Clearing

Clearing, which got its name after the farm land in the area was cleared in an attempt to build a railway switching yard, is a neighborhood that is now home to the southern half of Midway Airport. The switching yard never materialized, but because of it's growing population and economic base, Clearing was annexed into the city in 1915. 

In 1927, a year after leasing the land from the Chicago Public Schools, Mayor William Hale Thompson dedicated Chicago Municipal Airport. Renamed in 1949 to honor victories at Midway Island during World War II, Midway Airport was the world's busiest airport between 1932 and 1961, at one point serving over 10 million passengers in a single year.