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Renting an Apartment in Calumet City
Calumet City is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The
population was 39,072 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 60409.
Calumet City (commonly referred to locally as "Cal City") was founded in 1892
when the villages of Schrumville and Sobieski Park merged under the name of West
Hammond, since it lies on the west side of the Illinois-Indiana border from
Hammond, Indiana. In 1924, West Hammond officially changed its name to Calumet
City.
In addition to being bordered to the east by Hammond, it is also bordered by
Burnham to the north, Lansing to the south, and South Holland and Dolton to the
west.
The First World War
When the United States entered the Great War (later known as World War I) in
1917, patriotic fervor led to many young men enlisting in the armed forces, and
nowhere was that patriotism greater than in West Hammond, which saw a larger
percentage of its population, per capita, enlist than any other community in the
nation. Even many members of the town's sizable German population signed up for
the military to fight the Central Powers. A bronze plaque bearing the names of
every citizen who served in the war was dedicated at West Hammond's Memorial
Park in 1922.
"Sin City"
However, with the onset of Prohibition in 1919, West Hammond/Calumet City
quickly became known for something other than its patriotism. Bootleggers found
local officials and police willing to turn a blind eye, and the town became a
magnet for speakeasies, gambling, and prostitution. A multitude of illegal
nightclubs sprang up throughout the town, and were particularly concentrated on
a stretch of State Street that quickly became known regionally and, eventually,
nationally as "The Strip," just as Calumet City was dubbed the original American
"Sin City." With the repeal of the Volstead Act and the return of legal liquor
in 1933, Calumet City's speakeasies converted into lawful nightclubs, many of
them owned or influenced by organized crime elements from Chicago (including Al
Capone, who owned a "getaway" home in Calumet City). Clubs, saloons and taverns
continued to prosper in Calumet City, and a new record was set when it was
determined that the town had more liquor licenses per capita than any other
community in the nation. Many of the clubs featured Las Vegas-style showgirl
revues, as well as such marquee talent as Frank Sinatra, Sophie Tucker, Keith
Speaks, and Gypsy Rose Lee.
By the 1960s, shadier elements had moved in to control the town's bars,
gambling, narcotics and prostitution rings when the federal government began
cracking down on the large crime families, breaking up their illicit holdings
and sending mob bosses to prison. In the following decades, Calumet City's Strip
was no longer seen as a sort of "Northern Las Vegas," but instead was infamous
as a place to acquire drugs and prostitutes, and as home to a string of seedy
bars that were a shadow of the nightclubs that had once reigned there.
In the 1980s and after, reformist efforts succeeded in closing down many of
Calumet City's bars, and the State Street Strip today is essentially an
industrial park.
The Smiley Towers
A notable landmark and point of pride among Cal City residents is their two
large water towers painted like the popular "Have a Nice Day" smiley faces: The
Smiley Towers (external link) The following history of the Smiley Towers was
found in the 1995 Calumet City Community Guide:
"The Story Behind the Smile"
Some huge smiles have been shedding a positive light on Calumet City since 1973.
The lemon-yellow Smiley Face water towers — one at River Oaks Center and the
other at Paxton Avenue and Dolton Ave — were an idea suggested by Kim Fornero.
Then a child, she could see one of the towers from her home and thought it would
“look cute with a smiley face on it,” recalled Dennis Bonic, director of the
Calumet City Water Department.
The 1970s were the era of the smiley face. These happy faces appeared on
everything from buttons to lunch boxes.
Fornero appealed to then Mayor Robert Stefaniak, and he and the city council
agreed to have the towers painted. The move made national headlines.
“There was a big to-do about it when they went up on 1973,” Bonic said. “It went
national. It was on network TV before I even came to the Water Department.”
It was one of the first times anybody thought to use a water tower as a
municipal billboard, he said. Other cities soon followed Calumet City's example
and began putting symbols, slogans and insignias on their water towers.
The Smiley Face towers were heralded as a “progressive community project and a
daily reminder to smile,” Bonic said.
The River Oaks tower, known as "Mr. Smiley Face”, sports a bow tie on its
“neck”. The other tie-less tower is affectionately known as either “Mrs." or
"Miss” Smiley Face”.
"I think everyone likes to see a smiley face and think about the city in a
positive light,” he said "It's just a reminder to look on the bright side of
things."