's scenic Lake Shore Dr., this part of the neighborhood is sometimes congested with traffic along 4 lane roadways such as Clark St., Broadway and Ridge Avenues. The area around Sheridan Rd., west to Broadway Ave., is called Edgewater Beach. The neighborhood beaches are
Foster Beach and
Osterman (Hollywood) Beach. This area includes the northern reaches of
Lincoln Park, Chicago's largest public park. North of Ardmore Ave. (5800 N) to
Devon Ave. (6400 N), there are 4 lakefront parks,
Osterman (Hollywood) Beach, George Lane Park,
Berger Park, and a newly unnamed park just south of Granville (6200 N) between the Tiara & El Lago condominiums. There is also a park on the southwest corner of Thorndale and Sheridan. Accompanied by uniformly tall, grand old locust trees lining the road, Edgewater's portion of Sheridan (North of Foster Ave., south of Devon Ave.) is a dense section of high-rise residential buildings on both sides of the Sheridan Rd. corridor. These include, Park Edgewater Condominiums, Hollywood Towers, Beach Point Tower, Horizon House Condominium,
6030 N. Sheridan, The Malibu, Malibu East, East Point Tower, The Tiara, El Lago, Granville Beach, Granville Tower, Sovereign Apartments, Shoreline Towers, Sheridan Shores Condominiums, Sheridan Point, and
Park Tower and Mall. Many of these towers were built in the late 1950s to early 1970s.
TV's fictional characters Bob and Emily Hartley of
The Bob Newhart Show called this area home, residing in the Thorndale Beach North Condominiums, 5901 N. Sheridan Rd., as seen in the shows title credits. There are a handful of mansions still remaining on Sheridan Rd., remnants of the 1880s to 1920s. Many of the original lakefront mansions that once lined Sheridan were razed with landfill added along the shoreline to make way for the high-rise buildings that exist there today. A few notable exceptions are
Colvin House, at Thorndale Ave.,
Berger Park. and
Sacred Heart School at Granville Ave., as well as two belonging to nearby
Loyola University Chicago. To the South, at Sheridan, near Foster, there also remains a private tennis, pool and three par golf club, from the days when this area was dominated by mansions and the Edgewater Beach Hotel. ==LGBTQ community==