The Near South Side was initially noted for wagon trails winding through a lightly populated bend of Lake Michigan . It was on one of these trails that the Fort Dearborn Massacre occurred in 1812 . This area was first populated by settlers working for the Illinois & Michigan Canal , who subsequently worked in the lumber district . Proximity to the railroads attracted light manufacturing and shops . In 1853 , the community was absorbed by the extension of the city limits to 31st Street ; in the same period , the Illinois Central Railroad was built into Chicago . In 1859 , a South State Street horse-drawn streetcar line , linking the area to downtown , attracted wealthy families to the area . By the time of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 , it was home to some of the city 's finest mansions and most elite social families , and in the 1890s the railroad 's Central Station opened at 12th Street . However , by the start of the 20th century , rapid transit evolved and many families moved slightly farther from the Loop business district . The railroads brought warehouses and light manufacturing . Michigan Avenue between 14th Street and 22nd Street became an auto row . The " Levee " vice district of brothels and gambling dens around Cermak Street and State Street prospered until 1912 . Burnham Park and several accompanying institutions were built in the 1910s and 1920s . World War I and post World War I Great Migration settlers moved in and created the low-rent " Black Belt " . Urban renewal and public housing projects later replaced some of the slums . In the 1940s , some of the city ’s slums were on the Near South Side
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Near South Side, Chicago