Things I Like - Chicago

Anyone who's spent time on Chicago's lakefront or in one of our beautiful parks knows how much we owe to Daniel Burnham. This year marks the centennial celebration of the Burnham Plan for Chicago and the city has never looked better. In 1909, it was a much different story. Although the Chicago Fire had done much to wipe out the mess that had become the loop, the lakefront was still an ugly collection of warehouses, train yards and trash:

"Nineteenth-century maps and drawings reveal that much of the current parkland between the Illinois Central tracks and Michigan Avenue, as well as east of the tracks, was originally under water. It was filled in by 1890, a good deal of it shortly after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 with rubble from the burned-out city. The lakefront was an unsightly mess, however, littered with stables, squatters' shacks, a firehouse, garbage, and general debris, along with railroad tracks and service buildings. Beyond this disarray, so near and yet so far, lay the glittering lake."

~ Encyclopedia of Chicago

From Congress & Michigan looking North - 1907

From Congress & Michigan looking East - 1907

That was the view out Burnham's window when he started putting together The Plan. This is what Grant Park looks like today:


From Randolph looking north
The Chicago Tribune put together an excellent series of articles discussing the Burnham Plan and the overall development of the city (first two links). The third link is to the Encyclopedia of Chicago - an online joint effort between The Chicago Historical Museum, The Newberry Library and Northwestern University. The site is not particularly easy to navigate but the information is fascinating for anyone interested in the history of Chicago.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2009/01/burnhams-gift-t.html

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2009/01/an-illustrated.html

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/10537.html