CHICAGO -- Today, they called themselves residents of "Obamaland" -- neighbors of the man who arrived at a polling place here before the school day began and cast a ballot that he hopes will make him the first black president of the United States.

Not long after the polls opened at 6 a.m. at Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School, in the Hyde Park/Kenwood section of this city, Sen. Barack Obama and his wife Michelle -- accompanied by their two young daughters, Malia and Sasha -- were ushered to the head of the line to vote.

"The journey ends, but voting with my daughters, that was a big deal," Obama told reporters later.

Long lines of people -- along with members of media outlets from around the world -- wrapped around the block by the school in this diverse yet affluent South Side neighborhood near the University of Chicago, where Mr. Obama, who has lived here since 1991, lectured on constitutional law before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

"This polling place is Barack's polling place, but it also epitomizes the essence of Hyde Park, where people have strong political beliefs and moral convictions across the political spectrum," said Amy Dru Stanley, an American history professor at the University of Chicago. "This election represents the transformative possibility of U.S. constitutional democracy, and you're seeing it right here in this line of voters."

"I'm really excited to be a part of this moment," added Anna Cruz, 37, a native of Puerto Rico who remembers shaking Mr. Obama's hand years ago when he was campaigning for the Illinois state Senate. "History is being made, it's the first time a black candidate has made it this far and I believe he's going to win."

Sidney Nagel, 60, a University of Chicago physics professor, waited for an hour and half to vote. He said it was "a great honor" to be casting his ballot at the same place as Mr. Obama. "I'll be just so delighted if he wins, but I'm too superstitious" to predict the outcome.

"I think there are three people who will vote for McCain," said Teresa Rothschadl, a 26-year-old clerical worker at the University of Chicago Press. "I saw a guy with a McCain sign in his car and I thought, very brave, someone's going to smash your window," she laughed.

"There was a lot of cheering and some crying" when Mr. Obama came to vote this morning, she added, "and I might have been one of the criers."

It wasn't just a good day for Fidelis Umeh, 68, "It's great," he said. A native of Nigeria and a computer expert, Mr. Umeh worked closely with Mr. Obama after his 2000 congressional election defeat to computerize his office.

More importantly, he believes Mr. Obama will help get "the U.S. back in tune with the world. I think we need to have a president that understands we are not alone on earth, that other countries matter and that we want to work together to achieve the world peace we're looking for."

Save for one Republican poll watcher, supporters of Sen. John McCain were either not in this particular line of voters -- or not advertising their preference to members of the news media who had descended on the site.

"I'm finding that participation in the election has been phenomenal. People were here before the polls opened," marveled Luis Fernando Silvapinto, a television journalist from Brazil.

While home to white and black professionals and academics, Hyde Park includes working class and poor families. There are upscale cafes and bookstores, while just a few blocks away, pawn shops. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has a home here, as does former heavyweight boxer Muhammed Ali.

Just across the street from the polling place is William Ayers' rowhouse. Mr. Ayers, a 1960s radical and founder of the Weather Underground, a domestic terrorist group, became a campaign target of Republicans who sought to link him to Mr. Obama. Mr. Ayers voted a few minutes before Mr. Obama arrived but declined to comment to reporters.

Mr. Obama's $1.65 million brick home, a short walk from the polling place, is across the street from a synagogue, but was barricaded by police and Secret Service, who turned gawkers away.