Junk car pickup on Chicago's East Side

The East Side is the furthest north we go along the state line, and it is still a straight drive. From Harding Avenue the truck takes Sibley Boulevard to Burnham Avenue, follows it into Chicago where it becomes Avenue O, then cuts over to Ewing Avenue. It is about 7 miles and around 14 minutes. The neighborhood sits at the top of our Chicago pickup areas.

What the name means

Newcomers expect the East Side to be near the lakefront downtown. It isn’t. The name comes from its location on the east side of the Calumet River. It is one of Chicago’s 77 community areas, on the far south side about 13 miles from the Loop, The river wraps its north and west sides, State Line Road (4100 East) marks the far edge, and 126th Street is the bottom line. The ZIP code covers part of 60617.

For about a century, the river and its steel mills ran the neighborhood. Republic Steel opened along the river in 1901, and the mill was the site of the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre. Many families of Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian heritage came for mill jobs; today the area is largely Hispanic. In the 1950s the Chicago Skyway was built straight through the middle, and it is still a landmark people use for directions (“on the south side of the Skyway”).

Housing: the bungalow belt by the lake

Much of the East Side is Chicago-style bungalows. Most of the neighborhood north of 108th Street was built by the 1930s, with the blocks below it built out after World War II, and the southeast corner has many homes built after 1980. For a pickup that means:

• Bungalow lots with rear garages and alleys. If your car is in a garage or on a pad behind the house, tell us whether the alley or the street is the better way in.
• Narrow side streets. A flatbed fits, but cars parked on both sides can make a loading spot tight. If you can save the space in front of your house, the job goes faster.
• Newer homes with driveways in the southeast part, which are the simplest.

Streets and landmarks

Avenue O and Ewing Avenue are the main north-south streets for us. US 12, US 20 and US 41 all serve the neighborhood. People here give directions by:

• Calumet Park and its Lake Michigan beach, and Eggers Grove Forest Preserve, with its trails and picnic groves.
• George Washington High School, the neighborhood high school, and St. Francis De Sales on the Catholic side.
• The Chicago Skyway, which crosses overhead, and the Burnham Greenway Trail that runs under it.
• The Port of Chicago headquarters at 3600 E. 95th Street, near the river.

Transit is thin. The nearest CTA train is the 95th/Dan Ryan Red Line terminal, about 7 miles away, so residents use the Metra Electric’s 93rd Street station on the South Chicago branch, the South Shore Line at Hegewisch, and CTA buses such as the 26, 30 and 100. With rail that far off, a car that dies here has no easy way to a repair shop unless someone tows it.

Chicago’s dead-car rules here

The East Side is in Chicago, so city rules on dead cars apply. A car on the street that can’t be driven, or one that hasn’t moved in more than seven days and looks deserted, can be reported to 311 as abandoned, and the city’s abandoned vehicle page says such cars go to the pounds and, if not redeemed, are sold for scrap. If the city has already towed yours to 103rd and Doty Avenue, our article on the Doty Avenue pound explains the fees and the 21-day clock before you decide whether to reclaim it.

Emissions is the other common reason East Side cars come to us. All of Cook County is in the Illinois test area, and a car that keeps failing can’t renew its plates. Our failed emissions test article covers retests, the repair waiver and the point where junking makes sense.

Your title and other papers

If you have the title, sign it over at pickup. If you don’t, tell us what you have. If the title was lost years ago, a duplicate from the Secretary of State may be the cleanest fix; our page on selling a car without a title explains the Illinois options and what we confirm on the call. For a car that simply won’t run, start with our non-running car page.

Nearby areas

South of 126th Street, Hegewisch is the next neighborhood down, and Burnham sits just past it on the way back to Calumet City. Both are on the same Avenue O and Burnham Avenue route.