Grant Park - Chicago, Illinois
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 41° 52.548 W 087° 37.138
16T E 448638 N 4636171
Grant Park is the city of Chicago’s most prominent park. The site includes large open areas, Millenium Park, and four world-class museums.
Waymark Code: WM13CB
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 01/02/2007
Views: 70
Grant Park is the city of Chicago’s most prominent park. The site includes four world-class museums -- the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum of Natural History, Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium – large green spaces, sculpture and the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain, built in 1927 to provide a monumental focal point while protecting the park's breathtaking lakefront views.
Grant Park's beginnings date to 1835, when foresighted citizens, fearing commercial lakefront development, lobbied to protect the open space. As a result, the park's original area east of Michigan Avenue was designated "public ground forever to remain vacant of buildings."
Originally the park was named Lake Park, but in 1901, the city transferred the park to the South Park Commission, which named it for Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), 18th President of the United States. Renowned architect Daniel H. Burnham envisioned Grant Park as a formal landscape with museums and civic buildings. However, construction was stalled by lawsuits launched by mail-order magnate Aaron Montgomery Ward, who sought to protect the park's open character.
Finally, in 1911, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Ward's favor. New landfill at the park's southern border allowed construction of the Field Museum to begin, and the park evolved slowly. In 1934, the South Park Commission was consolidated into the Chicago Park District, which completed improvements using federal relief funds.
Coordinates are taken from Buckingham Fountain, a famous, centrally located feature of the park.
Street address:
337 E. Randolph Street
Chicago, IL USA
60601
County / Borough / Parish: Cook
Year listed: 1993
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event
Periods of significance: 1875-1949
Historic function: Landscape, Recreation And Culture
Current function: Landscape, Recreation And Culture
Privately owned?: no
Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2007 To: 12/31/2007
Hours of operation: From: 7:00 AM To: 7:00 PM
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 2: [Web Link]
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.