Union Row Neighborhood Tour

Category: Tours

Audio of Historian Leon Fink Introducing the Labor Trail and Leading a Tour of Union Row

Fink describes Chicago's history of trades unions, industrial unions, international unionism, and labor politics, as it is inscribed in Union Row. Union Park, named in honor of the Federal Union in 1853 was the centerpiece of a wealthy neighborhood on the edge of the city. After the 1871 Chicago Fire, working-class residents began to visit the park and move into the community. By 1930 many of the old homes made up "Union Row," the home of Chicago's labor movement. Today, unions remain along Ashland Avenue but working-class residents face pressure from increased housing costs.

Important sites in Union Row include:

*First Baptist Congregational Church
*Statue of Carter Harrison
*R. C. Wieboldt Department Store Headquarters
*Plumbers Union Hall
*United Electrical Workers
*Painters District Council No. 14
*Haymarket Statue in Police Training Academy
*New headquarters of the Chicago Federation of Labor
*UFCW 546 Hall (originally UFCW 100)
*Milk Wagon Drivers Union, Local 753
*Teamster City
*UNITE! Hall