Taylor Street

Chicago�s Near West Side was and is the city�s most famous Italian enclave, earning it the title of �Little Italy.� Italian immigrants came to Chicago as early as the 1850s, before the massive waves of immigration from 1874 to 1920. They settled in small pockets throughout the city, but ultimately the heaviest concentration was on or near Taylor Street, the main street of Chicago�s Little Italy. At one point a third of all Chicago�s Italian immigrants lived in the neighborhood. Some of their des