History:

Located just 13 miles west of Chicago's Loop business district, the Village of Bellwood boasts of a number of amenities that make it attractive to residents, businesses and visitors alike. Among those benefits and attractions are convenient transportation, as the Village is located at the juncture of the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) and the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). Bellwood is easily accessible from all directions and commuting to Chicago is easy with service from Union Pacific Railroad. In addition, O'Hare Airport is only 10 miles and a fast 20 minutes away.

Proud Bellwood residents note the high quality of Village services. An affordable housing stock, excellent police protection, a bustling park district, well-stocked public library and a school system that features computers for kindergarten students come together to make the Village the "place where you belong."

Bellwood in the 1960's continued to reflect what was going on in the nation as a whole. The Village took great pride in the race to the moon by watching native son and astronaut Eugene Cernan travel to space several times before his spectacular landing on the moon in the early 1970's. His footprints are the last ones left on the lunar surface. Cernan returned to Earth to a hero's welcome, especially in his hometown of Bellwood. Cernan was raised on the 900 block of Marshall Avenue. In his autobiography, "Last Man on the Moon", Cernan described his affection Bellwood. He also noted that the small size of his family home provided excellent training for the cramped quarters of a lunar module.

However, back on Earth, the pride of the space program and the nation's material achievements gave way to a growing consensus that true American greatness is possible only through the inclusion of all citizens in every facet of life. The Fair Housing Act of 1968, passed in the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination, brought the housing issue center stage. In 1970, Bellwood's African American population was 1%. By 1980 it was 35%. The 1990's saw Bellwood's African American population increase to 70%. As writer Dean Monti observed in his essay "White Flight", a cultural change and a change in economic status allowed blacks to buy housing wherever they wanted, including Bellwood.