Editing Chicago Loop (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Chicago}}
===Etymology===
The origin of the name "the Loop" is disputed. Some sources claim it first referred to two [[Cable car (railway)|cable car]] lines that used a circuit—constructed in 1882 and bounded by Van Buren Street, Wabash Avenue, [[Wells Street (Chicago)|Wells Street]], and [[Lake Street (Chicago)|Lake Street]]—to enter and depart the downtown area.<ref name="Encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago|publisher=Chicago Historical Society|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/764.html|title=The Loop|last=Danzer|first=Gerald A.|access-date=July 21, 2013|archive-date=March 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303193616/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/764.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Cable Cars">{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Joe |title=Cable Car Lines in Chicago |url=http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccchi.html |publisher=The Cable Car Home Page |access-date=16 January 2020 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126170326/http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccchi.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  Other research, however, has concluded that "the Loop" was not used as a proper noun until after the 1895–97 construction of the [[The Loop (CTA)|Union Loop]] used by [[Chicago 'L'|'L']] trains, which shared the same route.<ref>{{cite news|first=Patrick T.|last=Reardon|title=It all starts downtown|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2004/07/26/it-all-starts-downtown/|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=2004-07-26|access-date=2016-12-17|archive-date=June 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626054732/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-07-26/features/0407260184_1_south-loop-cable-cars-chicago-transit-authority|url-status=live}}</ref>

===19th century===
In what is now the Loop, on the south bank of the [[Chicago River]] near today's [[Michigan Avenue Bridge]], the [[United States Army]] erected [[Fort Dearborn]] in 1803, the first settlement in the area sponsored by the United States. When Chicago was initially platted in 1830 by the surveyor [[James Thompson (surveyor)|James Thompson]], it included what is now the Loop north of Madison Street and west of State Street. The [[Sauganash Hotel]], the first hotel in Chicago, was built in 1831 near [[Wolf Point, Chicago|Wolf Point]] at what is now the northwestern corner of the Loop. When [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] was incorporated in 1831, the first meeting of its government was held at Fort Dearborn with two representatives from Chicago and one from [[Naperville, Illinois|Naperville]]. The entirety of what is now the Loop was part of the Town of Chicago when it was initially incorporated in 1833, except the Fort Dearborn reservation, which became part of the city in 1839, and land reclaimed from Lake Michigan.

The area was bustling by the end of the 1830s.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> Lake Street started to become a center for retail at that time, until it was eclipsed by State Street in the 1850s.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/>

===20th century===
[[File:Chicago-Loop-1900.jpg|thumb|left|200px|upright|In 1900 at the corner of Dearborn and Randolph Streets]]
By 1948 an estimated one million people came to and went from the Loop each day. Afterwards, suburbanization caused a decrease in the area's importance. Starting in the 1960s, however, the presence of an upscale shopping district caused the area's fortunes to increase.

===21st century===
The Loop's population has boomed in recent years, seeing a 158 percent population increase between 2000 and 2020.<ref name="cmap" /> Between 2010 and 2014, the number of jobs in the Loop increased by nearly 63,000, an increase of over 13%.<ref name="crains2014employment">{{cite web|title=Downtown jobs hit a record high|url=https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141129/ISSUE05/311299947/downtown-chicago-employment-hits-a-record-high|website=chicagobusiness.com|date=November 28, 2014|publisher=Crains|access-date=July 11, 2020|archive-date=July 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711220710/https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141129/ISSUE05/311299947/downtown-chicago-employment-hits-a-record-high|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{US Census population
|1890=24074
|1900=24274
|1910=15954
|1920=13140
|1930=7851
|1940=6221
|1950=7018
|1960=4337
|1970=4965
|1980=6462
|1990=11954
|2000=16244
|2010=29283
|2020=42298
|estyear= 2021
|estimate= 39834
|footnote=<ref name="cmap" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Paral |first=Rob |title=Chicago Community Areas Historical Data |url=http://www.robparal.com/downloads/ACS0509/HistoricalData/Chicago%20Community%20Areas%20Historical%20Data.htm |access-date=August 30, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318055428/http://www.robparal.com/downloads/ACS0509/HistoricalData/Chicago%20Community%20Areas%20Historical%20Data.htm |archive-date=March 18, 2013 |df=mdy }}</ref>
}}