Chicagoland Village Maps

Mapping Chicagoland’s changes during the early 1970s.

This uncommon collection of Chicago area real estate maps was published in 1971 by Sidwell Studio, Inc. of West Chicago. Each page presents a simple keyed street plan; noting railroads, primary highways, geographic features, and large tracts like cemeteries, golf courses, and campuses. A street index is provided on the verso of each page.

The group of over 200 large-scale maps presents a detailed overview of the Metropolitan Chicago Area near the end of the Great Migration, when suburban growth exploded due in large part to ‘white flight’ from the urban city center. Other immigrant communities – notably Mexicans, Italians, and Poles – also began to carve out their respective niches in Chicagoland around this time in patterns that can still be seen today.