Near West Side in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Carter H. Harrison
Photographed by Sean Flynn, December 22, 2023
1. Carter H. Harrison Marker
"Genius is but audacity and the audacity of Chicago has chosen a star. It has looked upward to it and knows nothing that it fears to attempt and thus far has found nothing that it can not accomplish."
The World's Fair
Oct. 28th, 1893
Erected 1907 by Carter H. Harrison Memorial Association.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Notable Events • Parks & Recreational Areas. A significant historical date for this entry is October 28, 1893.
Location. 41° 52.98′ N, 87° 39.952′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in the Near West Side. It is on Washington Boulevard east of Ashland Avenue, on the left when traveling west. The statue is in the southern portion of Union Park bounded by Ashland Avenue on the west, Washington and Warren Boulevards on the north and south respectively, and Ogden Avenue on the east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1501 West Randolph Street, Chicago IL 60607, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: James Connolly (within shouting distance of this marker); Union Park (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Mary Thompson Hospital for Women and Children (about 600
this page online
More about this marker. According to the Chicago Park District, the plaque on this statue is a replacement likely from sometime in the 2010s or early 2020s of an original that adorned the statue when erected in 1907 but had been missing for years. A pair of ornamental lights that flanked the statue have also been lost but not replaced.
The statue is a couple of blocks from where Carter Harrisons home was located on South Ashland Avenue. It was there that the five-term Chicago mayor was assassinated on October 28, 1893, just hours after the speech commemorated on the plaque.
Regarding Carter H. Harrison. Carter Harrison, a native of Kentucky, served as Chicago's mayor from 1879 until 1887 and then again in 1893, leading the city during its famed World's Columbian
Photographed by Sean Flynn, December 22, 2023
2. Carter H. Harrison Statue
On October 28, 1893, just months into his fifth term, Harrison gave a speech at the Columbian Exposition a portion of which is quoted on this plaque and then returned home that evening for dinner in his family mansion on South Ashland Avenue, which was about 2 blocks south of the statue's location today. Patrick Prendergast, an unemployed Irish immigrant who had expected an appointment in Harrison's new mayoral administration, came to the home and fatally shot Harrison three times with a .38 caliber revolver. A celebration for the final day of the fair was replaced with a public memorial service for Harrison; Harrison lay in state in City Hall, and was later buried at Graceland Cemetery in the city's Lakeview neighborhood.
Prendergast was convicted of murder in 1894. After his conviction, attorney Clarence Darrow was hired for the first murder defense of his career, in an attempt to spare Prendergast the gallows. The efforts failed and Prendergast was
Photographed by Sean Flynn, December 22, 2023
3. Carter H. Harrison Statue
Harrison's son, Carter Jr., later served as a notable mayor of Chicago, completing four two-year terms from 1897-1905 and a four-year term from 1911-1915.
Also see . . .
1. Carter Harrison Memorial. From the Chicago Park District (Submitted on December 23, 2023, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
2. Prendergast Case - 1894. The University of Minnesota's Clarence Darrow collection features information and photos related to the case against Patrick Prendergast, who murdered Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison in 1893 and was hanged in 1894. Darrow represented Prendergast in his attempt to avoid the death penalty. (Submitted on February 19, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
3. Homicide in Chicago: 1893: Mayor Carter Harrison. A website devoted to notable Chicago murders between 1870 and 1930 looks at the assassination of Carter Harrison.
Excerpt: "The murder of the Mayor attracted attention not only because it was the Mayor who was murdered, but also because the defendants claims for justification were so unreasonable. Prendergast turned himself into the police and explained that he had just shot the Mayor because the Mayor had not awarded him the job of Corporation Counsel, a job for which he was untrained and unqualified. At the hearing as to whether he was sane enough to be executed, Prendergast was represented(Submitted on February 19, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)by Clarence Darrow. Medical experts were split on the question of his sanity, and Prendergast did hang.Courtesy of Chicago Public Library4. Carter H. Harrison StatueThis undated photo, likely from the 1920s, shows the Harrison statue with the original ornamental lamps on either side of it.
Chicago Public Library
5. Carter H. Harrison (1825-1893)
Credits. This page was last revised on May 6, 2026. It was originally submitted on December 23, 2023, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 531 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 23, 2023, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
