The Hemingway District

Inspired by the memory of author Ernest Hemingway who was born and raised in Oak Park, the District adjoins historic Scoville Park, a central town square at the corner of Lake Street and Oak Park Avenue. The park itself is a classic square, and conveniently adjacent to many restaurants and one-of-a-kind local stores.

Within a stone's throw of the park, you’ll find:

• The Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum, at 339 N. Oak Park Ave. In this Victorian home you’ll discover the youthful poems and love letters that inspired his seminal novel, A Farewell to Arms. Learn about his first 20 years as an Oak Park youth and World War I survivor and the many other adventures that make this man such a compelling, polarizing legend.

• Scoville Square, a rare Frank Lloyd Wright retail building

• The contemporary Oak Park Public Library 

• Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021 after a multiyear, $25-million restoration. 

• The Oak Park Post Office, designed by architects White and Weber (Charles E. White Jr. and Bertram A. Weber) and completed in 1936, is an Art Deco and Art Moderne style building.

You're also only a 5- to 7-minute walk west on Lake Street to downtown Oak Park and the Pleasant District. A 5-minute walk due east will take you past historic Oak Park and River Forest High School (better known as OPRF), which Ernest Hemingway and his siblings attended.