Illinois has designated Milwaukee Avenue through Chicago and Niles as the Polish Heritage Corridor, and local Polish leaders and businesspeople say it will preserve culture and help businesses.
Niles Polish Deli sits just off Milwaukee Avenue, shown here on Jan. 23, 2023.
T-shirts on the wall at White Eagle Banquet Hall gift shop in Niles, shown Jan. 23, 2023, take a playful twist by adding the Polish eagle symbol to Chicago baseball teams' logos. “That area attracts a lot of Polish institutions, as well as Polish stores, taverns, dance clubs, things like that,” Pacyga said. “So this just became the capital of Chicago’s Polonia. And Chicago itself became sort of the capital of the American Polonia.”
Institutions also coalesced up Milwaukee Avenue and other nearby thoroughfares as the Polish-American community traveled northwest to Logan Square, Avondale, and beyond. They included the Polish Roman Catholic Union, the Polish Museum of America, the Polish Women’s Alliance and the Polish Veterans Association, Pacyga said – just to name a few.
When the banquet hall moved out to Niles in 1967, it needed parking spots for about 300 cars, Przybylo said. He said by the time his family sold the institution in 2015, it had space for more than 800 cars. Pogorzelski said he hoped the change would help attract people to the street as a way to learn about the area’s history.
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