Swedes and the dispersalon an ethinic enclave

A small number of Swedish pioneers had established in the city before 1880. The settlement patterns of Swedes between 1880 and 1920 differed markedly from that of other new immigrants. When Russian Jews or Poles came to Chicago in the 1880s and 1890s, they wew ethinic pioneer. Swedes who came to Chicago in the 1880s, found three established Swedish neighborhoods. The largest was Swede Town on the Near North Side thru the north branch of the Chicago River; about half of Chicago's original Swedish community resided here. Two smaller communities were located on the Near West Side and the Near South Side.

Those immigrants of the 1880s, 1890s, and 1900s benefited from the path breaking initiatives of earlier Swedish immigrants. The older Swedish immigrants fled the inner city and dispersed throughout the outlying regions of the city as the waves of new immigrants camt to Chicago. Many newer Swedish immigrant for those who came during the "new immigration" joined them and avoided the downtown slums. The early migration of Swedes to outlying areas inhibited the formation of distinct Swedish enclaves; Swedish community was Andersonville, located newa Clark Street and Foster Avenue. The dispersal of the majority of Swedish immigrants throughout the Chicago area also quickly assimilated the Swedes, since they distinguished themselves from other immigrants who were forced into older inner-city housing.

Other immigrant groups came to Chicago around 1900 as well. Though this selective survey has omitted discussion of Lithuanians, Austrians, Hungarians, and the Dutch, the theme of this chapted should be clear. Although all major American cities experienced the inlux of European immigrants, the number of immigrants coming into Chicago was especially large.
By 1900, Chicago had more Poles, Swedes, Czechs, Dutch, Danes, Norwegians, Croantians, Slovaks, Lithuanians, and Greeks than any other city in the United States. It is even more astonishing that the vast number of European newcomers to be city enabled Chicago to proclaim itself at one time or another the largest Lithuanian city in the world, the second largest Czech city in the world, and the third largest Irish, Swedish, Polish, and Jewish city in the world.