In 1850, along with construction of the Northwest Plank Road (present Milwaukee Avenue), Jefferson Township was incorporated at the legendary Dickinson Tavern.

Jefferson Township was part of a large swath of land annexed to the city in 1889[3] in advance of the World's Columbian Exposition.

Area developers such as Szajkowski, Schorsch as well as Koester and Zander subdivided what had been farmland into subdivisions of what became part of Chicago's famous "bungalow belt".

There are two large business districts in Portage Park; one, Six Corners, at the intersection of Irving, Cicero, and Milwaukee, and another at Belmont and Central extending south into Belmont-Cragin.

While the Belpark is now closed, the Portage Theater has been renovated with public TIF funds and is now home to a performing arts center showing arthouse and silent films.

Portage Park is also home to a cluster of architecturally significant churches, and is one of the few neighborhoods on the city's North Side highlighted in Marilyn Chiat's The Spiritual Traveler: Chicago and Illinois.

The spires and steeples of these monumental edifices such as St. Ladislaus, St. John of Rila the Wonderworker, St. Bartholomew, St. Ferdinand, and Our Lady of Victory tower over the neighborhood, giving the area much of its charm.

The staircase to the field house was a circular affair, supported by several cement posts under the platform that was created by a large landing at the second floor.

The flower planters to the north and east of the main entrance off Central at Irving Park Road will give an idea of just what the Rock House looked like.