Edgewater neighborhood guide
Development
Edgewater began in the mid-1880s, when developer John Lewis Cochran bought lakefront land in the town of Lake View and laid out a subdivision with lakefront mansions and smaller houses to the west. After the Northwestern Elevated reached Howard Street in 1908, apartment buildings went up between Winthrop and Kenmore avenues. The Edgewater Beach Hotel opened in 1916 and closed in 1967; the Edgewater Beach Apartments from the late 1920s still stand. From the 1960s, high-rises replaced many Sheridan Road mansions, and four-plus-one buildings rose along Winthrop and Kenmore. The Bryn Mawr Avenue and Andersonville Commercial historic districts are on the National Register.
Parks & Recreation
Edgewater’s lakefront includes Foster Beach and Osterman (Hollywood) Beach, both part of Lincoln Park. Berger Park, at 6205 N. Sheridan Road, overlooks the lake and uses two former Sheridan Road mansions as a fieldhouse and cultural center.
Transit
Edgewater is served by four CTA Red Line stations: Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, Thorndale, and Granville. The Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations were rebuilt and reopened in July 2025 with elevators, and the Red Line runs 24 hours. Metra’s Union Pacific North Line runs along Edgewater’s western edge, with Peterson/Ridge station opened in May 2024. CTA bus routes include 36 Broadway, 151 Sheridan, 22 Clark, 84 Peterson, 92 Foster, the 146 Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Express, and the 147 Outer DuSable Lake Shore Express.
Community Area
Edgewater is Chicago’s official community area 77, separated from Uptown in 1980. One building on this page sits just north of Devon Avenue near Loyola station, in Rogers Park, community area 1.
