Anderson Neighborhood & Neologisms

Screenshot of first recorded usage of Anderson
as a Chicago neighborhood

          Andersonville's monicker was recently shortened by the Chicago Tribune to just Anderson (earlier today). Our neighborhood sleuth Benjamin Woodard noticed this, the first recorded usage of Anderson in lieu of the longer Andersonville. This was bound to happen. Hard for things to go unnoticed these days or to happen organically without instant recognition of a phenomenon.

Update 3/20/13 5:44 pm  - The Tribune writer just amended the article, now using the more common name "Andersonville". The screenshot above will be kept for posterity as the first recorded instance of  the shortened Anderson. DNAinfo.com has also been a forerunner in using shortened neighborhood names like Wrigley instead of "Wrigleyville"

Please continue reading for more story and pictures

             "Where do you live" asks one Chicagoan to another five years from now. "Anderson" replies the second person. "Okay. Isn't that in Edgewater?" asks the first person. "Yes it is. Its a long story, got time?" "Sure" "Okay, Andersonville was originally a business district and chamber of commerce but the real estate people grabbed a hold of it and it stuck. In fact it was so popular people started using the term for Clark street south of Foster for the west part of Uptown. Then in 2013 it was shortened to just Anderson, the first recorded use was in the Trib article regarding that poor woman found dead in a driveway" " Okay cool. I used to live in Wrigley when the Cubs used to play there, its a shame whats become of the place since they left."

Screenshot of use of Wrigley instead of Wrigleyville