Berwyn, Illinois

Berwyn is a suburban city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is coterminous with Berwyn Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 57,250. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.

History

Before being settled, the land that is now Berwyn was traversed by Native American trails. The most important trails converged near the Chicago portage, and two notable routes crossed what is today Berwyn. A branch of the Trail to Green Bay crossed Berwyn at what is now Riverside Drive, and the Ottawa Trail spanned the southern end of the city.
In 1846, the first land in "Berwyn" was deeded to Theodore Doty, who built the Plank Road from Chicago to Ottawa along the Ottawa Trail. The trail had been used as a French and Indian trade route and more recently as a stagecoach route to Lisle. This thoroughfare became what is now Ogden Avenue in South Berwyn. In 1856, Thomas F. Baldwin purchased of land, bordered by what is now Ogden Avenue, Ridgeland Avenue, 31st Street, and Harlem Avenue, in hopes of developing a rich and aristocratic community called "LaVergne". However, few people were interested in grassy marshland. Mud Lake extended nearly to the southern border of today's Berwyn, and the land regularly flooded during heavy rains. The only mode of transportation to LaVergne was horse and buggy on the Plank Road.
To encourage people to move to LaVergne, Baldwin sold an strip of property to the Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1862. The rail line opened in 1864, but the train did not stop regularly in the area. The railroad refused to build a station, so the residents of the area constructed LaVergne Station on Ridgeland Avenue in 1874.
However, the financial panic of 1873 and Baldwin's death in 1876 stunted the growth of LaVergne. Baldwin's daughter, Emma, inherited her father's estate, and in 1879 she sold most of the land to a group of realtors controlled by Marshall Field. The new development enacted building codes and stipulated the minimum building cost of each home. By the end of 1880, 12 new homes were built. By 1888, the settlement had grown so much that the Baldwin family donated the triangular piece of land bounded by Ogden Avenue, 34th Street, and Gunderson Avenue so that a school could be built. LaVergne School became the first public building in Berwyn.
In 1890, Charles E. Piper and Wilbur J. Andrews, two Chicago attorneys, purchased a plot of land from the Field syndicate to develop. The land was bounded by Wesley, Kenilworth, 31st Street, and Ogden Avenues. By the following year, the two received approval from Cicero Township to double their land holdings.
Piper and Andrews wanted the railroad to build a station in their development, but the railroad already had stations at La Vergne and at Harlem Avenue. Piper and Andrews decided to build a station with the understanding that trains would stop regularly. They did not know what to name their station so they consulted a Pennsylvania train timetable to find a name. They chose to name it after Berwyn, Pennsylvania, a Main Line suburb of Philadelphia noted for its beauty. After 1901, all settlements in the area were known as Berwyn.
While Piper and Andrews were developing the southern portion of present-day Berwyn, John Kelly was helping to develop the north part from 12th Street to 16th Street. This area was really a part of an Oak Park subdivision, and it even appeared on some maps as "South Oak Park". In fact, children who lived in this area went to school in Oak Park. John Kelly was known as "Mr. Everything" because he was a realtor, builder, insurance seller, and community servant.
In between the two settlements, there was little except for a few farms. The area between 16th and 31st streets was not settled. There were only two paths by which to travel between the two settlements, and today these paths are known as Oak Park Avenue and Ridgeland Avenue. Although Berwyn was chartered as a city in 1908, it was not until the 1920s that this middle portion of land was developed.
During this time, Berwyn was the area's fastest growing suburb. The city's stringent building codes resulted in block upon block of well-built brick two-story bungalows. Many also contained elaborate design elements typically not seen, such as stained glass windows, clay tile roofs, terra cotta, and intricate brick patterns. Today, Berwyn is noted as having the most significant collection of Chicago-style bungalows in the nation.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Berwyn has a total area of, all land. Bordering cities include Oak Park to the north, Cicero to the east, Stickney to the south, Lyons, Riverside, North Riverside, and Forest Park to the west. Geologically, Berwyn is predominately composed of Glacial Lake Bottom from the Wisconsin Glacial Episode, the most recent glacial period. A beach ridge of sand and gravel, made during one of the stages of Lake Chicago, is also present in the city. This is most easily identified as Riverside Drive. The elevation change due to the ridge is clearly seen on the 2800 block of Maple Ave. Prior to the settlement of Berwyn, the land was grassy marshland. The body of water that connected the South Branch of the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River was a shallow waterway or a muddy slough known as Mud Lake. Mud Lake extended nearly to the southern border of today's Berwyn, and the southern end of Berwyn flooded regularly during heavy rains in its early years.

Demographics

As of the 2020 Census there were 57,250 people, 18,277 households, and 12,348 families residing in the city. The population density was. Berwyn also has the highest population density of any township in Illinois. It and Cicero are the only townships in Illinois that have a higher population density than the city of Chicago proper.
There were 21,037 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 33.33% White, 8.53% African American, 2.79% Native American, 2.52% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 31.61% from other races, and 21.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 64.15% of the population. According to the 2022 American Community Survey, the top ancestries reported in the city were Mexican, and Puerto Rican. The top five non-Hispanic ancestries reported in Berwyn as of the 2022 American Community Survey were Polish, German, Irish, Italian, and Filipino.
There were 18,277 households, out of which 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.98% were married couples living together, 16.13% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.44% were non-families. 25.88% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.19% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.67 and the average family size was 2.99.
The city's age distribution consisted of 26.1% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $61,915, and the median income for a family was $72,241. Males had a median income of $37,584 versus $32,273 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,939. About 9.0% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

Race / Ethnicity	Pop 2000	Pop 2010		% 2000	% 2010
White alone	30,476	17,592	13,372	56.42%	31.05%	23.36%
Black or African American alone	588	3,373	4,622	1.09%	5.95%	8.07%
Native American or Alaska Native alone	88	66	79	0.16%	0.12%	0.14%
Asian alone	1,351	1,362	1,365	2.50%	2.40%	2.38%
Pacific Islander alone	4	2	9	0.01%	0.00%	0.02%
Other Race alone	70	74	189	0.13%	0.13%	0.33%
Mixed race or Multiracial	896	512	888	1.66%	0.90%	1.55%
Hispanic or Latino	20,543	33,676	36,726	38.03%	59.44%	64.15%
Total	54,016	56,657	57,250	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

Government

City

The City of Berwyn operates under a Mayor–council government form of government. The people of Berwyn elect the mayor, clerk, treasurer, and one alderman from each of the city's eight wards. The terms of elected officials are four years. The mayor is given administrative authority, and he has the power to appoint and remove all officers of the municipality, except those covered by civil service. The City Council, composed of the eight aldermen and the mayor, is the legislative organ of the city.
The seat of government is located at City Hall, 6700 26th Street.

Police and fire departments

Police

The Berwyn Police Department has six main divisions: Administrative, Investigative, Patrol, K-9 Unit, Communications, Records, and Parking. The Berwyn Police Station is located at 6401 W. 31st Street.

Fire

The Berwyn Fire Department is composed of 80 sworn professional firefighters, 30 certified paramedics, and 11 emergency medical technicians. The Fire Department is anchored by three fire stations with the following equipment:

Station	Location	Engine Co.	Truck Co.	Ambulance	Command Unit
Fire Station 1	6434 Windsor Ave	Quint 901 Engine/Truck Combo Reserve Fire Engine 911		Ambulance 906 Reserve Ambulance 910
Fire Station 2	6615 W. 16th St	Engine 902		Ambulance 905	Command Vehicle 909
Fire Station 3	6700 W. 26th St	Engine 903	Ladder Truck 904	Ambulance 907	Command Vehicle 900 Command Vehicle 908