Chicago's Near West Side was one of the first industrial areas in the city and an immigrant portal neighborhood. The area was pivotal during the Great Upheaval in 1877 and the site of conflict at the McCormick Reaper Plant that led to the Haymarket Massacre on May 4, 1886. It has changed dramatically since the 1950s with the construction of the Eisenhower Expressway and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Yet, the Near West Side remains a prime example of Chicago's many generations of ethnic and working-class history.
