Garfield Ridge was a place people passed through long before it was a place people lived. Archer Road, the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Chicago and Alton Railroad all crossed this soggy ground in the 1800s, and the area was once known as Archer Limits. Its current name comes from Garfield Boulevard and a ridge left as the glacier pulled back from Lake Michigan. Masters Cash for Junk Cars will buy a junk car from any Garfield Ridge block, and the area takes in the northern half of Midway Airport and stretches west to Harlem Avenue.
The airport changed everything here
Chicago Municipal Airport opened in 1926 and was renamed Midway in 1942, and the neighborhood grew up around it. In 1936 the land west of Central Avenue still had dirt roads and farms with grazing animals. After World War II, single-story bungalows filled the western part of Garfield Ridge, and by 1950 home building had passed industrial development.
If your car is at one of those bungalows, it’s probably in the driveway, at the curb or in a garage off the alley. Any of those works for us. Our tips for alley, garage and backyard pickups help for the trickier spots, like a car that’s nose-in against the back wall of a garage.
The route from Ashburn
From 79th and Pulaski, the run is about 5.5 miles and eleven minutes on the map. The truck heads west on 79th Street, turns north on Cicero Avenue and drives about three miles up the east side of Midway (the terminal bridges Cicero, so you pass under it), then goes west on 55th Street. Addresses up by Archer Avenue or out near Harlem take a bit longer. Same-day is often possible; it depends on how the schedule is running.
Archer Avenue and the City’s parking rules
Archer Avenue cuts diagonally across Garfield Ridge, and it comes with rules. On Chicago’s route data, Archer from State Street to Harlem is under the winter overnight parking ban, so parking is banned between 3 and 7 in the morning from the first of December until April 1, snowfall or not. Archer and 55th Street are also 2-inch snow routes, where parking can be restricted once 2 inches of snow fall. The City’s winter parking restrictions page explains both.
A car that has stopped running is the one most likely to get stuck in the middle of that. If it’s on Archer or 55th, try to get it onto a side street.
The Department of Streets and Sanitation also lists when a car on a public street counts as abandoned: it can’t be driven in its present state, or it hasn’t moved in more than seven straight days and seems deserted, or it has been without state registration for two days or longer. Reports go to 311, and the City has those cars towed.
Places that help us find you
Midway station, the Orange Line’s last stop, is in Garfield Ridge, and it’s an easy reference for anyone near the airport. Kennedy High School, a Chicago public school that opened in 1963, is another. Two Park District parks help as well: Wentworth Park on Mobile Avenue near 56th Street, almost 16 acres with a gym, an ice rink and an indoor pool, and Vittum Park, a little over 13 acres, with Baum Elementary built on a corner of it in 1961.
Selling a junk car in Garfield Ridge
Call (708) 838-5553 or start on the get a cash offer page, and expect questions about the car’s condition and its papers. Missing the title doesn’t end the conversation. Say what you do have instead, maybe an old registration, a bill of sale or the insurance card, and we’ll check it against Illinois scrap-sale rules on the call rather than at the curb.
We buy cars, trucks, vans and SUVs, running or not, including wrecked and totaled cars. Once you accept the offer, the driver comes out, tows the vehicle for free and pays you on the spot.
Next to Garfield Ridge
South across 59th Street, Clearing holds the other part of Midway. To the east are West Elsdon and Archer Heights, with the Pulaski Orange Line stop just inside Archer Heights. Where else we tow from is listed on the service areas page.
Map of Garfield Ridge
Garfield Ridge questions
Will you collect a car close to Midway Airport?
Yes, from the homes, streets and private lots around it. Midway's square mile between 55th and 63rd Streets is split between Garfield Ridge and Clearing, and the Orange Line's Midway terminal is on the Garfield Ridge side. Give us the cross streets and we'll plan the approach around airport traffic on Cicero.
Can I leave my dead car on Archer Avenue until you come?
Not in winter. Archer Avenue is under Chicago's winter overnight parking ban, so from December 1 to April 1 no one may park there in the 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. window, snow or not, and it's also a 2-inch snow route. Cars left in violation are towed to a city pound, so a side street is the better bet.
Which ZIP code is Garfield Ridge?
Mostly 60638. The northeastern corner is in 60632, and a small piece in the southeast falls in 60629. We cover all three, so the ZIP won't change whether we can come. What we really need is the street address and how the car is parked.
The car sits in our garage, off the alley. Can you get it out?
Usually, yes. Tell us whether the garage door opens all the way, whether the car rolls, and roughly how much room there is in the alley at that spot. If the car won't roll at all, we'll talk through how it comes out before booking, so the driver isn't guessing on arrival.