About Us

The City of Harvey, Illinois is located at the junctions of major interstates, as well as four national and multinational railroad lines. Now under new leadership with the election of Mayor Christopher Clark and a dynamic team of Aldermen and an experienced administrative team operating with integrity, pride and unity, the City of Harvey has planned for a better future and a higher quality of life for residents.

To learn more about the City of Harvey, its aldermen and wards, please choose a category below:

The City of Harvey, a quaint, six square mile community of 30,000 residents, sits in the heart of the Chicago Southland region, approximately 20 miles south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, and 10 miles west of Hammond, Indiana.

Harvey’s surrounding neighbours are Dixmoor, Posen, Dolton, Robbins, Riverdale, South Holland, Homewood, East Hazel Crest, Hazel Crest and Markham.

Easily accessible from all area highways and interstates, the City Harvey is also close to two major Chicago airports: Midway International Airport and O’Hare International Airport.

Hotels

Motel 6
16940 Halsted St
Harvey, IL 60426
Phone: 708-331-3400

Days Inn
16900 South Halsted St
Harvey, IL 60426
Phone: 708-331-0700

Quality Inn
16920 S Halsted St
Harvey, IL 60426
Phone: 708-331-7000

Motels

Parkview Motel
312 E 159th St
Harvey, IL 60426
Phone: 708-331-5055

Parkview Hotel
15941 St
Harvey, IL 60426
Phone: 708-596-3399

Local Attractions

Historic Old City Hall Restoration Project
154th Street
Harvey, IL. 60426
708-210-5300

Harvey 4th of July Celebration Festival
Downtown Harvey 7/2-7/4
708-210-5300

Harvest Fest (Halloween)
15320 Broadway 10/31
708-210-5300

Harvey Community Center
15320 Center Avenue
Harvey, IL. 60426
708-596-7876

Harvey Boxing Club 
15331 Broadway Avenue
Harvey, IL. 60426
708-333-8353

Harvey Park District
15331 Broadway Avenue
Harvey, IL. 60426
708-331-3857

All directions below lead to:

Harvey City Hall
15320 Broadway Ave.
Harvey, IL 60426

From Downtown Chicago:

  • Take the Dan Ryan Expressway East /I-94 East toward Indiana.
  • Merge onto I-57 S via exit number 63 toward Memphis.
  • Exit at 147th Street/Sibley Blvd going east.
  • Turn south (right) on Wood Street.
  • Turn east (left) on 154th Street.
  • Turn north (left) on Broadway Ave.
  • City Hall is located 1 block North (15320 Broadway Ave.)

From O’Hare Airport, North or West:

  • Take I-294 (Tri-State Toll way) south.
  • Exit at 159th Street going east.
  • Proceed to Wood Street.
  • Turn north (left) on Wood Street and continue to 154th Street.
  • Turn right on 154th Street.
  • Turn north (left) on Broadway Ave.
  • City Hall is located 1 block North (15320 Broadway Ave.).

From Midway Airport:

  • Take Cicero south to 127th Street.
  • Take I-294 South.
  • Exit at 159th Street going east.
  • Proceed to Wood Street.
  • Turn north (left) on Wood Street and continue to 154th Street.
  •  Turn right on 154th Street.
  • Turn north (left) on Broadway Ave.
  • City Hall is located 1 block North (15320 Broadway Ave.).

From the South:

  • Take I-57 north and exit east on 159th Street.
  •  Continue east on 159th to Wood Street.
  •  Turn north (left) on Wood Street.
  •  Continue to 154th Street.
  •  Turn right on 154th Street.
  •  Turn north (left) on Broadway Ave.
  •  City Hall is located 1 block North (15320 Broadway Ave.).

From Interstate 80:

  • Exit Halsted North.
  • Turn west (left) on 159th Street.
  • Turn north (right) on Park Ave.
  • Turn west (left) on 154th Street.
  • Turn north (right) on Broadway Ave.
  • City Hall is located 1 block North (15320 Broadway Ave.).

From 80/94 East or West:

  • Exit 159th Street West.
  • Continue west on 159th Street.
  •  Turn north (right) on Park Ave.
  • Turn west (left) on 154th Street.
  • Turn north (right) on Broadway Ave.
  • City Hall is located 1 block North (15320 Broadway Ave.).

The history of the founding of Harvey — before it assumed that name in 1890 — is somewhat vague, and what is available was contained briefly in an introduction to a supplement published by the Harvey Tribune-Citizen in 1902. It sets forth the actual founding of “South Lawn,” the name the community was known before the advent of Turlington W. Harvey and what is know today as the City of Harvey.

In the 1850s, the Illinois legislature granted the Illinois Central Railroad each alternate section of land along its proposed route. Included in these sections was “Section Eight,” the southern portion of 1700 acres of Section was sold to C.P. Holden of Kentucky in 1865.

Holden sold his interest to a syndicate in 1871 and 1872. The syndicate inaugurated the first formal action of creating a community by dividing the plot of 1700 acres into blocks and recording the entire plot.

A small map and brochure constituted the community’s first advertisement, offering “large lots and gardens for $100, with free transportation to and from Chicago for a year to those who actually became settlers.”

In November 1889, Turlington W. Harvey, whose name today graces the community, entered history. In 1890 he made substantial purchases of property and in June 1890, he conveyed to the newly formed Harvey Land association all the land he had purchased. By 1891 the association had acquired all of the property that was later to form the foundation for the future Harvey. It is legend that the village assumed the name of Harvey, and it was under that name that Harvey came into official being in May 1891.

Turlington Harvey is credited with being the genius that transformed an unbroken prairie — without streets, sidewalks, water, sewers, factories, schools, churches or homes — into a community whose growth to a population of 5,000 within a three-year period earned it the name of “The Magic City,” as it then became to be known from coast to coast.

The fact that taverns dot the Harvey business scene of today might lead to some surprise since the city was founded as a temperance settlement. It was on this basis that the Harvey Land association, the area’s first major real estate promoter, was able to land many sales, as people from throughout the world converged on Chicago for the Colombian Exposition in 1893.

The Mayors of Harvey

Christopher Clark: May 2019 – Present
Eric J. Kellogg: April 2003 – April 2019
Nickolas E. Graves: April 1995 – April 2003
David Johnson: April 1983 – April 1995
James A. Haines: May 1, 1967 – April 30, 1983
Elmer O. Turngren: May 1, 1963 – April 30, 1967
William B. Kane: May 1, 1959 – April 30, 1963
Arthur E. Turngren: May 1, 1943 – April 30, 1967
Charles H. Applegate: January 12, 1942 – April 30, 1943
Frank W. Bruggeman: May 1, 1927 – January 10, 1942
Matt Stobbs: May 1, 1919 – April 30, 1927
George A. Gibson: May 1, 1913 – April 30, 1919
Edward M. Adams: May 1, 1905 – April 30, 1913
E. N. Hewelling: September 2, 1901 – April 30, 1903
Clark W. Ranger: May 1, 1897 – April 30, 1899, May 1, 1903 – August 29, 1904
Jonathan Matthews: June 3, 1895 – April 30, 1899
H. C. Riodan: May 1, 1894 – June 2, 1895
Thomas McFarlane: April 25, 1892 – April 30, 1893
Peter B. Lamb: June 18, 1891 – April 24, 1892, May 1, 1893 – April 30, 1894

Numbers are based on demographic data from 2018. For more detailed information on the City of Harvey, please visit the U.S. Census Bureau and 2016 City Data.

Year of Incorporation

Total Population (2018 estimate)

1891

24,641

Total Households

9,185

Female Population

52.9%

Male Population

47.1%

Median Age

35

Meet the Mayor

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