As long as there have been cities, there have been folks who wanted to live, not just in the city, but as close to the thick of it as possible. Such is the story of this near west side Chicago neighborhood.

The area where United Center Park now exists was originally settled in the 1860s by Chicago elite who were looking for a comfortable neighborhood that was just a bit offset from the heavy downtown bustle and pollution. Eventually, though, these wealthy residents began to focus their attention—and property—closer to the Loop, which made plenty of room for the immigrant workers and lower-income families who subsequently discovered the convenience of the neighborhood's location. Before long, the area around Lake Street, Kinzie Street, and the Chicago River was settled with a mixture of Irish, African American, German, Czech, and French inhabitants. By the 1870s, much of United Center Park was filled with middle-class folks that came from a slew of international backgrounds.

As a result, trade businesses and manufacturing plants appeared on the scene throughout the 1870s and 1880s, relying on the wealth of laborers in the area and providing jobs for United Center Park residents. The next fifty years saw ebb and flow of demographic changes within the small community as one ethnic group aged and began to disappear; a new group of younger immigrants took its place. With the constant influx of new residents, a trend toward class structure and ethnic segregation arose among United Center Park inhabitants that continued throughout the rest of the century and on into the next.

As the century progressed, the construction of the Stevenson Expressway and the modification of existing modes of transportation brought a little more activity to United Center Park's history. In 1994, the United Center professional sports arena was constructed for a staggering 175 million dollars, drawing nationwide attention to the area. It stands as one of the largest arenas in the United States and hosts not only the world famous Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, but also dozens upon dozens of concerts each year.

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