[1][2] With its roots dating back to the 1950s, the continuous presence and activity of gangs around the neighborhood has caused it to be a frequent subject of law enforcement, media, and residents over the years.
[4] Notably, the formation of the Latin Kings in 1954 and the Simon City Royals in 1956, demographic shifts and homeowner fears exacerbated by blockbusting in 1962,[4] the Division Street riots in 1966, and finally the arrival of La Raza Nation in 1985; All in part serving as the impetus for the formation of subsequent gangs and a broader culture that would continue to foster around the neighborhood.
[4] Impoverished Puerto Rican families now had the prospect of being able to move into the neighborhood and live an idyllic middle class life, as had traditionally been the characterization of Humboldt Park since the 1880s.
In 1966, the Division Street riots occurred in protest of continuous discrimination against the Puerto Rican community, most of whom lived on the outer rim of a city they felt took them only for their cheap labor.
In 1956, a group of mostly fourteen year-old Greasers banded together in response to racial changes taking place around the neighborhood, forming the Simon City Royals.
[13] Soon after the inception of the Simon City Royals, other greaser gangs began cropping up around the neighborhood, such as the Jokers and Hirsh Street, causing friction between the groups.
[4] The gang was able to expand rapidly due to anti-Puerto Rican and anti-Latin King sentiment being fairly spread among some of the white youth here.
[4] To much success, fear mongering of depleting home values and redlining had spread considerably causing the exit of many homeowners, as sudden and dramatic changes to the neighborhood further incensed white gangs.
The Black Disciples Nation was the result of a unification that took place that year involving mostly African American gangs from the South Side.
[14] That previous winter, eleven members, including Albert Hernandez, had been pictured in the paper during a fierce blizzard in 1967 after voluntarily shoveling the neighborhood for residents.
[14] In 1976, the gang opened a chapter in West Humboldt Park at the corner of Division & Avers, and quickly spread from there to Washtenaw/Hirsch and Talman/Wabansia (T-Dubb).
[14] In 1979, numerous members between the Disciples and Cobras were busted at various street corners including Washtenaw/Hirsch, Evergreen/Wastenaw, and the infamous Rockwell/Potomac intersection, where police said "you could buy any drug".
Widespread and stark division lines drawn by gangs throughout Humboldt would prevent kids from walking through or going to various public locations.
[3] In the early 1990s, gang-related violence in the neighborhood spiked, some of which stemmed from an ongoing two-year long deadly feud between the Latin Disciples and Imperial Gangsters.
[18][19][20] Undercover narcotics units heavily targeted Humboldt Park in the 1980s, making 180 drug buys during a single one-year investigation alone, which concluded in 1986.
[7] In the 1980s, the corner of Potomac Avenue and Rockwell Street, east of Humboldt Park, had become a "notorious drug-peddling location" known colloquially as the 'Twilight Zone'.
In total, the one-year long investigation yielded 94 indictments, 34 being the subject of gang members charged with selling drugs on Potomac between Rockwell and California Avenue.