An outdoor market where (at one time) you could find anything and everything, and haggle for the best price. A Chicago institution, see it while it exists; gentrification is threatening to do away with this fantastic piece of Chicago history.

Maxwell Street is an east-west street in Chicago, Illinois that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.[1] The Maxwell Street neighborhood is considered part of the Near West Side and is one of the city's oldest residential districts. A large portion of the area is now the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), as well as a new private housing development sponsored by the university.

• Maxwell Street is where the Maxwell Street Polish Sausage sandwich originated.
  
• The famous entrepreneur, Ron Popeil, began his career as a street vendor at the Maxwell Street Market.
• The Maxwell Street Police Station, at Maxwell and Morgan Streets, was "Hill Street Station" in the 1980s television series, Hill Street Blues.
• The musician and band leader Benny Goodman was born in the Maxwell Street neighborhood and spent most of his youth there. One of his first musical experiences was playing in the Boys Band at Hull House.
• Maxwell Street was featured in the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, in which it was portrayed as a thriving ethnically African-American community. The scene features the two stars, "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues - played by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, looking for Matt 'Guitar' Murphy and Lou 'Blue Lou' Marini, to get their band back together. They enter the "Soul Food Cafe," the exterior of which is actually Nate's Deli, formerly Lyon's Deli (the interior is a set). As they are entering, John Lee Hooker is playing "Boom Boom" on the street, and we see some typical street scenes, including the famous "Cheat You Fair" sign. Once the song ends, Jake and Elwood encounter Matt's wife, played by Aretha Franklin. When Matt becomes excited about the band getting back together, Aretha launches into "Think." In the end, much to Aretha's dismay, Matt turns his apron in, and hits the road with the Blues Brothers.