Morgan Park started out as North Blue Island, named for its place on the Blue Island Ridge just north of the town of Blue Island. Thomas Morgan, an Englishman who arrived in 1844, ran cattle and sheep on the land for about 25 years. In 1869 the Blue Island Land and Building Company bought three thousand acres from his family, laid out streets and planted thousands of trees. The village joined Chicago in 1914.
The lines around Morgan Park
107th Street is the border with Beverly on the north. The east side follows Halsted Street above 115th and Ashland Avenue below it. 119th Street, the city limit, is the southern edge, and on the west the line runs roughly along California Avenue and takes in Mount Greenwood Cemetery. About three quarters of the community uses the 60643 ZIP, which it shares with Beverly; most of the rest is 60655.
The drive in from West Pullman
From our base at 11616 S Yale Ave, a truck runs south on Princeton Avenue, west on 115th Street, south on Ashland and then onto Monterey Avenue. Call it three miles. Morgan Park sits right next to West Pullman along Ashland, so this is one of the quicker runs on our list.
Ridge slopes, ravines and long driveways
Morgan Park sits on a glacial bluff, and the land isn’t flat everywhere. Some of the largest houses, a few of them estate-sized, sit up on the ridge along Longwood Drive. Further south there’s history in the terrain: settlers in the 1840s described a deep, steep ravine near today’s Vincennes Avenue between 115th and 121st Streets as a hideout for horse thieves, and it was known as Horse Thief Hollow.
That matters for a pickup more than you’d think. A car at the top of a sloped drive, or in a garage at the back of a deep lot, is a different job from one at the curb. Tell us about the slope and the distance on the call. The driver then arrives knowing what the job is, and nobody wastes a trip.
If what’s in the garage is an old truck or van, that’s fine too. We buy trucks, vans and SUVs in any condition, running or not, and the tow costs you nothing.
A missing title doesn’t end the conversation either. Tell us which papers you have for the junk car, such as a bill of sale, a registration or an insurance card. The state’s rules govern which ones are acceptable for scrapping, and we sort that out with you on the call.
A car that won’t move, on a Morgan Park street
None of the Winter Overnight Parking Ban streets in the city’s list cross Morgan Park; the closest is 103rd Street, up in Beverly. The rule to watch here is the abandoned-vehicle one. A car that hasn’t moved in more than seven days and looks deserted can be reported to 311 and towed to a city pound, where an unclaimed vehicle is eventually sold for scrap.
Some owners hold on to a dead car because they plan to sell the parts first. Our guide to parting out a car versus selling it whole walks through when that’s worth the effort and when it isn’t.
Stations, schools and other Morgan Park markers
The Rock Island Line’s Beverly branch has three Morgan Park stops, at 107th, 111th and 115th Streets. The 111th Street station, a Queen Anne building designed by John T. Long, stands just east of Bohn Park, and the stations at 107th, 111th and 115th are part of the Beverly/Morgan Railroad District, made a Chicago Landmark in 1995.
111th Street itself was once called Morgan Avenue. Other easy references: Morgan Park High School, Morgan Park Academy (founded in 1873), Esmond Elementary in one of the oldest Chicago Public Schools buildings, and the St. Cajetan and St. Walter schools. On Longwood Drive, the former home of Rotary founder Paul Harris at 10856 S. Longwood Dr. and the Mercy Home for Girls at 116th Street are both well known. The Beverly Arts Center and the Chicago Police Department’s 22nd District headquarters are in Morgan Park too.
Morgan Park’s neighbours
North across 107th Street is Beverly, which shares the ridge and the 60643 ZIP. West of California Avenue is Mount Greenwood. And along 107th east of Vincennes, Morgan Park meets Washington Heights.
To see what happens after you call, read how it works.