CAC Open House

Neighborhood Trail: The Prairie School in Beverly

Beverly is distinguished by its rich variety of housing styles clustered on and around a prominent ridge line, extending six miles from 87th Street south to suburban Blue Island. Land speculators were drawn to this rare natural elevation in a flat city, with railroad executives and other real estate developers leading the charge in the 1870s and 1880s. The completion of a commuter rail line in 1888, soon followed, and the 1890 annexation of Beverly by the City of Chicago accelerated the area’s growth. The ridge’s midsection, tracing Pleasant Ave and Longwood Drive from the 9300 block to the 10500 block, boasts a high concentration of residences by influential architects—with a collection of low-slung Prairie Style houses to rival Oak Park. Enjoy several fine examples of this distinctive American architecture on this two-mile route. Photo by Eric Allix Rogers