Washington Heights is the 73rd of Chicago's 77 community areas. Located from the Loop, it is on the city's far south side. Washington Heights is considered part of the Blue Island Ridge, along with the nearby community areas of Beverly, Morgan Park and Mount Greenwood, and the village of Blue Island. It contains a neighborhood also known as Washington Heights, as well as the neighborhoods of Brainerd and Fernwood. , Washington Heights had 27,453 inhabitants. Named for the heights which are now part of the adjacent Beverly, the area was settled in the late 19th century at the intersection of two railroad lines. It was incorporated as a village in 1874, and was annexed by Chicago in 1890. During most of the 20th century, Washington Heights was primarily inhabited by Irish, Germans and Swedes; after late-20th-century white flight, it has been mainly inhabited by African-Americans. The area largely retained its middle-class character during its racial transition, declining somewhat in recent years. Historically influenced by transit, Washington Heights includes the original site of the former Chicago Bridge & Iron Company. The Brainerd Bungalow Historic District and the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, home of the largest collection of African-American history in the midwestern United States, are in the area. History Etymology The area was named "Washington Heights" in honor of George Washington when a post office was established in 1869. The eponymous heights split off and became Beverly by 1900. Brainerd was named for E. L. Brainerd, who built a train station at 89th and Loomis Streets in 1887. Washington Heights was also known as Blue Island Ridge, Campbell's Woods, Dummy Junction, and North Blue Island. 19th century What is now Washington Heights was primarily inhabited by farmers from the 1830s to the 1860s. The earliest known non-indigenous settlers in the area were DeWitt Lane in 1832, and Norman Rexford and Jefferson Gardner in 1834. Gardner established a tavern in 1836, which was acquired by William Wilcox in 1844. Wilcox had well water on his farm, which he served to travellers on the Vincennes Trail to Indiana; his tavern (and many others in the area) was popular, since nearby Beverly prohibited the sale of alcohol. John Blackstone purchased the land bordered by modern-day Halsted Street, Western Avenue, 91st and 115th Streets in 1839. Potawatami Indians remained in the area until they were expelled by treaty and settled in modern-day Kansas and