Uptown
Norman Rexford came to Chicago from Charlotte, Vermont in 1835 and became the first permanent settler of Blue Island when he established the Blue Island House inn there in 1836. (The site where the building stood can best be described using current landmarks as being at the confluence of Western Avenue and Gregory Street just north of the Western Avenue bridge.) Before Rexford built the Blue Island House, he had constructed a four-room log cabin in the wilderness at the north end of the blue island ridge that he intended as a tavern for wayfarers, but after a year realized that the place was not likely to be profitable for him and began to look for another site where he might have more success. Although farther from the settlement at Chicago (which by that time was incorporated and had a population of several thousand persons) and Fort Dearborn by about three miles (5 km), the new inn was better situated because it was located on the Wabash Road (in Blue Island now Western Avenue), which was then a part of the Vincennes trail that went from Chicago to Vincennes, Indiana. It was considerably larger and more refined than Rexford's previous venture, being a 2 1⁄2-story white frame building that also had various outbuildings to accommodate the needs of his guests. Because it was a day's journey from Chicago, within a few years the inn became the nucleus for a group of businesses that catered to the soldiers, cattlemen (with their herds) and other travelers who arrived by stagecoach or otherwise frequented the Vincennes trail.
From this time and through the 1970s, Blue Island's central business district ('uptown' to the locals) was regarded as an important regional commercial center, with stores such as Woolworth's, Kline's, Sears, Montgomery Ward, Spiegel and Steak 'n Shake. Today, downtown Blue Island is better known for its antique stores, art galleries, ethnic delicatessens and fine dining.
Much of this shift in business activity has been brought on by "big box" development outside of town that space constraints make it impossible for uptown to accommodate. To this day Blue Island maintains a healthy business climate, though, as is evidenced by the fact that several local businesses have served the area for generations. DeMar's Restaurant, for example, opened its doors in 1950, Jebens Hardware was established in 1876, and Krueger Funeral Home was founded in 1858.
As a nod to the 21st Century, however, the city and a dedicated group of volunteers, working with The Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago and the Center for Neighborhood Technology have devised the Blue Island Plan for Economic Development which addresses not only the commercial expansion of the historic uptown business district, but the continued improvement of the housing stock and industrial base as well.
Moraine Valley Community College operates a satellite facility uptown.
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