4 Best Sights in Logan Square, Chicago

Another Chicago under-the-radar gem, this park was designed by William Le Baron Jenney in the mid-1800s and his work was expanded upon several years later by Jens Jensen. The 1907 Prairie School boathouse is the park’s centerpiece, home to free cultural events and swan pedal boat rentals. The park has a formal garden, tennis courts, baseball fields, bike paths, and the city's only inland beach. In 2019 Humboldt Park temporarily became the subject of local obsession when an immature alligator---likely someone’s illegal pet---was spotted in its lagoon; rest assured Chance the Snapper (as he was lovingly dubbed) was quickly captured and relocated to a Florida gator sanctuary.

The house where author L. Frank Baum dreamed up The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has been replaced by an affordable housing complex. But Baum's connection to the corner lot hasn't been forgotten; in 2019, the current building's developer paved the sidewalks with yellow brick, and installed a colorful mosaic depicting Dorothy and the gang beneath the author's famous words, "There's no place like home."

The park that gives Logan Square its name can look a little worse for the wear---the colossal eagle-topped column at its center has seen its fair share of graffiti tagging---but that doesn’t stop locals from setting up shop for the afternoon with a book and a portable hammock. An old-world Norwegian church and restaurants with busy sidewalk patios fringe the square (really more of an oval), imparting a cosmopolitan vibe. Wide, rambling Kedzie and Logan Boulevards---two of the neighborhood’s loveliest assets---radiate outward from the park; pick out your dream mansion on a postprandial stroll.

Massive steel Puerto Rican flags proudly straddle the road along this six-block stretch of Division Street in Humboldt Park, marking out the nucleus of Chicago’s large Puerto Rican community. This is the place to be for mofongo and café con leche in easygoing sidewalk cafés. Keep your eyes peeled for murals by street artists and a walk of fame celebrating Puerto Rican luminaries.