Local Landmarks & Heritage
Local Landmarks & Heritage
- Union Stock Yard Gate
- Sherman Park
- Davis Square Park
- National Live Stock Bank Building
Neighborhood History
Neighborhood History
Back of the Yards takes its descriptive name from its location directly behind the Union Stock Yards, established in 1865 and once the largest meatpacking center in the country. Originally known as the Town of Lake, the community adopted its now-famous name in 1939 when residents founded the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, claiming the name as their own rather than the industrial identity imposed on them by outsiders.
The Union Stock Yard Gate, a limestone entrance designed by John Wellborn Root and now a National Historic Landmark, remains the neighborhood's most enduring monument, standing over Exchange Avenue long after the stockyards themselves closed in 1971. Sherman Park, designed by the Olmsted Brothers and D.H. Burnham & Co. in 1905, has anchored community life for generations of Irish, German, Polish, Lithuanian, Czech, and Slovak families who built the neighborhood.
Back of the Yards turned an industry that dehumanized its workers into a legacy of organized, self-determined community pride — a history MY-NHD's apparel is honored to carry forward.
MY-NHD
Back of the Yards - Chicago - Unisex Cotton Tee
Back of the Yards - Chicago - Unisex Cotton Tee
Couldn't load pickup availability
Back of the Yards lies directly behind the old Union Stock Yards, opened in 1865, and residents claimed the name for themselves when they founded their neighborhood council in 1939. The limestone Stock Yard Gate still stands over Exchange Avenue.
Share

Brings back memories of the many years I lived in the Back of The Yards!!!!