Stephen Arnold Douglas - Chicago, IL
Posted by: Go Boilers!
N 41° 49.879 W 087° 36.510
16T E 449472 N 4631227
Stephen Douglas is best know for a series of debates with Abraham Lincoln in a Senate race in 1858. Douglas won that election. In 1860, he lost the Presidential election to Lincoln.
Waymark Code: WMEBEK
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 05/02/2012
Views: 5
Douglas moved to Chicago in 1847, immediately after his election to the Senate. He settled on the South Side and immediately began buying up real estate. This is the site of his former estate and now contains his tomb.
After Douglas’s death, in 1861, the state of Illinois set aside $75,000 to build a memorial that reflected the Little Giant’s stature as a politician. Although Douglas was only 5’4”, the bronze statue atop the pillar is nine feet tall.
In one of local history’s great ironies, Douglas -- a man who defended slavery -- gave his name to the Douglas neighborhood, which became the heart of Chicago’s Black Belt.
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