Rogers Park

Centered around the convergence of two Native American trails, presently known as Rogers Avenue and Ridge Boulevard, Rogers Park was once an area that was settled by Pottawatomi and other regional Native American tribes from season to season. Phillip Rogers, after becoming familiar with the area by working with and trading with the local tribes, purchased approximately 1,600 acres of this land from the government between the 1830s and 1860s with the intention of developing it for future settlement. 

The area saw an influx of European settlers during these years, many of them working on farms, which was Rogers Park's main industry at the time. In 1878, after continuing population growth, Rogers Park was incorporated as a village, and 15 years later the area was annexed into Chicago.