Our Chicago: Neighborhood Walk with Val Warner through Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood

ByJohn Owens and Val Warner WLS logo
Thursday, October 10, 2024 5:00AM
Our Chicago: Neighborhood Walk with Val Warner through Humboldt Park
In the latest installment of Neighborhood Walk, Val Warner visits Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood and "Paseo Boricua" with Eduardo Arocho.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Val Warner continues her tour of Chicago's 77 neighborhoods.

In the latest edition of "Our Chicago: Neighborhood Walk," ABC7 Chicago's Val Warner travels to the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side of Chicago.

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The historic neighborhood was once home to Eastern European immigrants, but in the 1950s, it became a stronghold for Chicago's Puerto Rican community.

Eduardo Arocho guided Val on her tour of Humboldt Park. Arocho is an entrepreneur and poet, best known as the owner of the Paseo Boricua Tour Co. The company sponsors walking tours through the Humboldt Park community.

Together, Eduardo and Val visited notable spots in Humboldt Park, including Clemente High School, which was named after Puerto Rican baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente.

They then traveled west on Division Street, to a section known as "Paseo Boricua", a stretch of four and a half blocks flanked by two large Puerto Rican flags. While on "Paseo Boricua," they visited a number of murals located in the area.

SEE ALSO | Our Chicago: Walk with Val through Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood

They had a brief meal at Nellie's Restaurant, located at 2458 W. Division St. The Puerto Rican restaurant is best know for its oatmeal, which is flavored with cinnamon.

Val and Eduardo then visited the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, located at 3015 W. Division St. The museum, which is part of the National Register of Historic Places, is the only Puerto Rican museum of its kind in the country.

They then visited the Humboldt Park boathouse, before wrapping up their Humboldt Park tour with sweets at Café Colao, located at 2638 W. Division St.

See more of Val's "Neighborhood Walk" in Humboldt Park in the video player above.