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Ashburn consists of: Scottsdale, Marycrest and Parkview.
Close enough to busy retail corridors for convenience, yet far enough to offer its residents peace and quiet, Ashburn is a friendly little neighborhood of sturdy brick homes and shady, tree-lined streets that features handy commuter train access to downtown Chicago. Centered about family life, nice houses, good schools, and beautiful public playlots, Ashburn is a semi-suburban setting that caters to the city dweller who appreciates a little space. A community recreation building and over 15 acres of open parkland provide the ideal spot for kids to play after class and for residents of all ages to participate in workshops and city league sports. Tennis, swimming, jogging, basketball - this Chicago neighborhood has it all.
The houses in Ashburn are distinctly different from those in its sister community of Scottsdale to the west. While you’ll still see many of the ranch-style homes that characterize Scottsdale’s residential streets, far more vintage brick houses are found in Ashburn, on blocks shaded by older and larger trees. You’ll also spot a number of split-levels and Cape Cod-style houses which usually have their own garages and front and back yards. Over 90 percent of the dwellings here are single-family, and fewer than nine percent are rentals.
We’d love to say that Ashburn got its name from a beautiful grove of ash trees that flourished here until its tragic destruction during the Great Chicago Fire. However, since ash trees are not even native to the Midwest, we have to admit that the name has nothing to do with trees or tragedies. The fact is, Ashburn earned its moniker because it served as a dumping ground for Chicagoans’ furnace and fireplace ashes during the 1800s. Oh well, life can’t be all romance!
Even after it was annexed by Chicago in 1889, its lowly status, marked by scattered pyramids of soot and ash, kept the area sparsely populated for decades. In the mid-1890s struggling immigrants from Holland, Sweden and Ireland established a presence here, constructing a couple dozen homes, but it hardly represented a notable building boom.
By 1905 there were still fewer than 50 houses in Ashburn. The Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway laid down its tracks through the heart of the community but failed to inspire much related construction. In addition, Chicago’s first airport, the Ashburn Flying Field, kept 67 acres on the west side of Ashburn from being developed for homes or businesses until the 1950s. It wasn’t until the post-WWII era that Ashburn’s exploding population, growing from 7,000 residents to around 40,000 in a single decade, finally forced a transformation of the Ashburn neighborhood into the respectable, stable neighborhood that it is today.
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