Grant Park - Chicago, Illinois - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

Central link of Chicago's chain of lake front parks, Grant Park lies between the most imposting section of Michigan Avenue and the inner basin of the Chicago Harbor. Known as the Front Yard of Chicago, it contains many of Chicago's finest museums and monuments, and its 303 acres provide the mile-long Loop with an open view of the lake.

Practically all of the land in the park has been reclaimed from the lake; in 1852 the Illinois Central tracks, only 100 yards east of Michigan Avenue, were laid on trestles in the water. Subsequent filling created new land on both sides of the Illinois Central, which raised the grade around the tracks, so that the railroad right-of-way is now hidden some 20 feet below the level of the park.

Before the Columbian Exposition in 1893, many attempts were made to secure the embryo park for private use. Largely through the persistent efforts of A. Montgomery Ward, the "Watchdog of the Lake Front," it was kept free of buildings, except the Art Institute. Later, the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium were built on a southeast extension of Grant Park, beyond the Loop area.

The pattern of the park, broken by the railroad right-of-way, the two major boulevards, and the connecting extensions of several downtown streets, is essentially formal. But the park is not merely a formal showpiece. On warm days students pore over books in the shadow of the peristyle, where passers-by feed the great flocks of pigeons. After working hours in summer months, the ball fields and tennis courts are crowded with players and spectators from Loop offices. At dusk, dense throngs converge on the band shell for the open air concerts, and always, the year round, visitors cross the viaducts to view the exhibits in the museums.

Grant Park can still be considered the "Front Yard" of Chicago. It is a vital, vibrant part of this dense city providing a place to play and enjoy the arts in a city with a history of being all about work.

The historic museums are still the big draw of the park, along with the famous Buckingham Fountain, built in 1927. The park was extended to the north in the late 1990's to add Millenium Park to the already large Grant Park. Millenium Park continues Grant Park's tradition of world class art, architecture and landscaping with the addition of Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion and BP Bridge, the beautifully landscaped Lurie Garden - a stylized wildflower prairie, Boeing Galleries - an outdoor sculpture park, the innovative, massive Crown Fountain, and the much loved Cloud Gate sculpture ("The Bean") by Anish Kapoor.

The above coordinates are taken from Buckingham Fountain, a famous, centrally located feature of the park.