Back of the Yards (New City)

The Back of the Yards neighborhood is the second neighborhood of extreme Chicago poverty and extreme gang activity that dates all the way back to the 19^th century, second behind the Cabrini Green area of the Near North Side neighborhood.

The area was first platted and settled in the year 1865 when the construction of the Union Stock Yards began that opened on Christmas Day of that year.  The area was a part of Lake Township that was developed in the year 1850.  Lake Township would offer a major stock yard, slaughterhouse, and meat packing plant that offered to employ thousands of newly arrived immigrants.  Irish and German immigrants were the first to arrive and settle in this area as they had no means for transportation nor could they afford public transportation.  The area was platted with several cheap homes and apartment buildings that could easily house the impoverished immigrants for a cheap rate.  The city of Chicago heavily discriminated against the Irish back in these days but the town of “Lake” was perfect for them due to how cheap it was to live here.

The stock yards dumped gallons of carnal waste of animal remnants and refuses into the Chicago River polluting the water giving it the term “Bubbly Creek.”  The stock yards would dump other waste in the streets and all around because there was no regulation due to the area being severely impoverished and neglected.  The streets were not paved and there was no sewage system in this town as trash was strewn about in the streets and especially the alleyways.  Workers lived in already dilapidated buildings with no toilets or running water.  Many slept on dirt ground over pieces of cardboard.  These horrid conditions gave rise to Irish street gangs that roamed the neighborhood looking to steal food and other items and to also brawl with other Irish gangs.  Crooked ward bosses, business men and crooked politicians found the area to be ripe with young thugs looking for any opportunity to make even a penny by doing a dirty deed.  The Irish gang members would be paid to terrorize voters, cause damage to businesses or even hurt someone in exchange for a small payment from the crooked ward bosses. The cycle would continue once these Irish gang members grew older and became active in politics in Chicago’s corrupt political machine.

Irish gangs bullied the German youths in the neighborhood and also newly arrived Czech youths in the 1870s.

The Irish gangs were controlled by crooked politics and by the Irish Mafia that originated in the Near North Side neighborhood.

In the 1880s Polish immigrants made their way into this town of Lake and took up employment in the stock yards, the yards loved employing them because they were seen as “strikebreakers,” which were newer employees that were more grateful to deal with low pay and the harsh and long working hours.

The gangs of Lake were harsh and violent even back in the 1880s; Irish gangs like the Bearfoots, Hamburgs, Old Rose Athletic Club, Shielders, Dukies were the dominating forces in the neighborhood and now had influence in Canaryville and Bridgeport.

In the 1880s the first generations of Irish gang bangers had grown up and were in alumni versions of these gangs as they took up many political positions while still being gang affiliated.  In the year 1889 the town of Lake was annexed into the City of Chicago and the community near the Union Stock Yards became known as the “Back of The Yards” while the mostly Irish neighborhood to the east was known as “Canaryville.” The whole area that encompassed both neighborhoods became the official neighborhood of “New City.”  The Back of The Yards name came from the fact that the community was built around the Union Stock Yards, it also referenced how the stock yards dumped all their waste into the back yards of the residents.

In that same year of 1889 Samuel Gross built several “working man’s Cottages” that were small, affordable homes for workers; however, they would soon deteriorate just like the rest of the neighborhood.

In the 1890s African Americans began taking up employment in the stock yards and in the 1900s-decade Lithuanian and Slovak immigrants also began employment in the yards and took up residence.

In the 1900s decade many of the Irish and Germans had achieved some upward mobility and moved to Canaryville and Bridgeport or elsewhere.  Many achieved that mobility from getting government jobs or becoming involved in organized crime.

During World War I a small cluster of Mexican immigrants came to live and work in the Back of The Yards community making the neighborhood even more of a cultural melting pot.  The cultures would clash throughout the years in the neighborhood and in the stock yards among workers.

On July 27^th 1919 a massive race riot broke out in Chicago when a black teenager drowned to death at 29^th Street and Lake Michigan in the Douglas neighborhood.  This neighborhood was struggling with black and white race relations since the neighborhood was changing from white to black.  The beach in Douglas had an unofficial racial divide at 29^th Street and a black teenager accidentally crossed that line, and a group of white youths felt justified in throwing rocks which struck the boy’s head causing him to fall in the water to his death.  This sparked a massive war on the south side between whites and blacks that even resulted in shootings and deaths.  15 white men were killed in the riots while 23 blacks were killed.  The police did very little to stop the rioting as they were on the side of the white man.  The state militia needed to intervene since the city had no interest in putting down the uprising.  The rioting and brawling happened all around the New City neighborhood.  The Irish gangs of Canaryville gained a major reputation for battling invading gangs of blacks that were trying to cross over into the neighborhood or near it during the riots.  The Irish gangs fought savagely and from there on, Canaryville gangs became well known, and Canaryville was said to be one of the toughest of neighborhoods when in reality the Back of The Yards was much crazier as Canaryville has always been a neighborhood that tried to remain stable and middle class.

In the 1930s the Great Depression era threatened to make conditions worse for workers and for the community living standards as a whole, but the now mostly Polish populace decided they had enough of this and began forming the Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee and the Back of The Yards Neighborhood Council that worked tirelessly to force the stockyards to provide better working conditions in the yards and also to regulate the yards from polluting the neighborhood to death. By 1939 they had achieved their goal and better conditions and pollution control helped better the community.  The Union Stock Yards employed over 40,000 Chicagoans by their peak in the 1940s but by 1952 the development of trucking routes to export and import meat around the country called for a closing of several meat packing houses and as the 1950s progressed employment in the area began to downsize causing more poverty and socioeconomic problems this brought about another breed of street gangs known as greaser gangs.

The Back of The Yards and Canaryville had the most violent greaser gangs in the entire city that were known to be the toughest in the city. Greaser type gangs began forming as early as the late 1940s.  The Rebels formed in 1949 and became the most notorious gang in the Back of the Yards.  The Rebels were one tough group as they quickly dominated the neighborhood by the early 1950s.

The Rebels fought outside gangs mostly as they slugged in out with groups like Chinatown Dragons and Sons of Italy.  The Spartans were another gang that tried to exist, but they ended up joining the Rebels in 1956.  The Rebels would make the news multiple times in between 1956 and 1958 growing their forces more.  The attention brought heat on the Rebels by 1959 and a group of some of the toughest of the original Rebels formed the notorious Saints.

The later 1950s brought even more gang violence as racial tensions between blacks, Hispanics and whites south of 51st Street and in the Englewood neighborhood and West Englewood brought about the rise of new gangs and severe gang violence.  African Americans were settling along Garfield Boulevard on the Englewood/Back of the Yards border as early as the 1940s but gangs like the “Rebels” fought viciously to keep blacks and other undesirables out.  The Rebels fought the “Blackstone Raiders” in the mid-50s.

Starting in 1960 the Saints became much more known as a new generation of Saints became heavily involved in gangbanging.  This group was pre-teen age and less known about in their earliest years.

The 1960s saw the formation of several more greaser gangs and also the formation of the Puerto Rican Village Sharks gang by 1962. A Puerto Rican settlement wave came to the area of Garfield Boulevard and Halsted.  This settlement would be under attack by Back of the Yards white gangs and Englewood black gangs.  The youths then formed the Village Sharks for protection.

In the 1960s several other new gangs started that were mainly breakaway groups from the Rebels like Muscaduddlers, Demons, Cornell Dukes, Cherry Busters and others.

The second generation of Saints would grow older by 1964 and became well-known in the area as this was the first time most of the neighborhood had heard of the Saint’s existence.  In the early 60s only a small amount of the neighborhood had heard of the Saints.

There was also the formation of the Gaylords in 1966 at Garfield Boulevard and Ashland.  This white group fought black gangs from Englewood and groups like the Saints and Cornell Dukes.

African Americans were attempting to settle in the southern part of the community south of 51st Street by the later 1960s and early 1970s and this resulted in a race war between whites and blacks in the community after blacks began to cross the Garfield Boulevard line. The Hispanic youths also felt strongly about blacks moving in as well.

Another wave of Puerto Rican families moved to the 55th and Halsted area which brought in the Emerald Knights street gang that came from the north side in 1966.  Emerald Knights and Village Sharks became allies that fought the same enemies.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a larger influx of Mexican migration into the neighborhood and the last of the greaser gangs were active at this time including the Sherman Park Gaylords that arrived in 1966 but where gone by 1980.

The Back of The Yards community had a very high rate of poverty especially after the stock yards closed in 1971.

By 1972 the Emerald Knights and Village Sharks had absorbed into the new Latin Souls group.

The Latin Kings began moving into this area is 1972 but did not yet establish a section; however, their presence angered Latin Souls and Saints.  The Saints were upset about the arrival of an outsider gang like the Latin Kings and engaged in violent warfare with them as the Latin Kings were the first outsiders to settle here.

By the late 1970s the Saints and Latin Souls completely dominated all of the Back of The Yards community as white greaser gangs had completely faded out, the neighborhood was pretty much all Souls and Saints and these gangs swelled into hundreds maybe even in the thousands in membership by 1980.  Freshly arrived Mexican migrants began moving into the neighborhood north of 51st Street by 1980 as Mexican gangs from other neighborhood infiltrated the area causing conflict with Latin Souls and Saints.

The Party Players would arrive in 1977 but were just a party crew and not a gang which mostly gave them neutrality with the Latin Soul and Saint conflict.

The Latin Souls themselves closed Garfield and Halsted and moved further north along 49^th to 51^st Streets.  This caused the war between Latin Souls and Saints to worsen.

The Satan Disciples settled at the intersection of 51st and Wood in 1980 while Two Six settled at 47th and Damen right near the Saints in 1980.  Saints and Two Six then broke out into a very nasty war being close in proximity.  The war between Saints and Satan Disciples also became legendary.  The Two Sixs would eventually expand their territory and take 47th to 51st then Hoyne to Winchester which would later cause violence with the Satan Disciples at 51st and Wood by the later 1980s.  The Bishops also arrived in 1980 and settled at 53rd and Winchester. The Bishops also flipped many members of what was left of the Gaylords.  The Two Two Boys would arrive at 51st and Wood in 1980 as they were granted access by the Satan Disciples due to the fact they were both Folks and the Two Twos had just joined Folks.  The 51s and Ada Latin King branch was officially established in the year 1980 which brought a massive war between them and Satan Disciples and Latin Souls near them.

In the year 1980, most of the white population had left the 51st Street to 55th Street area as the area was mostly Hispanic and black.  The Black P Stones from Englewood and the Mickey Cobras moved into the 54th and Bishop area to Halsted area.  The Mickey Cobras would be eliminated in 1985 by the Black P Stones but these Black P Stones were to stay permanently as an extension of “Moe Town.”

In the midst of all the new gang violence by the early 1980s, there was a rise of party crew gangs.  Three of them were very significant, the Party Players, 48th Street Boys and the City Knights.  These three crews were dominant over the other many crews in the neighborhood.  throughout the 1980s crews like the D-Boys, Latin Taste, Latin Touch Boys and the Nightcrew flipped to join other gangs but not the Party Players and City Knights they continued on well into the 21st century.

By the year 1985 gang violence would escalate as La Raza migrated into the neighborhood and flipped all the 48th Street Boys to La Raza. The 48th and Laflin La Raza became very notorious as they bopped heads with all the other gangs in the neighborhood.

The El Rukns took out the Mickey Cobras from 54th and Bishop and this intersection ended up becoming the capital of the Jet Black Stones, a Black P Stone branch in the mid-1980s.

South of 51st Street the houses in this part of the Back of the Yards became the home of severely impoverished black Chicagoans which resulted in many of the homes to become run down and many became vacant deteriorating properties.

The neighborhood turned into a worse war zone especially as the 1990s rolled in.  The Back of The Yards is one of the first gangster neighborhoods and still is an area full of gangs and violence.

Some conflicts cooled off in the early 1990s due to new alliances.  The Party Players and Saints both made the decision to join the People alliance which stopped their wars with Latin Kings. This would only last until 1994 when the Saints and Latin Kings went back to war.

The Two Two Boys left the area in 1992 due to a war with the Satan Disciples.

In the 1990s the dominant gangs shifted to being Saints and Two Six.  In the last two decades the Saints and La Raza are the largest gangs.

There are many abandoned and deteriorated buildings south of 51st Street, this southern part of the Back of The Yards in pretty much an urban blighted area that is often not spoken about.  This area is highly distressed with several vacant lots and long shuttered homes and buildings.  The southern part of this community borders the Englewood and West Englewood neighborhoods which are the most blighted and dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago, the crime and gang activity from these two neighborhoods has been crossing over the Garfield Boulevard border since the 1960s and has intensified since the 1980s. This is mainly because gangs that protected that border like the Gaylords and Latin Souls had left that area by 1980, allowing black street gangs to move in.

The neighborhood is mostly Mexican in the northern part north of 51st Street and has very few shuttered homes and businesses, this is not a blighted area.

Most of the white populace of New City is in Canaryville.  New City is still one of the harder and more violent neighborhoods in Chicago and is the home to many hardened gang elements.  New City, more specifically Back of The Yards is the birthplace of the Latin Souls, Saints, the City Knights.  Two Six, Satan Disciples, Latin Kings and La Raza continue to have territory here and are the most successful of the migratory gangs.  The Bishops would eventually establish a very close alliance with Latin Kings in the year 1992 but for some reason they still faded out of the area eventually.

This area’s largest of gangs are Two Six, Saints, La Raza and in recent year the Gangster Disciples have migrated to the community in recent decades and have grown to be one of the larger groups.  The Black P Stones continue to be a major force south of 51^st.

In the 1950s Back of the Yards was dominated by the Rebels

In the 1960s Back of the Yards was dominated by the Saints and then the Gaylords and Black P Stones at the end of the decade

In the 1970s Back of the Yards was dominated by Saints, Latin Souls and Black P Stones

In the 1980s Back of the Yards was dominated by Saints, Latin Souls and Black P Stones

In the 1990s Back of the Yards was dominated by Saints, Latin Souls, Black P Stones and Two Six

In the 2000s up to present Back of the Yards has been dominated by Saints, La Raza, Black P Stones, Two Six and Gangster Disciples.

Here is the list and locations of the major Back of the Yards gangs since the 1960s:

Black P Stones Established 1980-present years

52^nd to 53^rd, Paulina to Ashland (Murdafield Moe Town)

51^st to 52^nd, Loomis to Laflin (Moe Town) Established 1966

53^rd to 55^th, Ashland to Laflin (L-Station SODMG Moe Town, Former Rubenite Stones 55^th and Ashland) Established 1966

50^th to 52^nd, Racine to Aberdeen (Folly Boyz Moe Town)

54^th to 55^th, Bishop to Loomis (Back Block Moe Town) Established 1966

Morgan from 52^nd to 54^th (D Block Moe Town)

52^nd to 53^rd, Sangamon to Peoria (KTC Moe Town)

52^nd to 53^rd, Green to Halsted (GCE Moe Town)

51^st to 55^th, Ashland to Union (Moe Town) Established 1966

51^st & Lowe (Jets)

53rd from Racine to May

Halsted from 53rd to 54^th (Jets)

55^th & Carpenter

55^th & Racine

51^st to 53^rd, Union to Wallace (Low Life Moe Town)

Bishops Established 1980-2000s

53^rd & Wolcott

53^rd & Winchester Established 1980-2000s

Gaylords Established 1966-1980

55^th & Ashland Established 1966-1980

Latin Counts

48^th & Morgan

Saints Established 1959-present years

43^rd to 47^th, Damen to Ashland (Halo City, Heaven, Psycho Side, De La Wood) Established 1959-present years

48^th & Paulina

Party Players Established 1977-present years

48^th & Wolcott Established 1982 (Player Town)

48^th & Racine Established 1977-1982

48^th & Wood

Latin Kings Established 1980-present years

51^st & Ada settled 1972, official in 1980

52^nd & Marshfield

Two Six Established 1980-present years

47^th to 51^st, Hoyne to Winchester (Damen Two Six) Established 1980-present years

City Knights Established 1980-2010s

47^th & Rockwell Established 2000

48^th & Wood Established 1980 (Valley of Death)

Satan Disciples Established 1980-present years

Oakley 50^th to 51^st

Wood from 50^th to 51^st Established 1980

48^th & Bishop

Two Two Boys Established 1980-1992

51^st & Wood (Shared with the Satan Disciples) Established 1980-1992

La Raza Established 1985-present years

47^th to 49^th, Ashland to Racine (48^th Side) Established 1980 as 48^th Street Boys, 1985 as La Raza

50^th & Hoyne

Mickey Cobras Established 1980-1985

54^th & Bishop

Gangster Disciples

Winchester from 51^st to 53^rd

Wolcott from 51^st to 53^rd

Honore from 51^st to 53^rd (LOC GDs)

Hermitage from 51^st to 53^rd

51^st & Hoyne (HSGs)

Damen & James

53^rd & Wood

51st to 55th, Hoyne to Damen (Damenville)

51st to 52nd, Wood to Paulina (LOC City)

Wood from 54th to 55th (QMB)

50th to 51st, Morgan to Halsted (50 Strong OBE)

53^rd & Union (Rag Town)

55^th & Emerald (Rag Town)

Latin Souls Established 1971-present years

48^th to 51^th, Wolcott to Marshfield (Chief Town, Murderfield) Established 1980

55^th & Halsted Established 1962 as Village Sharks, 1966 as Emerald Knights, closed 1980

55^th & Racine (Sherman Park)

Spanish Gangster Disciples

47^th & Wolcott

Stone Kents

51^st & Ada (as Stone Kents shared with Latin Kings)

Villa Lobos Established 1966-1970s

47th Street somewhere

Conservative Vice Lords

54^th to 55^th, Winchester to Wolcott (Tytoland)

51^st& Laflin

All images below are of vacant buildings at the time of the photo.  All photos are courtesy of Google Maps