Hear the echoes of history as we gather here on West Cermak Road. This 19-mile stretch tells a story of Chicago’s growth and transformation. West Cermak Road wasn’t always called that. It was once known as 22nd Street. In Chicago’s grid system, it sits at 2200 South. That means it is 22 blocks south of Madison Street.
But West Cermak Road has a unique placement. The city’s street plan usually puts eight blocks in a mile. Roosevelt Road and West Cermak Road were platted earlier. Roosevelt Road is one mile south of Madison. There are twelve blocks within that mile. West Cermak Road is two miles south of Madison. Only ten blocks fill the space between Roosevelt and West Cermak Roads.
In 1933, 22nd Street got a new name. It became West Cermak Road. This honored Anton Cermak. He was Chicago’s mayor from 1931 to 1933. Cermak met a tragic end. An assassin shot him in February 1933. The shooter aimed for President-elect Franklin Roosevelt. Cermak was a Czech immigrant. He built a diverse Democratic coalition. It included African Americans who used to vote Republican. Pilsen and Lawndale were heavily Czech-American. The street was renamed to honor Cermak. The adjoining suburbs of Cicero and Berwyn also had large Czech communities in the early 20th century.
Traveling West Cermak Road is like stepping through time. You can see Yankee industrialists’ mansions near the lake. Mammoth printing presses line the Chicago River. Immigrants lived in crowded brick houses. There are also schools and churches. Boulevards showed middle-class success. Huge factories made equipment for the nation. Commercial districts thrived with shops and banks in the 1920s. Rivers and forests once separated farmland. Now, you see shopping malls and corporate towers.
Transportation evolved here. Water vessels gave way to railroads. Urban systems connected neighborhoods. Superhighways now overlay everything.
At its east end, West Cermak Road meets Martin Luther King Drive. This is near McCormick Place. The Lakeside Press building at 350 E. Cermak is a landmark. Another landmark stands at 320-330 E. Cermak. It is the American Book Company Building.
Once, Al Capone’s headquarters stood at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue. It was the Lexington Hotel. This was from 1928 to 1932. The Motor Row District is along Michigan Avenue. It commemorates early car retail. A restored White Castle is at the southeast corner of Wabash Avenue. The Green Line runs above the alley between Wabash and State.
West Cermak Road cuts through Chinatown. The On Leong Merchants Association Building is there. So is the Chinatown Gate. Further west, West Cermak Road enters the Pilsen neighborhood. It is named for a city in the Czech Republic.
West Cermak Road has seen factories rise and fall. It has seen communities change. It has been renamed to honor a leader. It is a road that continues to evolve. West Cermak Road continues to carry Chicago’s story forward.