Gold Coast in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Mariano Park

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, February 25, 2025

1. Mariano Park Marker

Inscription. This structure by architect Birch Burdette Long was the winning design of a competition held about 1895. Mr. Long was a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright staff and later became a nationally prominent architectural renderer. This shelter and park were restored in 1979.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Parks & Recreational Areas. In addition, it is included in the Frank Lloyd Wright series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1895.

Location. 41° 54.101′ N, 87° 37.687′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Gold Coast. It is on Rush Street near Bellevue Place, on the left when traveling north. The marker is on the east-facing side of the small building at the south end of Mariano Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1031 North State Street, Chicago IL 60610, 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

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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: 49 East Cedar Street (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Bryan Lathrop House (approx. 0.2 miles away); "Barmaids Ordinance" (approx. 0.2 miles away); Mahlon D. Ogden Residence (approx. 0.2 miles away); Fisher Studio Houses (approx. 0.2 miles away); Washington Square Park (approx. 0.2 miles away); Walgreens (approx. 0.2 miles away); North Loop Post No. 949 War Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.

Regarding Mariano Park. Birch Burdette Long was born in Indiana in 1878 and came to Chicago as a teenager to work in architectural offices. If the marker is correct, this design would have been made when he was about 17 years old. Long died in 1927.

This small triangular park was renamed in 1970 after Louis Mariano, a local resident who was a longtime reporter for the Chicago Daily News and an associate editor for the World Book Science Year Book.

This triangular

Mariano Park and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, February 25, 2025

2. Mariano Park and Marker

park, formed by the intersection of State Street with the diagonal Rush Street, is the heart of an area in Chicago's Gold Coast that is often (somewhat jokingly) referred to as the Viagra Triangle, a reference to the clientele of its upscale drinking, dining and shopping establishments.

Also see . . .
1. Chicago Park District: Mariano (Louis) Park.

Excerpt: "Transferred by the City to the Chicago Park District in 1957 pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act, tiny Mariano Park has borne at least four names since its 1848 donation to the City of Chicago. As early as 1900, the site was known as Green Bay Triangle for the Green Bay Trail that had once run nearby, along the path of what is now Clark Street.

"In 1931, the City Council designated the park Rehm Arbor, memorializing German immigrant brewer Jacob Rehm (1828-1915), a near north side resident, and also a Lincoln Park Board Commissioner, Chicago police chief, and Cook County Treasurer. Unfortunately, beginning in 1931, a sign mistakenly labelled the park Arbor Rest, the name of another triangular park nearby, for twenty-six years."

(Submitted on February 26, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

2. Birch Burdette Long.

The small Mariano Park bodega designed by Birch Burdette Long image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, February 25, 2025

3. The small Mariano Park bodega designed by Birch Burdette Long

From the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings website

Excerpt: "Although he trained in the usual draftsman and designer activities, he became interested particularly in drawing perspectives and in rendering. It is during his time in Chicago that he became acquainted with Frank Lloyd Wright, and Long is sometimes credited with introducing a Japanese-style architectural rendering into that office."

(Submitted on February 26, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Credits. This page was last revised on March 1, 2025. It was originally submitted on February 26, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 122 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 26, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.