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Burnham Park (Chicago)
Encyclopedia
Burnham Park is a public park
in Chicago
in Cook County
, Illinois
, United States. The park, which lines along six miles (9.66 km) of Lake Michigan
shoreline, connects Grant Park
at 14th st. to Jackson Park
at 56th St. The 598 acres (2.4 km²) of parkland is owned and managed by Chicago Park District
. It was named for urban planner
and architect
Daniel Burnham
in 1927. Burnham was one of the designer
s of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
.
The Park is an outgrowth of the 1909 Plan for Chicago
developed by the parks namesake Daniel Burnham and often called simply "The Burnham Plan". Land for the park has been acquired by the city's park district by a variety of means such as bequest, landfill, and barter. Now, the park hosts some of the city's most important municipal structures such as Soldier Field
and McCormick Place
. The park has surrendered the land for the Museum Campus to Grant Park
. Recently, the park has become known as the landing site for Marine One when United States President Barack Obama
visits his Kenwood
home on Chicago's south side.
In the early 1900s, Chicago businessman A. Montgomery Ward advocated that the lakefront must be publicly accessible, and remain "forever open, clear and free" lest the city descend into the squalor typical of American cities of the time, with buildings and heavy industry
destroying any chance for beauty. Ward's influence lead to the protection of the lake shore parks system and to this day the city's lakefront is open from the former city limits at Hollywood Ave (5700N) down to the former steel mills near Rainbow Beach (7700S).
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McFetridge Drive is the boundary between Grant Park and Burnham Park. Beginning with Northerly Island
and 14th Street Beach, and enclosing Burnham Harbor and its public marina
, the park runs in a narrow strip past Soldier Field
and McCormick Place
, both of which disrupt Burnham's original plan, south to 56th street. The park, from North to South, runs through the communities of Near South
, Douglas
, Oakland
, Kenwood
and Hyde Park
.
The park lies mostly between Lake Shore Drive
and Lake Michigan, but crosses the drive and abuts the Illinois Central Railroad
tracks in places. There is a beach at 31st Street, a skate park at 34th Street, a stone beach at 49th Street, and a model boat pond at 51st Street in Hyde Park
. The park ends with a flourish at Promontory Point
at 55th Street. Footbridges and underpasses provide access to the park over the barriers of the train tracks and Lake Shore Drive. A six-mile (ten-kilometer) section of the of the Chicago Lakefront Trail bicycle and jogging path runs the length of the park.
Ward fought for the poor people's access to Chicago's lakefront. In 1906 he campaigned to preserve neighboring Grant Park
as a public park. Grant Park has been protected since 1836 by "forever open, clear and free" legislation that has been affirmed by four previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings. In the mid-1890s, architect Daniel H. Burnham began planning a park and boulevard that would link Jackson Park with Grant Park and downtown. As Chief of Construction for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, Burnham was known for developing the White City. After the fair, Burnham began designing a more functional Chicago. Burnham's plan, including a lakefront park with a series of islands, boating harbor, beaches, and playfields was published in his 1909 Plan of Chicago. Burnham's famous 1909 plan eventually preserved Grant Park and the entire Chicago lakefront.
donated and built East End Park between 51st and 53rd Streets in 1856. After much of the land eroded, the property was incorporated into Burnham Park and eventually renamed Harold Washington Park
in 1992. In years following his donation, expansions were built at the northeast corner of future Jackson Park, south end of Burnham. The most notable expansions included a seawall and granite paved strolling beach constructed from 1884 to 1888 and a building used as the Iowa Pavilion during the Columbian Exposition.
Cornell lobbied for the establishment of a park and boulevard system. The first bond vote was rejected in 1867 as a method to provide a driving area for rich citizens and to lure people to move away for the benefit of real estate
speculators and developers. In 1869, the bills are passed by the legislature.
In 1869, the South Park Commission is formed, with support from landholder and developer Paul Cornell. The future site primarily was near Lake Michigan or adjoining the Illinois Central Railroad
right of way. In 1892, the formerly trestled railroad was raised on an embankment
along present west edge of the park. South Park was developed with Jackson Park
, The Midway
's and Washington
's designs (by Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux
) focusing on lagoon
s and navigation from the Lake to South Park (now King) Dr. and 55th Street in addition to development of a driving park horse and buggy
paths along the lake north to downtown. By the 1880s the development included the Kenwood
and Bowen communities, and by the 1890s immigrant neighborhoods were developing. The city limits were expanded from 39th to 130th in 1889, absorbing virtually all of Hyde Park Township (35th to 138th).
The Columbian Exposition was held in Jackson Park, leaving housing in Hyde Park built for the Fair. In the area around the new University of Chicago
allowed real estate developers an opportunity to profit during the depression of the mid-1890s. As part of Jackson Park's transformation, South Park Commission President James E. Ellsworth asked Burnham to design a boulevard linking Jackson and Grant parks. Ruling out residential expansion, Burnham developed plans for green areas, harbors and lagoons, water scenery, a canal
to downtown, and a scenic drive. With a theme of a "playground for the people", the area was planned to include bridges, beaches with pavilions, and bathing houses. In 1896, Burnham began marketing the plan to Marshall Field
, George Pullman
, Philip Armour, and business organizations. In 1901, the Chicago Commercial Club began promoting the ideas and in 1909 published the Plan of Chicago
by Burnham and Edward H. Bennett
and illustrated by Jules Guerin
. From 1907 until 1920, legal battles to acquire parkland continued despite the 1907 Legislature passing a bill with language favoring railroads until courts rejected the legislation
.
, Chicago Plan Commission
, and U.S. Secretary of War. In 1912, Burnham died and a new Chicago Plan Commission was created. In 1919, landfill efforts began at the north end of the park. In February 1920, voters approved a $20 million bond issue as part of the Burnham Plan initiative for new lands to complete Grant Park so as to create the "South Shore Development. In 1920 the Field Museum was opened, with the exhibits moved from Jackson Park into the basement By 1925, new landforms including Northerly Island, the only offshore landform in the Burnham Plan
actually built, was completed to 23rd Street.
conceived by Burnham. Designed by architects Holabird & Roche
and named Soldier Field
for veterans of World War I
, cost overruns required another bond issue in 1926. By 1924, the breakwater
wall stretched from 14th to 55th Streets. In 1926, Soldier field and a portion of Lake Shore Drive
were opened. Landfill
ing extended from 23rd Street to 56th Street but Promontory Point
was not complete, prompting complaints regarding garbage, blowing sand
and odors. Through the 1920s and 1930s, landfill efforts continued to fill in Burnham Park and adjacent Northerly Island
. The south development was named for Daniel Burnham on January 14, 1927 and support increased for a world's fair in the park. Construction was completed on Lake Shore Drive, with northbound lanes named for Leif Erikson, and southbound lanes for Christopher Columbus
. In 1929, construction of the park at Promontory Point began. The Great Depression
delayed work and prevented construction of nearshore islands. Burnham Park was chosen for site of the Century of Progress
world's fair and a yacht basin was built south of 51st Street.
was held in Burnham Park. In the mid-1930s, the Chicago Park District
used funds from the federal Works Progress Administration
to complete landfill operations and implement landscaping
at Promontory Point by renowned designer Alfred Caldwell
, a professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology
. In 1935, Mayor Edward Joseph Kelly
explored the idea of a permanent fair in the park. The state passed a bill creating the Metropolitan Fair and Exposition Authority and allowed construction of Meigs Field
after Northerly Island lost out as the site for the United Nations
. In 1948, Burnham Park hosted the Railroad Fair, proving the location's viability for conventions, which eventually led to the construction of the first McCormick Place
in 1960.
World's Fair was popular Italian aviator
and prominent fascist Italo Balbo
leading 24 flying boat
s in landing on Lake Michigan after a transaltantic flight from Rome
. Balbo's squadron
left Italy on June 30, 1933 and arrived on July 15 after making several short stops. To honor his journey, 7th Street was renamed Balbo Drive. As a return gift, Benito Mussolini
sent an ancient 2nd century Roman column, which was erected in front of the Italian pavilion during the Century of Progress Exposition. Located near the lakefront bike trail east of Soldier Field, the monument is one of the few relics remaining from the fair. The column is from a portico near the Porta Marina of Ostia Antica
and stands on a marble base with inscriptions in both Italian and English reading:
air defense system missile site. The United States Department of Defense
and the United States Army
kept similar sites in 40 United States cities during the Cold War
and dismantled them in 1971. The original McCormick Place burned down in 1967, and despite opposition, a new facility opened in Burnham Park in 1971.
, Shedd Aquarium
and Field Museum) was annexed to Grant Park
from Burnham Park in the late 1990s. Burnham's 598 acres (2.4 km²) still contains Soldier Field
and Chicago's premier convention center, McCormick Place
-on-the-Lake, which hosts more than four million people per year. The Chicago Park District maintains several beaches and also operates a 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²) all-concrete skatepark
just South of 31st Street Beach's Chicago Park District Beachhouse. It has been widely reported that when United States President Barack Obama
returns to visit his Chicago home in the Kenwood
community area
, he is transported by helicopter from the O'Hare International Airport
in the O'Hare
community area to Burnham Park where he is transferred to his motorcade
.
and the City of Chicago Department of Environment. The project has been delayed in part because the Corps of Engineers has been diverted to design projects for the Iraq War. In conjunction with Harza Engineering, BauerLatoza Studio designed a nature area within a portion of the Park between 45th and 51st Streets featuring the shallow bedrock in an area known as Morgan Shoal. The $42 million expansion will increase parkland by 30 acre (0.1214058 km²) filling Lake Michigan.
. It is popular with cyclists and joggers. From north to south, it runs through Lincoln Park, Grant Park
, Burnham Park
and Jackson Park
. (Chicago Park District Lakefront Trail Map)
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States. The park, which lines along six miles (9.66 km) of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
shoreline, connects Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
at 14th st. to Jackson Park
Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...
at 56th St. The 598 acres (2.4 km²) of parkland is owned and managed by Chicago Park District
Chicago Park District
The Chicago Park District is the oldest and largest park district in the U.S.A, with a $385 million annual budget. It has the distinction of spending the most per capita on its parks, even more than Boston in terms of park expenses per capita...
. It was named for urban planner
Urban planner
An urban planner or city planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning/land use planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas, typically...
and architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...
in 1927. Burnham was one of the designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
s of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
.
The Park is an outgrowth of the 1909 Plan for Chicago
Burnham Plan
The Burnham Plan is a popular name for the 1909 Plan of Chicago, co-authored by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett. It recommended an integrated series of projects including new and widened streets, parks, new railroad and harbor facilities, and civic buildings...
developed by the parks namesake Daniel Burnham and often called simply "The Burnham Plan". Land for the park has been acquired by the city's park district by a variety of means such as bequest, landfill, and barter. Now, the park hosts some of the city's most important municipal structures such as Soldier Field
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
and McCormick Place
McCormick Place
McCormick Place is the largest convention center in the United States. It is made up of four interconnected buildings sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about 4 km south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows, including the Chicago Auto Show,...
. The park has surrendered the land for the Museum Campus to Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
. Recently, the park has become known as the landing site for Marine One when United States President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
visits his Kenwood
Kenwood, Chicago
Kenwood, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the 77 well-defined Chicago community areas.Kenwood was part of Hyde Park Township, which was annexed by the City of Chicago in 1889....
home on Chicago's south side.
In the early 1900s, Chicago businessman A. Montgomery Ward advocated that the lakefront must be publicly accessible, and remain "forever open, clear and free" lest the city descend into the squalor typical of American cities of the time, with buildings and heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
destroying any chance for beauty. Ward's influence lead to the protection of the lake shore parks system and to this day the city's lakefront is open from the former city limits at Hollywood Ave (5700N) down to the former steel mills near Rainbow Beach (7700S).
Location
Northerly Island
Northerly Island is a man-made peninsula along Chicago's lakefront. The site of the Adler Planetarium, Northerly Island connects to the mainland through a narrow isthmus along Solidarity Drive dominated by Neoclassical sculptures of Kościuszko, Havliček and Copernicus...
and 14th Street Beach, and enclosing Burnham Harbor and its public marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
, the park runs in a narrow strip past Soldier Field
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
and McCormick Place
McCormick Place
McCormick Place is the largest convention center in the United States. It is made up of four interconnected buildings sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about 4 km south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows, including the Chicago Auto Show,...
, both of which disrupt Burnham's original plan, south to 56th street. The park, from North to South, runs through the communities of Near South
Near South Side, Chicago
The Near South Side is a community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located just south of the downtown central business district, the Loop, which is itself a community area...
, Douglas
Douglas, Chicago
Douglas, located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois is one of 77 well-defined Chicago community areas. The neighborhood is named for Stephen A. Douglas, a famous Illinois politician, whose estate included a tract of land given to the federal government...
, Oakland
Oakland, Chicago
Oakland, located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA, is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas. Some of Chicago's great old homes maybe seen on Drexell Boulvard. 19th century women's rights and Jewish activist Hannah Greenebaum lived in Oakland. The late 19th century...
, Kenwood
Kenwood, Chicago
Kenwood, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the 77 well-defined Chicago community areas.Kenwood was part of Hyde Park Township, which was annexed by the City of Chicago in 1889....
and Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
.
The park lies mostly between Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
and Lake Michigan, but crosses the drive and abuts the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
tracks in places. There is a beach at 31st Street, a skate park at 34th Street, a stone beach at 49th Street, and a model boat pond at 51st Street in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
. The park ends with a flourish at Promontory Point
Promontory Point (Chicago)
Promontory Point is a man-made peninsula jutting into Lake Michigan. It is located in Chicago's Burnham Park. The Point was constructed from landfill and by the late 1930s was protected by a seawall or revetment...
at 55th Street. Footbridges and underpasses provide access to the park over the barriers of the train tracks and Lake Shore Drive. A six-mile (ten-kilometer) section of the of the Chicago Lakefront Trail bicycle and jogging path runs the length of the park.
History
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
as a public park. Grant Park has been protected since 1836 by "forever open, clear and free" legislation that has been affirmed by four previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings. In the mid-1890s, architect Daniel H. Burnham began planning a park and boulevard that would link Jackson Park with Grant Park and downtown. As Chief of Construction for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, Burnham was known for developing the White City. After the fair, Burnham began designing a more functional Chicago. Burnham's plan, including a lakefront park with a series of islands, boating harbor, beaches, and playfields was published in his 1909 Plan of Chicago. Burnham's famous 1909 plan eventually preserved Grant Park and the entire Chicago lakefront.
1860-1890
Paul CornellPaul Cornell
Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....
donated and built East End Park between 51st and 53rd Streets in 1856. After much of the land eroded, the property was incorporated into Burnham Park and eventually renamed Harold Washington Park
Harold Washington Park
Harold Washington Park is a small park in the Chicago Park District located in the Hyde Park community area on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was recently named for lawyer, state legislator, U.S. congressman, Hyde Park resident, and the first Chicago Mayor of African-American descent...
in 1992. In years following his donation, expansions were built at the northeast corner of future Jackson Park, south end of Burnham. The most notable expansions included a seawall and granite paved strolling beach constructed from 1884 to 1888 and a building used as the Iowa Pavilion during the Columbian Exposition.
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
speculators and developers. In 1869, the bills are passed by the legislature.
In 1869, the South Park Commission is formed, with support from landholder and developer Paul Cornell. The future site primarily was near Lake Michigan or adjoining the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
right of way. In 1892, the formerly trestled railroad was raised on an embankment
Embankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
along present west edge of the park. South Park was developed with Jackson Park
Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...
, The Midway
Midway Plaisance
The Midway Plaisance, also known locally as the Midway, is a park on the South Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois. It is one mile long by 220 yards wide and extends along 59th and 60th streets, joining Washington Park at its east end and Jackson Park at its west end. It divides the Hyde Park...
's and Washington
Washington Park (Chicago park)
On December 6, 1879, former U.S. President Ulysses Grant took part in a tree planting ceremony in the park. A memorial boulder with a plaque commemorated the event. In the 1920s black semiprofessional baseball teams played at Washington Park...
's designs (by Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
) focusing on lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s and navigation from the Lake to South Park (now King) Dr. and 55th Street in addition to development of a driving park horse and buggy
Horse and buggy
A horse and buggy or horse and carriage refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses...
paths along the lake north to downtown. By the 1880s the development included the Kenwood
Kenwood, Chicago
Kenwood, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the 77 well-defined Chicago community areas.Kenwood was part of Hyde Park Township, which was annexed by the City of Chicago in 1889....
and Bowen communities, and by the 1890s immigrant neighborhoods were developing. The city limits were expanded from 39th to 130th in 1889, absorbing virtually all of Hyde Park Township (35th to 138th).
1890-1910
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
allowed real estate developers an opportunity to profit during the depression of the mid-1890s. As part of Jackson Park's transformation, South Park Commission President James E. Ellsworth asked Burnham to design a boulevard linking Jackson and Grant parks. Ruling out residential expansion, Burnham developed plans for green areas, harbors and lagoons, water scenery, a canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
to downtown, and a scenic drive. With a theme of a "playground for the people", the area was planned to include bridges, beaches with pavilions, and bathing houses. In 1896, Burnham began marketing the plan to Marshall Field
Marshall Field
Marshall Field was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.-Life and career:...
, George Pullman
George Pullman
George Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...
, Philip Armour, and business organizations. In 1901, the Chicago Commercial Club began promoting the ideas and in 1909 published the Plan of Chicago
Burnham Plan
The Burnham Plan is a popular name for the 1909 Plan of Chicago, co-authored by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett. It recommended an integrated series of projects including new and widened streets, parks, new railroad and harbor facilities, and civic buildings...
by Burnham and Edward H. Bennett
Edward H. Bennett
Edward Herbert Bennett was an architect and city planner best known for his co-authorship of the 1909 Plan of Chicago.-Biography:Bennett was born in Bristol, England in 1874, and later moved to San Francisco with his family...
and illustrated by Jules Guerin
Jules Guerin
Jules Guérin , American muralist, architectural delineator and illustrator.-Biography:Jules Vallée Guérin was born in St Louis, Missouri on November 18, 1866 and moved to Chicago to study art in 1880. In 1889 he is known to have shared a studio with Winsor McCay, the noted cartoonist...
. From 1907 until 1920, legal battles to acquire parkland continued despite the 1907 Legislature passing a bill with language favoring railroads until courts rejected the legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
.
1910-1920
The South Park Commission received rights to the future site of the Field Museum in exchange for 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) transferred to the Illinois Central railroad. Government agencies had to agree to plans including the Cook County Circuit Court, General AssemblyIllinois General Assembly
The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois and comprises the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Illinois has 59 legislative districts, with two...
, Chicago Plan Commission
Chicago Plan Commission
The Chicago Plan Commission is a commission implemented to promote the Plan of Chicago, often called the Burnham Plan. After official presentation of the Plan to the city on July 6, 1909, the City Council of Chicago authorized Mayor Fred A. Busse to appoint the members of the Chicago Plan Commission...
, and U.S. Secretary of War. In 1912, Burnham died and a new Chicago Plan Commission was created. In 1919, landfill efforts began at the north end of the park. In February 1920, voters approved a $20 million bond issue as part of the Burnham Plan initiative for new lands to complete Grant Park so as to create the "South Shore Development. In 1920 the Field Museum was opened, with the exhibits moved from Jackson Park into the basement By 1925, new landforms including Northerly Island, the only offshore landform in the Burnham Plan
Burnham Plan
The Burnham Plan is a popular name for the 1909 Plan of Chicago, co-authored by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett. It recommended an integrated series of projects including new and widened streets, parks, new railroad and harbor facilities, and civic buildings...
actually built, was completed to 23rd Street.
1920-1930
A $2.5 million bond issue passed in 1922 for a stadiumStadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
conceived by Burnham. Designed by architects Holabird & Roche
Holabird & Roche
The architectural firm of Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm's designs have changed many times — from the Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern Architecture to Sustainable Architecture.-History:...
and named Soldier Field
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
for veterans of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, cost overruns required another bond issue in 1926. By 1924, the breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
wall stretched from 14th to 55th Streets. In 1926, Soldier field and a portion of Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
were opened. Landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
ing extended from 23rd Street to 56th Street but Promontory Point
Promontory Point (Chicago)
Promontory Point is a man-made peninsula jutting into Lake Michigan. It is located in Chicago's Burnham Park. The Point was constructed from landfill and by the late 1930s was protected by a seawall or revetment...
was not complete, prompting complaints regarding garbage, blowing sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
and odors. Through the 1920s and 1930s, landfill efforts continued to fill in Burnham Park and adjacent Northerly Island
Northerly Island
Northerly Island is a man-made peninsula along Chicago's lakefront. The site of the Adler Planetarium, Northerly Island connects to the mainland through a narrow isthmus along Solidarity Drive dominated by Neoclassical sculptures of Kościuszko, Havliček and Copernicus...
. The south development was named for Daniel Burnham on January 14, 1927 and support increased for a world's fair in the park. Construction was completed on Lake Shore Drive, with northbound lanes named for Leif Erikson, and southbound lanes for Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
. In 1929, construction of the park at Promontory Point began. The Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
delayed work and prevented construction of nearshore islands. Burnham Park was chosen for site of the Century of Progress
Century of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...
world's fair and a yacht basin was built south of 51st Street.
1930s-1940s
In 1933 and 1934, the Century of Progress International ExpositionCentury of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...
was held in Burnham Park. In the mid-1930s, the Chicago Park District
Chicago Park District
The Chicago Park District is the oldest and largest park district in the U.S.A, with a $385 million annual budget. It has the distinction of spending the most per capita on its parks, even more than Boston in terms of park expenses per capita...
used funds from the federal Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
to complete landfill operations and implement landscaping
Landscaping
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...
at Promontory Point by renowned designer Alfred Caldwell
Alfred Caldwell
Alfred Caldwell was an American architect best known for his landscape architecture in and around Chicago, Illinois.- Career :* Attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, left before completing a degree....
, a professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
. In 1935, Mayor Edward Joseph Kelly
Edward Joseph Kelly
Edward Joseph Kelly served as chief engineer of the Chicago sanitary district in the 1920s, and later as mayor of Chicago, Illinois for the Democratic Party....
explored the idea of a permanent fair in the park. The state passed a bill creating the Metropolitan Fair and Exposition Authority and allowed construction of Meigs Field
Meigs Field
Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport , was a single strip airport that operated from December 1948 until March 2003. It was built on Northerly Island, the man-made peninsula that was also the site of the 1933–1934 Century of Progress in Chicago....
after Northerly Island lost out as the site for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. In 1948, Burnham Park hosted the Railroad Fair, proving the location's viability for conventions, which eventually led to the construction of the first McCormick Place
McCormick Place
McCormick Place is the largest convention center in the United States. It is made up of four interconnected buildings sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about 4 km south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows, including the Chicago Auto Show,...
in 1960.
Balbo monument
One highlight of the 1933 Century of ProgressCentury of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...
World's Fair was popular Italian aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and prominent fascist Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo was an Italian Blackshirt leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.After serving in...
leading 24 flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s in landing on Lake Michigan after a transaltantic flight from Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Balbo's squadron
Squadron (aviation)
A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...
left Italy on June 30, 1933 and arrived on July 15 after making several short stops. To honor his journey, 7th Street was renamed Balbo Drive. As a return gift, Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
sent an ancient 2nd century Roman column, which was erected in front of the Italian pavilion during the Century of Progress Exposition. Located near the lakefront bike trail east of Soldier Field, the monument is one of the few relics remaining from the fair. The column is from a portico near the Porta Marina of Ostia Antica
Ostia Antica
Ostia Antica is a large archeological site, close to the modern suburb of Ostia , that was the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, which is approximately 30 km to the northeast. "Ostia" in Latin means "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but, due to...
and stands on a marble base with inscriptions in both Italian and English reading:
"This column, twenty centuries old, was erected on the beach of Ostia, the port of Imperial Rome, to watch over the fortunes and victories of the Roman triremes. Fascist Italy, with the sponsorship of Benito Mussolini, presents to Chicago a symbol and memorial in honor of the Atlantic Squadron led by Balbo, which with Roman daring, flew across the ocean in the 11th year of the Fascist era."
1950s-1970s
During the 1950s, the park was the host of a Project NikeProject Nike
Project Nike was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953...
air defense system missile site. The United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
and the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
kept similar sites in 40 United States cities during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and dismantled them in 1971. The original McCormick Place burned down in 1967, and despite opposition, a new facility opened in Burnham Park in 1971.
Burnham Park today
Facilities
The Museum Campus (which includes the Adler PlanetariumAdler Planetarium
The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox...
, Shedd Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium
The John G. Shedd Aquarium is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago, Illinois in the United States that opened on May 30, 1930. The aquarium contains over 25,000 fish, and was for some time the largest indoor aquarium in the world with of water. The Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with...
and Field Museum) was annexed to Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
from Burnham Park in the late 1990s. Burnham's 598 acres (2.4 km²) still contains Soldier Field
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
and Chicago's premier convention center, McCormick Place
McCormick Place
McCormick Place is the largest convention center in the United States. It is made up of four interconnected buildings sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about 4 km south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows, including the Chicago Auto Show,...
-on-the-Lake, which hosts more than four million people per year. The Chicago Park District maintains several beaches and also operates a 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²) all-concrete skatepark
Skatepark
A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, aggressive inline skating and scooters. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs stairsets,...
just South of 31st Street Beach's Chicago Park District Beachhouse. It has been widely reported that when United States President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
returns to visit his Chicago home in the Kenwood
Kenwood, Chicago
Kenwood, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the 77 well-defined Chicago community areas.Kenwood was part of Hyde Park Township, which was annexed by the City of Chicago in 1889....
community area
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
, he is transported by helicopter from the O'Hare International Airport
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...
in the O'Hare
O'Hare, Chicago
O'Hare, located on the far northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the city's 77 official community areas. O'Hare International Airport is located within the boundaries of this community area...
community area to Burnham Park where he is transferred to his motorcade
Motorcade
A motorcade is a procession of vehicles. The term motorcade was coined by Lyle Abbot , and is formed after cavalcade on the false notion that "-cade" was a suffix meaning "procession"...
.
Morgan Shoal
In 1999, the Park District, initiated a long-range planning program for a number of Lakefront and Historic parks. On January 5, 2000, the Park District made its first move toward adding acreage to the Park by adopting the Burnham Park Framework Plan. The project, which as of 2009 is still continuing, is joint work by the Park District, the United States Army Corps of EngineersUnited States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
and the City of Chicago Department of Environment. The project has been delayed in part because the Corps of Engineers has been diverted to design projects for the Iraq War. In conjunction with Harza Engineering, BauerLatoza Studio designed a nature area within a portion of the Park between 45th and 51st Streets featuring the shallow bedrock in an area known as Morgan Shoal. The $42 million expansion will increase parkland by 30 acre (0.1214058 km²) filling Lake Michigan.
Chicago Lakefront Trail
The Chicago Lakefront Trail (abbreviated as LFT) is an 18-mile multi-use path in Chicago, Illinois along the coast of Lake MichiganLake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. It is popular with cyclists and joggers. From north to south, it runs through Lincoln Park, Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
, Burnham Park
Burnham Park (Chicago)
Burnham Park is a public park in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The park, which lines along six miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, connects Grant Park at 14th st. to Jackson Park at 56th St. The of parkland is owned and managed by Chicago Park District. It was named for urban...
and Jackson Park
Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...
. (Chicago Park District Lakefront Trail Map)
See also
- Parks of ChicagoParks of ChicagoThe City of Chicago devotes 8.2% of its total land acreage to parkland, which ranked it ninth among high-density population cities in the United States in 2008....
- Powers of TenPowers of TenPowers of Ten is a 1968 American documentary short film written and directed by Charles and Ray Eames. The film depicts the relative scale of the Universe in factors of ten . The film is an adaptation of the book Cosmic View by Dutch educator Kees Boeke, and more recently is the basis of a new...
, a 1977 short film by Charles and Ray EamesCharles and Ray EamesCharles Ormond Eames, Jr and Bernice Alexandra "Ray" Eames were American designers, who worked in and made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film.-Charles Eames:Charles Eames, Jr was born in...
that illustrates the concept of orders of magnitude using a couple picnicing in Burnham Park.