South Deering, Chicago

South Deering, one of the 77 official community areas of the city of Chicago, Illinois, is located on the far south side. It is a very industrial neighborhood, consisting of a small group of homes in the northeast corner and Lake Calumet taking up most of the remainder. It exists in the 10th Ward, what was once the reign of Alderman Edward Vrdolyak, now in private law practice. It was the home of the now defunct Wisconsin Steel Works, whose main doors were once located off 106th and Torrence Ave. Since its close it had gone through an economic depression.

South Deering was the home of primarily lower middle class dwellers.

Jeffery Manor was once a predominantly Jewish community populated by World War II veterans purchasing their first house. It now is mostly African-American. The community is where Richard Speck murdered 8 student nurses in 1966. Jon Burge was raised in South Deering.

Louis Rosen documented the racial transition of this and nearby communities in his 1998 book "The South Side: The Racial Transformation of an American Neighborhood". [cite book |author=Rosen, Louis |year=1998 |title=The South Side : the racial transformation of an American neighborhood |location=Chicago |publisher=Ivan R. Dee |isbn=1566631904]

The area from 95th to 103rd and from Baltimore Ave to Manistee is commonly referred to as "Slag Valley", in reference to the slag (waste steel) from the former steel plants, being piled in the area.

Transportation

South Deering is served by a number of CTA bus routes:
* N5 - South Shore Night Bus
* 14 - Jeffery Express
* 15 - Jeffery Local
* 28 - Stony Island
* X28 - Stony Island Express
* 95E - 93rd-95th
* 100 - Jeffery Manor
* 106 - East 103rd

References

External links

* [http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_ATTACH/Community_Areas_SOUTH_DEERING.pdf Official City of Chicago South Deering Community Map]
* [http://www.neiu.edu/~reseller/sdwelcome.html Northeastern Illinois University community history project]
* [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/calumet/place.html Lake Calumet region] [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/calumet Journey through Calumet] , The Field Museum
** [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/calumet/SouthDeering.html South Deering community area]
*** [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/calumet/pop_n_JM.html Jeffery Manor neighborhood]
*** [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/calumet/pop_n_SD.html South Deering neighborhood]
*** [http://www.fieldmuseum.org/calumet/pop_n_Slag.html Vets Park neighborhood]

Geographic Location 2
Center = South Deering, Chicago
North = Calumet Heights, Chicago
Northeast = South Chicago, Chicago
ENE = East Side, Chicago
Southeast = Hegewisch, Chicago
Southwest = Riverdale, Chicago
WNW = Pullman, Chicago
Northwest = Burnside, Chicago