welcome.
bienvenidos.
witamy.
Who we are
Belmont Cragin is a neighborly part of Chicago. We are a Latinx community that has grown rapidly with a variety of long-time residents and new neighbors living together. Nicknamed “the bungalow belt,” for our distinctive housing landscape, we’re also home to busy commercial corridors, churches, great schools, beautiful parks, and community organizations dedicated to making this a safe, friendly, and family-oriented place to call home.
Belmont Cragin has always been home to hard workers. A mostly rural community until the 1880s, the Cragin Brothers & Company moved their tin and iron processing plant here, spanning 11 acres and producing everything from nuts and bolts, to oilcans and eggbeaters. The neighborhood quickly became home to several factories and warehouses along the Northwestern railroad line, and grew a heavily industrial workforce.
Where we come from
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Belmont Cragin was annexed into Chicago in 1889 and grew over the next decades as a working-class, industrial community. By 1930, the neighborhood had more than 60,000 residents, about a third foreign-born, including Irish, Polish and Italian workers.
Well into the late 1980s, Belmont Cragin’s workforce remained nearly 40% in manufacturing. As Chicago and communities nation-wide lost manufacturing jobs, though, much of that infrastructure was converted into shopping malls and retail spaces that still remain.
Credit: Old Images of Chicago