Roscoe Village

"The history of Roscoe Village as a defined community dates to the end of the 19th Century" when land west of Western was purchased in order to build what was then going to be the “world’s largest amusement park.” The park, aptly named Riverview Park, opened in 1903, and with the park came development. Soon after its opening, "dozens of businesses sprang up along Belmont, Roscoe and Western to serve the needs of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who came to the park every year," and because Riverview made the area such a popular destination, growth continued steadily throughout the first few decades of the 1900s. because of this, many of the area's buildings that existed before the park's arrival were torn down by the mid-1920s, and these structures were replaced by "frame houses and brick and greystone two-flats," which are still prevalent in the neighborhood today.

The immensely popular Riverview Park closed in 1967, but it still lives on in the memories of those that had the pleasure of visiting during its hey-day. In addition, "many items from the old park, as well as many paintings portraying Riverview in its glory days, are on display" at the Riverview Tavern, a Roscoe Villagebar that is one of the anchors of the area's popular commercial strip along Roscoe Avenue.