History in South Loop

On August 26, 1968, 10,000 anti-war demonstrators and 23,000 police and National Guardsmen squared off in Grant Park at 720 South Michigan Avenue, in the biggest riot in the city's history. When one of the demonstrators started lowering an American flag, policemen started to beat him. The demonstrators responded by throwing rocks, food, and pieces of concrete. As the clash escalated, protestors began chanting "Hell no we won't go" and "Pigs are whores." Police began using tear gas to force the massive crowd to exit the park. Perhaps the most famous image of the event took place in front of the Hilton Hotel, where fighting between protestors occurred in front of live TV cameras for 17 minutes. As this happened, people shouted "The whole world is watching." The riots triggered a famous trial in which eight people were charged with conspiring to incite the riots. After Bobby Seale disrupted the trial, he was severed from the case. The jury decided that five of the defendants incited the riots but that no conspiracy was involved. Two defendants were acquitted of all charges. Separately, Judge Julius Hoffman sentenced all seven defendants and two defense lawyers to contempt-of-court jail sentences, however, all of the contempt sentences and the riot charges were either dismissed by higher courts or dropped by the government.

The Chicago Field Museum Of Natural History began as the Columbian Museum Of Chicago in 1893 and was originally housed in the building that now serves as home to the Museum Of Science And Industry.  In 1905, it was renamed the Field Museum Of Natural History, in honor of its first major benefactor, Marshall Field.  The museum moved to its present lakefront location at 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr. in 1921.  Today, the Field Museum Chicago houses (among hundreds of other incredible artifacts) the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the world, known simply as “Sue,” in honor of Sue Hendrickson, the paleontologist who discovered it about 67 million years after it died.  In actuality, the sex of this particular T-rex is unknown, so it could have been “A Boy Named Sue.”

Minna and Ada Simms managed the city's most successful brothel, The Everleigh Club (pronounced "Everly"), from 1901 to 1911.  Chicago's Vice Commission described it as "probably the most famous and luxurious house of prostitution in the country."  Clientele included Marshall Field Jr., Ring Lardner, Jack Johnson, and Prince Heinrich of Prussia.  Admission was $10, which is roughly equivalent to $250 today.  Dinner cost $50 ($1250 today) and a bottle of champange would run a customer $12 ($300 today).  Time with one of the girls was $50 ($1250 today).  As prices increased, customers found it hard to leave without spending upwards of $200 ($5000 today).  A decent wage back then was $6 per week ($7,800 annually today).  Mayor Carter Harrison Jr. happened upon a brochure for the club one day, was appalled by what he learned, and ordered the club closed on October 24, 1911.  The building was razed in July 1933, and Hilliard Towers Apartments, operated by the Chicago Housing Authority, is located at 2131-2133 South Dearborn Street today.

Just before the opening of the 1893 Columbian Exposition (also known as the World’s Fair), the Illinois Central Railroad built a depot where the railroad tracks began to run parallel with Michigan Avenue, just north of Roosevelt Road at 135 East 11th Place (which was then 12th Street). A nine-story office building and 13-story clock tower were located on the site. Long-distance passenger service was a daily staple at the site until 1971, when Amtrak instituted service at Union Station.  Illinois Central Station was demolished in 1974.

One of the most famous trains to run from Illinois Central Station was “The City Of New Orleans,” an all-Pullman daytime route that shuttled between New Orleans and Chicago.  This railroad line was heavily used by African-Americans during the Great Migration.  Culturally speaking, one of the most important passengers to disembark at Illinois Central Station was 21-year-old Louis Armstrong, who arrived in Chicago at 11:30 p.m. on August 9, 1922, ready to play with his hometown mentor, Papa Joe (“King”) Oliver.  Jazz music, in particular, and American popular music, in general, has never been the same since.  

Merrill C. Meigs Field (better known as Meigs Field) was a single strip airport located on Chicago’s Northerly Island between December 10, 1948, and March 31, 2003, when Mayor Daley ordered the runway bulldozed in the middle of the night to impose his own solution to a multi-jurisdictional dispute over the facility’s future.  Northerly Island is a man-made peninsula that was built between 1920 and 1925 as part of the realization of Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan Of Chicago.  It was originally envisioned as a lakefront park, and in 1933 it became the site of the Century Of Progress International Exposition, otherwise known as the World’s Fair.  Construction of the airport began in 1946 after Chicago lost to New York in a bid to host the United Nations.  In 1950 the airport was officially named after Merrill C. Meigs, the CEO of the Chicago Herald and Examiner and a major aviation booster who once gave flying lessons to President Harry S. Truman.

The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum at 1300 South Lake Shore Drive was founded by philanthropist Max Adler and first opened to the public on May 12, 1930.  It was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and the oldest still in existence today.  Made with rainbow granite and a copper dome, the Adler Planetarium, in conjunction with the adjacent Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium, completes a trinity dedicated to the study of the heavens, the earth, and the water.

The Chicago Fire ignited on October 8, 1871, in a barn at 558 West Dekoven Street belonging to Patrick and Catherine O'Leary.  Popular lore says that one of the O'Learys' cows kicked over a lantern, but the specific cause of the fire remains open to debate.  In fact, the Chicago Republican reporter who created the cow story, Michael Ahern, admitted he fabricated it because he thought it would make better copy.  At least 300 people were killed in the fire, which destroyed about 400 square miles of the city.  Karen Sawislak of the Encyclopedia of Chicago says the fire "cemented the reputation of the rising metropolis as a place of opportunity, renewal, and future promise."  The World's Columbian Exposition began just 22 years later, as a testament to the city's rebuilding efforts.

The Shedd Aquarium at 1200 South Lake Shore Drive opened on May 30, 1930, and, at the time, housed the greatest variety of sea life under one roof.  Later that year, 20 railroad cars made eight round trips between Chicago and Key West to transport a million gallons of sea water for the museum’s exhibits.  The aquarium was the brainchild of John G. Shedd, the President of Marshall Field & Co., although Shedd did not live long enough to see anything more than the architect’s renderings.  The Oceanarium, opened in 1991, contains more than three million gallons of sea water and is the largest indoor marine mammal facility in the world, replete with beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and sea otters.

Wealthy farm manufacturer industrialist John J. Glessner handpicked H.H. Richardson in 1885 to build a mansion on Prairie Avenue (1800 South Prairie Avenue), then one of the most prestigious streets on the South Side.  Richardson certainly didn’t skimp on size, which irked neighbor George Pullman, who lived across the street.  "I do not know what I have ever done to have that thing staring me in the face every time I go out of my door," Pullman said.  The house opened for tours in 1971 and was founded a museum in 1994. The city bestowed it with landmark status on October 14, 1970.  Glessner House was made a national landmark on January 7, 1976.

The city designated this building as a landmark on july 29, 2009.

This 21-story hotel was designed by Marshall and Fox and named for Timothy Blackstone, founding president of the Union Stock Yards and president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad.  It has been dubbed the "Hotel of Presidents," as at least 12 U.S. Presidents have stayed here.  It was designated a Chicago landmark on May 29, 1998.

The Clarke House was built in 1836 for Henry B. Clarke and is Chicago's oldest house.  The house has been moved twice, in 1872 and in 1977, when the City of Chicago bought the home and moved in to its current location.  Today the house is a museum open for tours.  The City of Chicago website states that the house "shows what life was like for a middle-class family in Chicago during the city's formative years before the Civil War."  It was designated a landmark on October 14, 1970.

This Adler and Sullivan-designed building was designated a landmark on July 31, 1996.  Scrap dealers ignited a five-alarm fire on October 24, 2006, that damaged the building's shell so badly that it had to be demolished.

Holabird & Roche designed these three buildings between 1890 and 1899 for three millinery firms: Gage, Keith, and Ascher.  Louis Sullivan designed the façade on 18 South Michigan.  The city designated this group of buildings a landmark on September 11, 1996. 

This building is the earliest-surviving, steel-frame building in the city of chicago.  it was the first entirely terra cotta-clad skyscraper in history.  designed by william lebaron jenney, today this building is one of 17 that comprise the campus of columbia college chicago.  the eight-story building with its terrra-cotta clad facade was commissioned by mary ludington barnes for the american book company, which was owned by her husband, charles barnes, according to the columbia college library.  a milestone in the history of the modern skyscraper, this building was designated as a landmark on june 10, 1996.  

This building was completed in 1929 and housed the operations of the R.R. Donnelly printing company until 1991.  Today, tenants of the building include Qwest, Equinix, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.  The city designated it a landmark on March 31, 2004.

John and Mary Jones moved to Illinois in 1844 and fought against slavery and the Illinois black laws in cCicago during the late 1840s and 1850s.  Their house was located at this intersection in what is now the South Loop.  The site was designated as a landmark on May 26, 2004.

The Great Chicago Fire started on October 8, 1871, in a barn belonging to Patrick and Catherine O'Leary.  While the most popular theory is that one of the O'Leary's cows kicked over a lantern, the actual cause of the fire remains unknown.  In fact, the Chicago Republican reporter who created the cow story, Michael Ahern, admitted he fabricated it because he thought it would make better copy.  Hundreds of people were killed in the fire, which destroyed about four hundred square miles.  The fire marked a distinct turning point in the city's rich history.  This site was designated a landmark on September 15, 1971.

This queen anne style house was built in 1893 by burnham & root.  in the early 20th century, it was the main building for what is today national-louis university.  it was designated as a landmark on march 18, 1987.

Al Capone was one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. history.  He and his henchmen made their money primarily by bootlegging and operating casinos and speakeasies in the Roaring Twenties.  He was on Chicago's first "most wanted" list, and he became the face of 1920s American gangster violence.  The Four Deuces, located at 2222 South Wabash Avenue in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, was one of at least five of Capone's business headquarters.

Al Capone was one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. history.  He and his henchmen made their money primarily by bootlegging and operating casinos and speakeasies in the Roaring Twenties.  He was on Chicago's first "most wanted" list, and he became the face of 1920s American gangster violence.  The Lexington Hotel, formerly located at 2135 South Michigan Avenue in the South Loop, was one of at least five of Capone's business headquarters.

Al Capone was one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. history.  He and his henchmen made their money primarily by bootlegging and operating casinos and speakeasies in the Roaring Twenties.  He was on Chicago's first "most wanted" list, and he became the face of 1920s American gangster violence.  After Johnny Torrio retired from the mob, Capone set up shop in Rooms 406 to 410 of the Metropole Hotel, at 2300 South Michigan Avenue, which was one of at least five of his business headquarters.

Giacomo "Big Jim" Colosimo founded “The Outfit,” which was the Chicago mob later led by Al Capone.  It grew into one of the biggest crime syndicates in the world.  Colosimo was born in Italy, but moved to Chicago, where he started nearly 200 brothels and entered the gambling and racketeering businesses.  He worked as a precinct captain for First Ward Aldermen Michael “Hinky Dink” Kenna and "Bathhouse" John Coughlin.  He opened Colosimo’s Café at 2126 South Wabash Avenue in 1910.  In 1919, he opened a brothel known as the “Four Deuces” at 2222 South Wabash and hired Al Capone from Brooklyn, New York, to work as a bartender and bouncer.  He was killed at his café in 1920 after a falling out with his chief lieutenant, John “The Fox” Torrio.  Frankie Yale and Al Capone have both been suspected as the assassin, although the truth remains unknown.  A New York Times article published May 12, 1920, said Colosimo was shot by "an unknown assailant."  Colosimo was "slain by a single bullet, fired from a cloakroom as he was about to leave [Colosimo's Cafe]," according to the article.  There was one eyewitness to the killing, a man eating dinner, but he "disappeared before the finding of the body."  It was unknown whether he "was the slayer or whether he aided the slayer to escape," the article said.

Torrio lived with his wife, Ann, in an "unpretentious apartment" at 101 West 21st Street, according to Laurence Bergreen's book Capone: The Man and The Era.  According to Bergreen, Rorrio was a pretty straight-laced guy, considering the business in which he was involved.  He "resisted any temptation to engage in sexual relations with prostitutes.  He made it a point to be home at six o'clock each evening."  Believe it or not, Torrio did not "smoke, drink or swear.  As he entered middle age, he looked exactly like what he was, a prosperous and entirely private businessman," according to Bergreen.

The Four Deuces was one of several business headquarters managed first by James Colosimo and later by Al Capone, the notorious leader of the south side "outfit."  The Four Deuces was named for its address at 2222 South Wabash Avenue. In his book, "Capone: The Man and the Era," Laurence Bergreen provides a detailed description of The Four Deuces:

"A saloon occupied the first floor where locally produced whiskey sold for twenty-five cents and imported whiskey from Canada or rum from the Bahamas sold for seventy-five cents; above, on the second floor, were [Johnny] Torrio's offices and a horse-betting parlor; a gambling den (poker roulette, faro, blackjack) occupied the third floor; and finally, at the top of the stairs, there was in the words of one journalist, 'a colorless no-nonsense sex mill designed for results.' A brief session with a woman at The Four Deuces cost two dollars, and for five dollars, the customer could watch a 'circus': Two women going at it with each other."

Al Capone established an office here at 2146 South Michigan Avenue that served as the “nerve center” of the Torrio-Capone organization.  From the street, it appeared to be a doctor’s office, and the sign read “A. Brown, M.D.”

After Johnny Torrio retired from the gangster industry and handed off control to Al Capone, Capone set up shop in Rooms 406 through 410 at the Metropole Hotel.