constantly roiled its surface. The situation finally became so horrendous that the stream's upper reaches were filled in to rectify the problem. If industries created pollution, they also created many good industrial jobs and led to a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity. Irish, Germans, Swedes, English, and native-born Americans filled the industrial jobs of the 1870s. Even after 1900, when Poles and other Central Europeans came to the area, English prevailed as the street language, and the area was the most American of all settlements in the stockyard districts. Transportation had always been poor, but the 1880s and 1890s saw improvement and extension of the car lines on Archer Avenue and on 35th Street. As time passed, steel mills and brickyards closed and industries changed, replaced by new activities. The Central Manufacturing District was begun in 1905 on some along the south fork. In the late 1990s it was still operating, Pepsi-Cola was opening a new bottling plant, and the Wrigley Company was still making chewing gum. Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun-Times was building a mammoth publishing and distribution plant west of Ashland along the Chicago River. The beginning of the twentieth century led, after years of complaints by residents, to the creation of a park, which was named for President McKinley after his assassination. The park replaced Brighton Trotting Park established in 1855. The park now boasts a swimming pool and ice-skating rink. It is the area's showplace and led to the naming of the entire community. After years of declining populations, during the 1990s the population grew from 13,297 to 15,962, with Mexicans joining the ethnic mix. Well-kept two and four-flat buildings dominate the landscape, but new infill housing has begun to appear. Two stops on the Orange Line rapid transit have boosted property values and spurred development of a shopping mall on Archer and Ashland Avenue. Politics The McKinley Park community area has supported the Democratic Party in the past two presidential elections. In the 2016 presidential election, McKinley Park cast 2,696 votes for Hillary Clinton and cast 538 votes for Donald Trump (78.12% to 15.59%). In the 2012 presidential election, McKinley Park cast 2,340 votes for Barack Obama and cast 452 votes for Mitt Romney (81.70% to 15.78%). Culture McKinley Park is served by three neighborhood newspapers: the Bridgeport News, the Archer Journal News and the Brighton Park/McKinley Park Life, in addition to the online McKinley