Welcome to the Hyde Park Historical Society

Our unique building has had many lives – first as a passenger waiting room/employee rest area built in 1893/1894 by the Chicago Street Railway, a terminal/rest stop for the subsequent trolley system, a short-order diner from 1898-1952, and later as a storage shed for the two-wheeled carts used for delivering newspapers through the mid-1970s.

The Hyde Park Historical Society was officially chartered in January 1977, and purchased the building for about $4,000. Since then the building has been carefully restored, and continues to be used for the Society’s meetings, programs, and exhibits. We invite you to visit us every Saturday and Sunday from 2-4 p.m. The Society’s archives are housed in the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago Regenstein Library.