Here are a few facts that I find interesting about Uptown:
1. It used to be a summer resort area for downtown "city" dwellers.
2. Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson and other early film stars produced films at the Essanay Studios on Argyle Street.
3. The Aragon Ballroom, Riviera Theater, Uptown Theatre, and Green Mill Jazz Club are all within a block of each other and make this neighborhood a major entertainment locale. (Uptown played a major part in the Gilded Age, the Jazz Age, the Silent Film Era, the Swing Era, the Big Band Era, and the Rock & Roll Era).
4. It has been a filming location for over 480 movies.
5. During the '50s, Uptown's affluent population moved to the burbs and many of the homes left behind began to serve as housing for low-income migrants from the South and Appalachia. Through the 60s uptown was called "Hillbilly Heaven."
6. Uptown is now one of the city's hotspots for anti-poverty programs, one of my personal favorites being inspiration corporation.