Irving Park is
a Community Area located on Chicago's Northwest Side.
It is bounded by the Chicago River on the east, the
Milwaukee Road railroad tracks on the west, Addison
Street on the south and Montrose Avenue on the north,
west of Pulaski Road stretching to encompass the region
between Belmont Avenue on the south and, roughly, Leland
Avenue on the north.
Old Irving Park, bounded by Montrose
Avenue, Pulaski Road, Addison Street and Kostner Avenue,
has a variety af housing stock, with Queen Anne, Victorian,
and Italianate homes, a few farmhouses and numerous
bungalows.
Irving Park's development begins
in 1843 when Major Noble purchased a 160-acre (65 ha)
tract of land from Christopher J. Ward, upon which Noble
established a farm. The boundaries of that farm today
would be Montrose Avenue to the north, Irving Park to
the South, Pulaski Avenue to the east and Kostner Street
to the West. Major Noble's house on the East side of
Elston just south of Montrose doubled as the Buckthorn
Tavern, serving travelers coming to and from the city
of Chicago along the North West Plank Road (Elston).
After many years of successful farming Noble sold the
farm and retired to McHenry County. Four men from New
York, Charles T. Race, John S. Brown, Adelbert E Brown
and John Wheeler, purchased the farm in 1869 for $20,000
USD.
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