Bronzeville Historic Buildings

Once home to Louis Armstrong and other notables, Bronzeville thrived as the vibrant center of black life in the city from 1920 to 1950, boasting an economic and cultural strength akin to New York’s Harlem. Shifting populations, urban decay and the construction of a wall of public housing along State St led to Bronzeville’s decline. In the last decade it started its comeback. Many young urban professionals have moved back to the neighborhood, and South Loop development stretches almost all the way here. Still, be careful at night; it’s not a good place to be walking around after dark.