Oakland District

Address: 4100 block of S. Berkeley Ave., as well as surrounding historic structures in an area bounded by 35th, 43rd, Cottage Grove, and the Illinois Central Railroad tracks Year Built: 1872 - 1905 Architect: Various Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: March 25, 1992

Among the earliest non-native settlers of this lakefront district were Samuel Ellis, the owner of a 1840s-era tavern near the corner of 35th and Ellis, and Charles Cleaver, who operated a slaughterhouse near 38th Street during the 1850s. Cleaver's mansion, "Oakwood Hall," formerly stood at the corner of Ellis and Oakwood.

During the 1870s and '80s, when the area became known as Oakland, it was one of the city's premier residential neighborhoods, the embodiment of an elegant Victorian-style suburb. The architectural styles of its surviving rowhouses and single-family residences include Classical Revival, Queen Anne, and Richardsonian Romanesque. The core of this district centers on a group of picturesque, Queen Anne-style cottages designed by Cicero Hine in 1886-87. The district also includes 50 nearby historic structures, some located as far north as 35th Street.