The Loop District in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Couch Place

Photographed By Sean Flynn, April 16, 2024

1. Couch Place Marker

Inscription. Named for brothers Ira and James Couch, owners of the Tremont Hotel which stood at Lake & Dearborn streets from 1850 to 1871. Chicago's first brick building, the Tremont hosted President Abraham Lincoln when he visited Chicago.

Erected 2007 by City of Chicago.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Roads & Vehicles • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #16 Abraham Lincoln series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1860.

Location. 41° 53.109′ N, 87° 37.698′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in The Loop District. Marker is on Couch Place near North State Street. The marker is short walk from State Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Chicago IL 60601, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Chicago Theater (within shouting distance of this marker); Page Brothers Building (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Couch Place (within shouting distance of this marker); Oliver Building (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Harris and Selwyn Theaters (about 400 feet away); Marshall Field and Company Building

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(about 500 feet away); The Rotary Club of Chicago (about 600 feet away); South Water Street (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.

More about this marker. An identical marker can be found on the opposite end of the alley, near Dearborn Street. The marker promotes improvements made to the alley in a 2007 renovation.

Regarding Couch Place. What goes unsaid on the marker is Couch Place's status as, to borrow one newspaper's phrase, "The Alley of Death and Mutilation." In 1903, the Iroquois Theater opened on the south end of the alley, along Randolph between Dearborn and State. On December 30, 1903, about 5 weeks after it opened, the Iroquois was hosting a matinee of Mr. Blue Beard before an estimated 2000+ patrons when sparks from an arc light ignited a highly flammable curtain. As the fire spread rapidly and mass panic began among a crowd with many children, the building's faulty design proved deadly, as there was only one stairway connecting all of the tiers of the theater. Many were trapped inside behind piles of bodies, with bodies stacked around some of the building's blocked exits; smoke filled Couch Alley,

Photographed By Sean Flynn, April 16, 2024

2. Couch Place Marker

The marker is the first sign on the left in this east-facing view, with State Street nearby.

where many bodies were also found. More than 600 people are believed to have died in the fire, which was America's deadliest building disaster in history until the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.

The Tremont Hotel referenced on the sign and making up the north side of Couch Place would become Lincoln's lodgings of choice while in Chicago. It was actually the third hotel on the site, after the 1837 original building burned down in 1839 and its 1840 replacement burned down in 1841. The third building, five stories tall and brick, opened in 1850 and became perhaps Chicago's most famous hotel. In addition to Lincoln, the hotel was also a residence for many notable Chicagoans, including Lincoln's famous rival Stephen A. Douglas, who died in the hotel in 1861. In 1858, Lincoln gave a speech at the hotel, a rebuttal to a speech that Douglas had given in opposition to Lincoln's "House Divided" speech and something of an opening to their famed 1858 campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate. The hotel was also the Republican Party headquarters for its presidential convention of 1860, which was held in the Wigwam a short distance west of here and led to Abraham Lincoln's nomination for president.

The third hotel was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. A fourth hotel was reopened on the site by James Couch and the estate of Ira Couch, who had died in

Photographed By Sean Flynn, April 16, 2024

3. Couch Place Marker

A west-facing view, with Dearborn Street in the far distance.

1857, and remained a landmark hotel for the next few decades. In 1902 it was sold to Northwestern University and it was torn down in 1937.

Also see . . .
1. Tremont House. From the website "The Great Chicago Fire & the Web of Memory"

Excerpt: "The Tremont House figured importantly in the famed senatorial election of 1858. In Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate, David Zarefsky describes the evening of July 9, when Douglas launched his campaign with a speech from the hotel’s balcony. Lincoln, in Chicago for the opening session of the United States District Court, was in attendance. When he heard Douglas attack his 'House Divided' speech as endorsing radical abolitionism, Lincoln announced that he would appear at the hotel the following evening, as he did, to respond."

(Submitted on April 16, 2024, by Sean Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

2. Couch Place, The Alley of Death. From the Chicago Loop Alliance (Submitted on April 16, 2024, by Sean Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Tremont Hotel image. Click for full size.

Copelin & Melander, photographer; courtesy of Chicago History Museum, ICHi-000766, circa 1860

4. Tremont Hotel

This stereograph shows the third incarnation of the Tremont Hotel, which would be destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 16, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 16, 2024, by Sean Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 45 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 16, 2024, by Sean Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.