McAdoo Heights is a neighborhood located just south of State Street, between Elm and Church Streets, on the fringe of Old Irving Park. It was developed in the early 1900's as a commercial and residential community for mill workers. The close-knit community, known as a "town within a city," flourished until the 1940's (reference). It had restaurants, a hardware store, grocery stores, a movie theater, a school,many churches, and its own police officer. Street names include: Golden Gate, Newlyn, Macy, Bernard, Roseland, Buffalo, Georgia, Palm, and Shelton. In earlier years, it was also known as "The Heights."
As we drove around this neighborhood last weekend, we did get a sense of the charm of McAdoo Heights. The community garden, on Golden Gate Drive, is just lovely. Many houses are decorated for Halloween and and, the day we were there, several families out enjoying the fall afternoon. The above house, at 200 East Newlyn Street is larger than many of the one-story mill houses in the neighborhood. It was built in the 1928, also a little earlier than many in the neighborhood. The high triangles of the peaked roofline at the entrance are quite welcoming and the light blue door makes it clear where one it to enter. We'd like to think it has the character of an "anchor" house for the neighborhood the way it stands, in all its glory, on the corner of Georgia and East Newlyn.
We wonder if there is a connection between McAdoo Heights and the retired, professional basketball star, Bob McAdoo who is from Greensboro. He graduated from Smith High School (in the late 1960's) and is currently an assistant coach for the Miami Heat. Maybe Coach McAdoo is the keeper of some great information about this cozy little neighborhood with his same name. Any and all pieces of information would be greatly appreciated.
Today is ABC Wednesday and M is for McAdoo Heights. For our A-L neighborhood pages, look here.
*informative reference here.
