Old Irving Park in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Carl Schurz High School

Dwight M. Perkins, architect; 1910

— Chicago Landmark —

Carl Schurz High School Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 1, 2024

1. Carl Schurz High School Marker

Inscription. The siting of this structure as well as its forceful brick facade, displaying elements of both the Chicago and Prairie Schools of architecture, make it Dwight Perkins' masterpiece. The school is named in honor of the German-born journalist and political leader.

Designated a Chicago Landmark on December 27, 1979 by the City Council of Chicago.
Jane M. Byrne, Mayor

Erected 1979 by Commission on Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks; City of Chicago.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Education • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Illinois, Chicago Landmarks Commission, and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1910.

Location. 41° 56.84′ N, 87° 44.139′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Old Irving Park. It is on North Milwaukee Avenue 0.1 miles north of West Addison Street, on the right when traveling north. The marker is to the right of the central entrance to Schurz High School, facing Milwaukee Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at

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or near this postal address: 3601 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago IL 60641, 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 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: John and Clara Merchant House (approx. 0.3 miles away); Charles N. Loucks House (approx. 0.4 miles away); Stephen A. Race House (approx. 0.4 miles away); Villa District (approx. 0.6 miles away); Florsheim Shoe Company Building (approx. ¾ mile away); Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.9 miles away); St. Stanislaus Kostka Auditorium Crowned Eagle (approx. 1.3 miles away); St. Hyacinth Parish World War I Memorial (approx. 1.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.

More about this marker. The plaque is time-worn and somewhat difficult to read in spots.

Regarding Carl Schurz High School. Schurz

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 1, 2024

2. Carl Schurz High School Marker

High School, situated on eight acres on Chicago's northwest side, consistently appears on lists of Chicago's finest architecture, and is considered the crowning achievement of architect Dwight Perkins, who spent five years as the chief architect for Chicago's public schools. One hundred years since the building was completed, both its exterior and interior are largely unchanged, and the building remains an imposing presence at the intersection of Milwaukee Ave. and Addison St. on Chicago's northwest side.

The building’s central section, set back about 100 yards from Milwaukee Avenue, opened in the fall of 1910, replacing another Carl Schurz High School that had been about three blocks away at 41st Court (now Kedvale) and Grace Street. Amid a rapid enrollment increase, the south wing near Addison Street was opened in 1915 and a north wing near Waveland Avenue opened in 1924. According to the building's National Register of Historic Places registration form from 2011, the grid-like appearance of the building's elevations is among the evidence of the Chicago School work driven by Louis Sullivan. The pitched, gabled roof and eaves as

Carl Schurz High School image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 1, 2024

3. Carl Schurz High School

The marker is to the right of the doors.

well as the use of art glass windows, among other features, are characteristics of the Prairie Style.

Dwight Perkins was raised in Chicago and studied architecture at MIT. After returning to Chicago around 1889, he worked at Burnham and Root for five years, before leaving to start his own firm. As chief architect for the Chicago Board of Education starting in 1905, Perkins was responsible for the design of 40 schools, with this one (as the marker states) considered his masterpiece. In 1910 he was forced from his position, likely because he wouldn’t fulfill corrupt politicians’ requests to use connected contractors for construction. He re-entered private practice and is responsible for, among other buildings, the Lion House at the Lincoln Park Zoo. (The office building for his firm, Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton, located on Michigan Avenue across the street from the Water Tower, is also a Chicago Landmark.) He was also a key figure in establishing Cook County's Forest Preserve system. He died in 1941 in New Mexico while traveling to his winter home in California.

Carl Schurz was born in Prussia in 1829 and fought for the revolutionary

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 1, 2024

4. Carl Schurz High School Marker

army during the revolutions of 1848. After their defeat, he fled to Paris, and then London, where he married the sister of a fellow revolutionary. Like many of the revolutionaries he moved to the United States in 1852, and he eventually settled in Wisconsin, where he became an active member of the fledgling Republican Party and an anti-slavery advocate. During the Civil War, Schurz was a Union general and led a division in the XI Corps, seeing heavy action at both Gettysburg and Chickamauga. After the war, he eventually landed in St. Louis, where he was a newspaper editor. In 1868, he was elected as a U.S. senator from Missouri, becoming the nation's first German-American senator. He later served as Secretary of the Interior under Rutherford B. Hayes. After the stint as secretary, Schurz moved to New York and remained active in politics. He died in New York in 1906 at age 77.

Also see . . .
1. Schurz High School National Register of Historic Places registration form. The building was added to the NRHP in 2011. (Submitted on September 2, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

2. Dwight H. Perkins (1867-1941).

Carl Schurz High School's "Addison wing" image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 1, 2024

5. Carl Schurz High School's "Addison wing"

A bio of Dwight Perkins from the Chicago Historic Schools blog

Excerpt: “He brought his sense of humanity and progressive spirit to the design of school architecture. Perkins wanted the buildings to serve as holistic community centers, so he placed auditoriums on the first floor to make them more accessible for after-hours functions. He also sought to improve upon difficulties in the way that the earlier schools functioned by widening stairwells and hallways to minimize crowding, creating bathrooms on every floor (the only toilet rooms in the older schools were in basements), and maximizing the amount of natural light in the classrooms.”

(Submitted on September 2, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Chicago Daily News Collection, Chicago History Museum, circa 1910

6. Carl Schurz High School

This photo was likely taken around the time of the school’s opening in 1910.

Dwight Perkins, architect image. Click for full size.

Chicago Daily News Collection, Chicago History Museum, circa 1908

7. Dwight Perkins, architect

Perkins is in the middle; he is flanked on the left by Joseph G. Magrady, a school board member, and on the right by architect Arthur F. Hussander. Hussander succeeded Perkins as the chief architect for Chicago Public Schools when Perkins was ousted in 1910, and he served in that role until 1920.

Carl Schurz (1829-1906) image. Click for full size.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, circa 1888

8. Carl Schurz (1829-1906)

This drawing of Schurz appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1888.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 22, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 2, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 779 times since then and 88 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on September 2, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. 8. submitted on January 15, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.