401 entries match your criteria. The first 100 are listed. Next 100 ⊳
Historical Markers and War Memorials in Cook County, Illinois
Chicago is the county seat for Cook County
Adjacent to Cook County, Illinois
DuPage County(23) ► Kane County(45) ► Lake County(62) ► McHenry County(36) ► Will County(119) ► Lake County, Indiana(40) ► Porter County, Indiana(34) ► Berrien County, Michigan(78) ►
Touch name on this list to highlight map location. Touch blue arrow, or on map, to go there.
Built in 1859 by Elijah Amasa Allen. In 1888 Eugene Berbecker, foster son of E.A. Allen Became Owner. Berbecker Park is named in his honor. — — Map (db m117510) HM
This corridor was a gateway into the country’s interior. Several well worn Indian trails were traveled by fur traders and explorers. One trail, the future Ogden Avenue, was improved into a plank toll road creaking beneath the weight of settlers’ . . . — — Map (db m157105) HM
The Arthur J. Dunham Centennial Home on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1906 in the Prairie School style, owned and lived in by the same family for over 100 years. — — Map (db m157107) HM
Route 66 was a traveling showroom for new cars in the 1950s. Bold design, streamlining, chrome, and flaring fins captured people’s imagination. Ogden Avenue became a hub for automobile businesses in the Chicago area. In its heyday, the strip . . . — — Map (db m157677) HM
(front:)
Route 66, the Mother Road, is an American icon that symbolizes romance and freedom of the open road. Born in 1926, Route 66 was one of the first numbered U.S. highways, journeying 2,500 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Today, . . . — — Map (db m159132) HM
Ogden Avenue was designed for automobiles when the car was king of American culture. A wide street lined with drive-through businesses and convenient parking served both travelers and residents. Drive-in restaurants, service stations, and auto . . . — — Map (db m157675) HM
Looking for a quick bite? After World War I, fast food restaurants sprang up along Route 66, offering cheap and speedy meals for people on the go. Ogden Avenue is still home to many restaurants that were popular during the heyday of the Mother . . . — — Map (db m157676) HM
In Memory of
John Blasyk •
S.P. Champion •
Charles S. Clark •
Joseph C. Crismore •
Frederick A. Emms •
Louis J. Matysek •
Edward E. Meyers •
William S. Patterson •
Joseph Tomasjer •
Charles Vopenka •
James H. Walters
World . . . — — Map (db m157108) WM
This memorial erected
as a tribute to our heroic
comrades of the World-War
who died for their country.
Army
Navy
Marine Corps
Aviation — — Map (db m81516) WM
This American Elm was planted here on October 31, 1931, by the Sixth Congressional District Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs
A Memorial to the Bicentennial Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington. — — Map (db m212367) HM
This building is a significant early 20th-century industrial building built for one of Chicago's best-known manufacturers. Founded and headquartered in the city for many years, the Florsheim Shoe Company was one of the nation's leading shoe . . . — — Map (db m94316) HM
Bessie Coleman
Aviatrix
1892-1926
During the mid-1910s, Bessie Coleman moved from Texas to
Chicago, first working as a manicurist at the White Sox Barber
Shop and later running a chili parlor on the corner of 35th Street
and . . . — — Map (db m180888) HM
Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church
(Originally, Isaiah Temple)
Dankmar Adler, architect
1898-99
Built as one of Chicago's early Reform Judaism synagogues, this
Classical Revivial-style building is the last building designed by
famed . . . — — Map (db m188631) HM
Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong
Jazz Musician
1898 - 1971
One of the most gifted musicians in the history of jazz,
Louis Armstrong spent his most inventive years—1925
to 1929—playing the clubs of Chicago’s Black Belt,
especially the . . . — — Map (db m180936) HM
Melissia Ann Elam Home
Henry L. Newhouse, Architect
1903
This Chateauesque mansion was purchased in the 1920s by Melissia Ann Elam, who [illegible] in Chicago. — — Map (db m181855) HM
Nat "King" Cole
Musician
1919 - 1965
Nat "King" Cole's warm, relaxed, velvety
voice made him a best-selling recording
star. His 1949 hit "Mona Lisa" sold more
than three million copies, and in 1956 he
became the first . . . — — Map (db m180615) HM
Oscar DePriest
Politician
1871-1951
Shrewd, smart and street savvy, Oscar
DePriest was a natural politician. He
became Chicago’s first black alderman
and the first black congressman elected
from a northern state.
Born in . . . — — Map (db m181271) HM
Richard Wright House
architect unknown
1893
While residing, in the second-floor apartment of this building
from 1929 to 1932, celebrated author Richard. Wright effectively
began his professional literary career writing his first . . . — — Map (db m188618) HM
Robert S. Abbott
Newspaper publisher
1868 - 1940
On a May evening in 1905, Robert Sengstacke
Abbott appeared on the streets of Chicago selling
his four-page Chicago Defender, proclaiming it “the
only two-cent weekly in . . . — — Map (db m181014) HM
has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior
Designed by Samuel Treat and built by ethnic European craftsmen for
owners William E. and Elizabeth Thatcher Kent in 1897, The . . . — — Map (db m189755) HM
The Honorable Harold Washington
(1922-1987)
Chicago's First Black Mayor
Harold Washington was a consummate politician, a
political genius that rose through the rough and tumble
political landscape to become the first . . . — — Map (db m180735) HM
The Marx Brothers
Comedy team
The Marx Brothers lived here at 4512 Grand Boulevard
(now King Drive) when they moved to Chicago to tour the
vaudeville circuit in the 1910s. Their act, “The Six Musical
Mascots,” included all five . . . — — Map (db m181366) HM
On this site about 1834, Gurdon S. Hubbard built Chicago’s first warehouse for storing pork and other pioneer produce. Because of its size and substantial construction early skeptics called the building "Hubbard’s Folly." — — Map (db m47692) HM
This outstanding Art Deco-style skyscraper helps define one of the city's finest urban spaces. Its prominence is further heightened by the jog in Michigan Avenue, where it crosses the Chicago River. The base of the building is sheathed in polished . . . — — Map (db m99920) HM
The Karpen Furniture Company commissioned Marshal and Fox to design a 12-story showroom and company office. The building’s simple ornament contrasted with the exuberant facades of Marshall and Fox’s other work, including the Blackstone and Drake . . . — — Map (db m47884) HM
Aaron Montgomery Ward had a vision for Chicago’s lakefront that set him apart from most of his contemporaries. For two decades (1890-1910),he fought tirelessly to preserve Chicago’s lake shore as an open space and assure the city’s “front . . . — — Map (db m47782) HM
The extraordinary engineering talent of Dankmar Adler and the architectural genius of Louis Sullivan created this building to reflect the cultural maturity of Chicago. Combining hotel and office space with a splendid theater, the Auditorium was a . . . — — Map (db m34975) HM
Dedicated
to the memory of those gallant
heroes from the Chicago area
who were members of the besieged
garrison on the Bataan peninsula
and at Corregidor, Philippine
Islands, in World War II.
May the courage and fortitude
displayed . . . — — Map (db m134843) WM
An outstanding example of Modern French style of Beaux-Arts Classical architecture. As one of the city's earliest luxury hotels, it became the "Hotel of Presidents," serving as host to a dozen U.S. Presidents, including Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. . . . — — Map (db m94409) HM
Holabird & Roche, architect
1909- 10
An excellent example of the Chicago School,
an architectural style of international importance
that developed between the 1880s and the
early 1900s. This building was commissioned
by Boston developers . . . — — Map (db m134414) HM
According to popular legend, the architects chose this building’s dark green and gold colors based on a gold-foiled champagne bottle seen at an office holiday party. Whether true of not, the building is one of the most-distinctive features on . . . — — Map (db m51698) HM
These carved granite fragments are from the Illinois Central Station which stood at the southwest edge of Grant Park for more than 75 years. Bradford Lee Gilbert, a prolific architect of American railroad buildings, designed the massive . . . — — Map (db m99761) HM
This memorial is dedicated to all veterans of the armed forces who served in Viet Nam. It replaces the former memorial and reflecting pool located on Wacker Drive that had been dedicated by Mayor Jane M. Byrne on November 11, 1982. The inscribed . . . — — Map (db m134950) WM
This river originally flowing eastward from the prairie home lands of the Potawatomi and other Indian tribes into Lake Michigan, linked the waters of the Atlantic, the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes with those of the Illinois, the Mississippi and . . . — — Map (db m99534) HM
During the winter of 1891, a group of Chicago sailors gathered at the home of a bridge tender to discuss the formation of a club dedicated to the sport of sailing. Their idea was to create on the lakefront, a facility where men and women could enjoy . . . — — Map (db m47651) HM
This massive block-long office building was built to house one of Chicago’s leading banks and exemplifies the large commercial buildings that define the distinctive LaSalle Street “canyon.” Architect Daniel Burnham personally . . . — — Map (db m47757) HM
[Side A]
Dearborn Street showcases some of Chicago’s best architecture, art, and urban design dating from the late 19th century. Great names in architecture include Chicago School architects William LeBaron Jenney, Burnham & Root, and . . . — — Map (db m47885) HM
Eternal flame in memory of the
men and women who have served
in our Armed Forces from the
Revolutionary War to present.
Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force
Coat Guard, National Guard
Reserves and Merchant Marines. — — Map (db m126812) WM
Fairbanks Morse & Company
Building
Has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
By the United States
Department of Interior
Built 1906 — — Map (db m99883) HM
On this site stood, in 1851, the
first Jewish house of worship
in the State of Illinois
and the middle Northwest.
Kehlath Anshe Mayriv
Congregation Men of the West
Now known as K.A.M. Temple
Established 1847
Dedicated by the
Jewish . . . — — Map (db m134416) HM
Near this site in 1833, the log store of John S.C. Hogan, was this section’s only post office, serving settler from miles around. Eastern mail was delivered once a week from Niles, Michigan.
Erected by
Chicago’s Charter Jubilee
Authenticated . . . — — Map (db m47724) HM
Defense
Fort Dearborn stood almost on this spot. After an heroic defense in eighteen hundred and twelve, the garrison together with women and children was forced to evacuate the fort. Led by Captain Wells, they were brutally massacred by the . . . — — Map (db m47670) HM
[Decorative features listed left to right; click on marker to enlarge]
Console
Size: 7’-0” high 3’-6” wide 6’-0” deep
Material Pink Marble
The console is a decorative bracket carved as a vertical scroll and projecting from . . . — — Map (db m47659) HM
Harold Washington was elected Chicago's first African American Mayor on April 21 1983. He brought together a coalition of Chicagoans that spanned economic, social and racial lines.
Of his legacy, he said: I hope someday to be remembered by . . . — — Map (db m99684) HM
Harris and Selwyn Theaters
Crane and Franzheim, architects
1922
New York theatrical producers Sam Harris and
Archie and Edgar Selwyn constructed these
buildings for live stage shows. The "Twin Theaters"
have terra-cotta facades . . . — — Map (db m180950) HM
On this site, then the lake shore, Jean Baptiste Beaubien, Chicago's second civilian, in 1817, built a “mansion” to which he brought his bride, Josette LaFramboise. It remained their home until 1845. — — Map (db m72205) HM
Lake-Franklin Group
Burling & Adler, George Edbrooke, architects
1872 - 1875
This rare grouping of post-Fire buildings is the
best reminder of the wholesale district, an area
integral to the city's former role as the world's
largest . . . — — Map (db m181282) HM
The city’s earliest surviving steal-frame building, a type of construction that changed commercial architecture. As one of the first structures clad in terra cotta, it marked an important step in the development of the architectural terra cotta . . . — — Map (db m47781) HM
Daniel H. Burnham and Charles Atwood, 1892;
D.H.Burnham and Co., 1902, 1906, 1907;
Graham, Burnham & Co., 1914 architects
1892- 1914
The Marshall Field and Company Building is the “grande dame” of
Chicago department store . . . — — Map (db m134434) HM
[Text on the right]
The ASCE presented only ten such awards worldwide, each representing the most outstanding example of Civil engineering in a particular area of infrastructure over the past century.
Created in 1889, the District built canals . . . — — Map (db m155321) HM
This massive hotel, once the world's largest, bears the name of Potter Palmer, one of Chicago's most important businessmen. It is designed in the Classical Revival style with French Neoclassical influences. Interior spaces of note include the . . . — — Map (db m92465) HM
Builder: Marine Industries Limited, Sorel, Quebec, Canada
Launched on June 28, 1947
Hull Number: 144
Length: 372.6 ft.
Width: 62 ft.
Gross Tons: 7,600
Service: Operated by Canadian National Railway for service from Cape Tormentine, New . . . — — Map (db m47648) HM
The Great Chicago Fire in October eighteen hundred and seventy-one devastated the city. From its ashes the people of Chicago caused a new and greater city to rise imbued with that indomitable spirit and energy by which they have ever been guided. . . . — — Map (db m79609) HM
In honor of Rene Robert Cavalier Sieur de La Salle & Henry de Tonti who passed through this river on their way to the Mississippi December 1681
This Tablet is placed by the Illinois Society of Colonial Dames of America under the auspices of the . . . — — Map (db m47683) HM
Its powerful exterior softened by John Root’s lively ornament, the Rookery typifies the 1880s' lingering picturesque attitude toward commercial architecture. A transitional structure in the evolution of modern architecture, it employs both . . . — — Map (db m47758) HM
Attributed to famed architect William Le Baron Jenney, the Rowe Building, a printing arts factory built in 1892, typifies the late nineteenth century Romanesque Revival style.
Renovated in 1980, the Rowe Building is a distinguished member of . . . — — Map (db m47780) HM
The Sauganash Hotel was built
in 1831 on what is now the south
east corner of Lake Street and
Wacker Drive. It was Chicago's
first hotel and it soon became the
social center of town.
In 1833, prominent local citizens
met in the Sauganash . . . — — Map (db m183335) HM
Chicago Landmark
Fort Dearborn served as the major western garrison of the United States until destroyed during an Indian uprising in August of 1812. A second fort, erected on the same site in 1816, was demolished in 1858.
Designated a Chicago . . . — — Map (db m47681) HM
On this site stood the Sauganash Hotel, built in 1831 by pioneer Mark Beaubien, which was location of the frontier town’s first village board election in 1833. The Wigwam, an assembly hall built in 1860 (destroyed c. 1867) on the site of the hotel, . . . — — Map (db m47725) HM
This was Chicago’s main business street in 1834, connecting the village with Fort Dearborn. Years before this also was the site of a trading post with the Indians.
Erected by
Chicago’s Charter Jubilee
Authenticated by Chicago Historical . . . — — Map (db m47691) HM
(side 1)
Chicago’s Great Street
There is only one State Street. Widely celebrated in song, “That Great Street” has been known since the 1870s for its concentration of premier department stores and world-class . . . — — Map (db m81432) HM
While still partially tied to its dock at the river’s edge, the excursion steamer Eastland rolled over on the morning of July 24, 1915. The result was one of the worst maritime disasters in American history. More than eight hundred people . . . — — Map (db m61452) HM
The "Great Migration" from the South to "the Promised Land" of Chicago brought more African Americans here from Mississippi than any other state, especially during and after World War II. With the migrants came the Delta blues that was the . . . — — Map (db m47901) HM
These two statues, one symbolizing agriculture and the other industry, once stood over the main entrance of the Board of Trade Building built in 1885. The statues greeted commodity traders and the public for 45 years. Thought lost forever when the . . . — — Map (db m47760) HM
This building was the first permanent structure of the city's public library system. Designed to be a grand civic building, its exterior appearance and its interior spaces are based on classical Greek and Italian Renaissance precedents. The library . . . — — Map (db m110682) HM
For many years,"The Christmas Tree Ship,” loaded with trees,
docked at the southwest corner of the Clark Street Bridge.
From the ship, Captain Herman Schuenemann, known as
"Captain Santa,” with his wife, Barbara, and daughters
Elsie, Hazel and . . . — — Map (db m181315) HM
Built in 1912 as the Rothschild Building
Holabird and Roche – architect
Renamed the Goldblatt Building in 1936
Placed on the Nation Register of Historic Places in 1989
Rededicated by DePaul University September 14, 1993
Richard . . . — — Map (db m134433) HM
Built in 1883, the Donohue Building was the first large printing factory in historic Printing House Row. The Annex was added in 1913. The Donohue Buildings served until 1971 as the headquarters of the M.A. Donohue Publishing Company, a well known . . . — — Map (db m47779) HM
Joanne H. Alter was elected Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and served with distinction from 1972 until 1990. Commissioner Alter’s vision for improvement in the Chicago River led to the revitalization . . . — — Map (db m47665) HM
On this site, Sept. 23, 1846, the
Sisters of Mercy
who provided Chicago with its first hospital, began their charitable, educational and civic services to this city — — Map (db m99817) HM
Chicago’s famous Grand Pacific Hotel, then on the site of the present Continental Bank building, was the location of the General Time Convention of 1883 which, on October 11 of that year, adopted the current Standard Time System in the United . . . — — Map (db m47759) HM
Trustees System Service Building
Thielbard and Fugard, architects;
Eugene and Gwen Lux and Edgar Miller, artists
1929-30
This bold Art-Deco style skyscraper, designed by noted Chicago
architects Thielbard and Fugard, is clad with . . . — — Map (db m181570) HM
A Memorial to Vietnam Veterans
You are entering a site dedicated to
Americans who served their country
with great honor and distinction
in the Vietnam War.
Your respect to their memory
is greatly appreciated.
no biking, no skateboarding,
no . . . — — Map (db m134949) WM
South Water Street 1834
South Water Street 1924
Wacker Drive
Begun 1924 Completed 1926
Built by the
City of Chicago
Wm. E. Dever Mayor
Francis X. Busch
Corporation Counsel
Board of Local Improvement
John J. Sloan . . . — — Map (db m47696) HM
At the time of its construction, in the aftermath of the Fire of 1871, this was one of the city's tallest buildings. Its limestone facades feature ornate Victorian-style details; its lobby includes a unique curving hardwood staircase. Structurally, . . . — — Map (db m117493) HM
In 1913, Ida B. Wells-Barnett organized black-led Alpha Suffrage Club to promote women's right to vote. Former meeting site one block north. — — Map (db m191130) HM
We Remember Flight 191
Let us not forget the victims of May 25, 1979, who
helped assure the safety of all who have boarded
an airliner since that tragic event.
"When someone you love becomes a memory,
the memory becomes a . . . — — Map (db m217908) HM
Named in honor of the late Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Camp Douglas, established in 1861, was the earliest and largest Union military camp in the Chicago area. The camp stretched from 31st Street to 33rd Place and from Cottage Grove Avenue . . . — — Map (db m125027) HM
Chicago Bee Building
Z. Erol Smith, architect
1929-31
This Art Deco-style building was constructed as
the headquarters for the Chicago Bee newspaper,
which was founded by noted African American
entrepreneur Anthony Overton. It also . . . — — Map (db m188754) HM
Chicago Defender Building
Built 1899; remodeled 1915
This former Jewish synagogue was home to the
Chicago Defender from 1920 until 1960. Founded
by Robert S. Abbott in 1905, the newspaper
became nationally known for its . . . — — Map (db m188261) HM
Enlistment and training center for U.S. Union Armed Forces. Site of enlistment of Private Charles H. Griffin, January 5, 1864 Co. B, 29th Reg’t U.S. Col’d Infantry USCT. Prisoner of War camp where 6,000 Confederate soldiers of the Civil War died. — — Map (db m125614) HM WM
“A riot is the language of the unheard.” —Dr. Martin Luther King
Sunday, July 27, 1919, a group of boys rafting on Lake Michigan drifted over an invisible racial barrier. Rocks were thrown from the breakwater and Eugene . . . — — Map (db m166545) HM
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
1862-1931
Social reformer
Ida B. Wells-Barnett spent her life crusading against lynching
in America. An advocate for civil rights, woman’s suffrage and
economic justice, her anti-lynching campaign stirred the . . . — — Map (db m181804) HM
Overton Hygienic Building
Built 1922-23
Built as the headquarters for the Overton
Hygienic Co., one of the nation's foremost
producers of African-American cosmetics, this
structure also housed the Victory Life Insurance
Company and . . . — — Map (db m180693) HM
Pilgrim Baptist Church
Adler and Sullivan, Architects
1891
The decorative and planning skills of Sullivan and the engineering ability of Adler are embodied in the strong masonry forms of this building, embellished with terra-cotta . . . — — Map (db m189477) HM
Richard Wright
Novelist, playwright, social critic
1908-1960
Through eloquent and powerful
writing, Richard Wright established
himself as one of the greatest writers
of his generation. His novels and
drawn from his own experiences, . . . — — Map (db m180696) HM
State Street was the shopping district of
Black owned businesses such as drugstores,
barber shops, flower shops, tailor shops,
meat markets, millinery shops, fruit stands,
theaters, and restaurants,
a “city within a city."
This area . . . — — Map (db m189133) HM
Sunset Cafe
Built 1909
Following a 1921 remodeling, this simple
automobile garage was transformed into one
of the city's earliest and most legendary jazz
venues. Its house orchestra featured such
famed musicians as Louis . . . — — Map (db m189053) HM
Supreme Life Building
Built 1921; remodeled 1950
This was the longtime headquarters of the Supreme Life Insurance Co., the first African-American owned and operated insurance company in the northern United States. The firm was founded in . . . — — Map (db m188528) HM
Chicago’s Boulevards are one of the city’s most overlooked treasures, and one of the largest and oldest boulevard systems in the nation. The 28-mile system contains 540 acres of green space, and provides a link between seven inland parks and . . . — — Map (db m189232) HM
Ida B.Wells
July 16, 1862 - March 25, 1931
The Ida B. Wells Homes stood in this area
for over sixty years from 1941-2002.
They consisted of over 1,600 units located
between 37th & 39th Streets and
King Drive & Cottage Grove. . . . — — Map (db m181805) HM
401 entries matched your criteria. The first 100 are listed above. Next 100 ⊳
