Blue Island Illinois Real Estate

Blue Island, Illinois
By Julie Farby

The city of Blue Island (formerly called Portland) is located in Cook County, Illinois, about 16 miles south of Chicago’s downtown Loop. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago History, Blue Island is so-named because of its position atop the “southern end of an ancient glacial ridge five miles long, extending northward along Western Avenue and Vincennes Road from 131st Street to 87th Street.” The ridge stood as an island in glacial Lake Chicago, the predecessor of Lake Michigan by thousands of years. To early pioneers and settlers traveling Vincennes Trail in springtime, the “glacial bluff that rose out of the prairie south of Chicago” took on a bluish hue from haze and blue wildflowers.

Blue Island was established in 1835, with the quaint town emerging as a “final rest-stop for many Chicago-bound travelers,” and in 1836, the first inn opened on the historic Vincennes Trail. The town’s early industry was primarily lodging and livestock trading, and over the next few decades, “transplanted Yankees established the village as an agricultural market center.” German agricultural laborers began arriving in the 1850s, and by the 1890s they had “usurped much of the political and economic power from the Yankees.” The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad’s arrival in 1852 “marked the beginning of Blue Island's transformation into a trade hub;” and its 1868 brick depot at Vermont Street remains in use today. Small-scale factories, brickyards, breweries, and cigar shops sprouted during the late 1800s, with railroads bolstering employment until well into the 1950s.

According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago History Blue Island’s population, “plateaued at 16,000 to 21,000 between 1930 and 1990; but during the 1990s, the city appeared to revive.” Today, the Blue Island business community is a “vital, bustling group of literally thousands of workers who operate hundreds of progressive companies.” The role of the Blue Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry is to “coordinate marketing and networking efforts, as well as act as a liaison with various municipal bodies.” And its strong member base enables the Chamber “to effectively promote Blue Island as a great place to live, work, and run a business.” Additionally, the Blue Island Park District offers “clubs and activities for all, and supervises seven parks, an outdoor swimming pool and batting cages.”

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