Once part of Cicero Township in 1869 , the eastern section of North Lawndale to Pulaski Road was annexed to Chicago by an act of the state legislature . Thereafter , streets were platted and drainage ditches were installed between Western ( 2400 west ) and Pulaski Road ( 4000 west ) . The name " Lawndale " was supplied by Millard and Decker , a real estate firm which subdivided the area in 1870 . In 1871 , after the Great Chicago Fire , the McCormick Reaper Company ( later International Harvester ) constructed and occupied a new large plant in the South Lawndale neighborhood . As a result , many plant workers moved to eastern North Lawndale . The remaining area west of Crawford Avenue was annexed in 1889 by a resolution of the Cook County Commissioners
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
North Lawndale, Chicago