Ford Heights (formerly East Chicago Heights) is a village and a suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2020 census. Many of the area’s first settlers were African American and since its incorporation in 1949 the village has remained predominantly Black. Due to the lack of commercial activity and financial stability, the village has declined over the years. Urban renewal efforts were attempted in the 1960s, although the village has continued to decline. Geography Ford Heights is located at . According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Ford Heights has a total area of , all land. The village lies on the edge of the Tinley Moraine. Surrounding areas Glenwood Chicago Heights Lynwood Chicago Heights Lynwood Chicago Heights Sauk Village Sauk Village History The area that would eventually become Ford Heights was first settled in the late 1840s. It served as a stopping point on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves fleeing to freedom. By the early 20th century, the area had developed into an agricultural community of farms operated mostly by Poles, Lithuanians, and Italians. After World War I, African Americans from the Southern U.S. migrated to the area and worked on the farms. A new subdivision known as the "Park Addition" was created on a farm road from Chicago Heights to Indiana, and it attracted residents to the area during the early 1920s. In 1924, 40 families successfully petitioned for electrical service. Soon after, the main east–west road became a two-lane concrete highway designated as U.S. Route 30, part of the transcontinental Lincoln Highway. By the 1930s, the Park Addition had telephone service and was known as East Chicago Heights. During the 1940s, Alberta Armstrong and others organized both black and white women in the community to raise funds for a new fire truck. By 1948, they had become the East Chicago Heights Citizens Association. East Chicago Heights was incorporated as a village in 1949. In the 1950 census, 1,548 people lived in the village – 76.9% of whom were black. The Ford Motor Company opened a stamping plant adjacent to the village in 1956. The company offered minorities an equal opportunity for well-paying jobs, and East Chicago Heights developed into a blue-collar community inhabited mostly by middle-class black families whose housing choices in suburban Chicago were severely limited at that time. The village's population more than doubled to 3,270