The historic community of Portage Park was given its name from an old Indian portage which connected the Des Plaines and Chicago Rivers. In the early 18th and 19th centuries, Native American members of the Pottawatomie, Ottawa, Chippewa, and Fox tribes frequented and portaged through the Portage Park area. This region was too wet and marshy for permanent settlement; however, the area had an abundant supply of beaver, elk, wild turkey, and a few bison. It became a convenient place for French fur traders and voyageurs to trade goods with the Native American tribes. All those who portaged through the area would go between the north branch of Chicago River and the Des Plaines River. When the park and surrounding community were established in the early part of the 20th century, the residents selected the name Portage Park in homage to the area’s early history. The word ”portage” means to carry canoes and supplies overland from one navigable water to another. The Pottawatomie word for portage is wbahawdon.

The Native Americans, and later the explorers and the trappers, used many portages in the Chicago area. However, a minor but relatively easy portage existed along what is now known as Irving Park Road. The trail was marshy and in wet weather almost be canoed. Two ridges ran parallel to the lake shore. One is now Cicero Avenue, and the other runs along present-day Narragansett forming the natural watershed between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes drainage systems. The two ridges generally held water between them making the portage easier. The Indians did not remain. Spring floods and marsh lands moved them elsewhere; however, they did leave us the legacy of Portage Park.

This significant portage connected the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes with the Des Plaines, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers which flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. The ridge between Narragansett and Harlem is a continental divide. Standing water in the savanna areas between natural ridges such as Milwaukee and Narragansett Avenues allowed canoes to float part of the way between the two ridges.

Not until after 1816 did settlers begin to arrive in this area. The Indians signed a treaty in that year giving the land south of the Indian boundary line, which runs southeast along Rogers Avenue and Forest Preserve Drive, to the United States. A continued conflict with the Blackhawk Indians that ended in 1832 prevented any substantial settlement until the mid-1830s.

The Northwest Plank Road, built as a toll road at a cost of $51,000, provided comparatively easy travel to and from booming Chicago. As a result, the 6 corners area began to grow rapidly.

The Chicago urban sprawl began to spill over to the Jefferson Township area in the 1860s. Workers and professionals sought to refuge from City noises. Newer residential areas sprung up along transportation lines, especially the new Chicago Northwestern Railroad. The CNW provided access to employment and shopping in the city.

In 1862, the first Jefferson Town Hall was built at the southeast corner of Irving Park and Milwaukee. People came to 6 Corners to shop. New stores and businesses were commonplace. The first real estate deal was the southwest corner of Cicero and Irving to developers Koester and Zander in 1889. This was also the year the town of Jefferson, including most of today’s Portage Park, was annexed to the city. The area remained a quiet suburban community until the Milwaukee streetcar line opened in 1907, and expansion began.

Farming in the area proved to be difficult, as the land remained marshy, and ditch digging was the only way to maintain dry property. Residential properties sprang up mostly in the northern and eastern sections. In 1912, neighbors formed the Portage Park District, and the following year the park district board of commissioners condemned 40 acres on the northeast corner of Irving Park Road and Central Avenue for the purpose of developing a park.

Initially the commissioners tried to raise money through a property tax. When residents objected that the tax was inequitable, and that it might lead to corruption and graft, the assessment was invalidated in court. It was soon discovered, however, the tax was an unnecessary measure since park development was progressing without it. A portion of the park officially opened in mid-summer 1916, and the Portage Park Citizen’s Celebration Association formed to organize park events.

Visitors to the park that summer enjoyed a cool swim in a small sand-bottomed lagoon. In the coming years, the park became a popular gathering place as other recreational facilities were added. In addition to the swimming lagoon, tennis courts and baseball fields were added, and in 1922 the Fieldhouse was completed. A spectacular Fourth of July festival was held, complete with parade and athletic exhibitions. Attendance reached an estimated 40,000 persons, who came from numerous Chicago neighborhoods. In 1934, Portage Park was merged into the Chicago Park District.

With improved transportation and the inducement of the beautiful park, developers began building homes and urban dwellers flocked to the community. By 1940, its population had risen to 66,357.

The center of social and athletic events remained at the park which had expanded to 36 acres and added eight tennis courts, an athletic field, a gymnasium with an indoor pool, and basketball courts by 1989. Portage Park features an Olympic-size swimming pool which was built for the 1959 Pan American Games, and was also the site for the 1972 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. The 1990 census indicated that the population in the community had decreased to 56,513 and consisted mainly of residents of Polish, Italian, Irish and German descent. By 2000, population had rebounded to 65,340, and included a diverse ethnic and racial mix 

The present community is a residential neighborhood with excellent shopping at the famous Six Corners Business district, and superior transportation, including the CNW, extensive RTA bus lines and the Kennedy Expressway with its Rapid Transit facility. There are many excellent schools, churches, hospitals, medical centers, and libraries. These amenities, along with friendly and helpful people, make Portage Park a fine place in which to live and work.