Bridgeport!

Bridgeport is a neighborhood located in the south side of Chicago. It is one of the 77 community areas of the city. Bridgeport is a very diverse and ethnic neighborhood. It is not just one single urban village it's a collection of various cultures and various people. Bridgeport was the home of five Chicago mayors which shows the political influence of the neighborhood. It is famous for being the historical center of some political parties. Going around the neighborhood still gives that political outlook.

Bridgeport has a long history. The construction of Illinois Michigan Canal marks the beginnig of Bridgeport. Much of the neighborhood was initially filled with Irish-American. In the 1830s a large number of immigrants from Ireland started settling in the neighborhood. The place was known as Hardscrabble at first but as it was close to the bridge across the Chicago River its name ultimately became Bridgeport.

The Irish were Catholics and built a lot of churches in the neighborhood. There are still a lot of churches.

We got to see a couple of the churches

Besides the churches there was a Buddhist temple as well and we got to get inside it.

The view inside the temple

The Irish built a lot of schools and parishes for the welfare of the general people. There are still some schools and parishes in the neighborhood.

When the Irish came and started settling here they had to do low wage jobs and a lot of manual labor. They played a big role in the building of the Illinois Michigan Canal. But now the main way of income for the people have become car workshops.

Chicago city was built on a low land but when the roads were made high some of the houses had doors which were under the road. Some of these houses are still seen in Bridgeport.

Politics was a big part of the Irish culture. Due to their political knowledge they enjoyed a lot of things such as power and property. The politics is still seen in the neighborhood. Flyers for the election campaign are all over the place and we got to see a lot.

But as time passed by the Irish were replaced by other people such as the Chinese, Spanish, Mexicans. The change of culture can be seen quite well as now there are more Chinese schools, restaurants.

So although Bridgeport was filled with Irish at first, now there are almost no Irish living there. The Chinese and Mexicans are most of the habitants of Bridgeport now.