The Wigwam was a convention center and meeting hall that served as the site of the 1860 Republican National Convention

1860 Republican National Convention

The 1860 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States, held in Chicago, Illinois at the Wigwam, nominated former U.S. Representative Abraham Lincoln of Illinois for President and U.S. Senator Hannibal Hamlin of Maine for Vice President...

. It was located 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...

, 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,...

 at Lake Street and Market (later Wacker Drive

Wacker Drive

Wacker Drive is a major street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River...

) near the Chicago River. This site had previously been the site of the Sauganash Hotel

Sauganash Hotel

Sauganash Hotel is a former hotel; regarded as the first hotel in Chicago, Illinois. It was located at Wolf Point in the present day Loop community area at the intersection of the north, south and main branches of the Chicago River...

, Chicago's first hotel. This is where supporters ushered Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 to the party nomination and the eventual U.S. Presidency

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

. The location at Lake and Wacker was designated a Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark

Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...

 on November 6, 2002. The term Wigwam has also been associated with host locations for both the 1864 Democratic National Convention

1864 Democratic National Convention

The 1864 Democratic National Convention was held at The Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois. The Convention nominated General George B. McClellan for the Presidency, and Representative George H. Pendleton for the Vice-Presidency. McClellan, age 37 at the time of the convention and Pendleton, age 39,...

 and the 1892 Democratic National Convention

1892 Democratic National Convention

The 1892 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, June 21-23, 1892 and renominated Grover Cleveland, who had been the party's standard-bearer in 1884 and 1888. This marked the first time a former president was renominated by a major party in 36 years . Adlai E...

, which were hosted in Chicago.

The building

The two-story Wigwam was built by Chicago business leaders to attract the 1860 Convention. It was a temporary structure, built entirely of wood in little more than a month, and it could accommodate 10–12,000 people. The building was used for political and patriotic meetings during the Convention and the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. It also served as a retail space until its demolition

Demolition

Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....

, some time between 1867 and 1871.

Following the Great Chicago Fire

Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...

 of 1871, another "Wigwam" building at Washington (one city block south of Lake) and Market served as the temporary home of the Chicago Board of Trade

Chicago Board of Trade

The Chicago Board of Trade , established in 1848, is the world's oldest futures and options exchange. More than 50 different options and futures contracts are traded by over 3,600 CBOT members through open outcry and eTrading. Volumes at the exchange in 2003 were a record breaking 454 million...

.

Antebellum custom was to call a political campaign headquarters a Wigwam. Wigwam

Wigwam

A wigwam or wickiup is a domed room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast...

 is also a Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 word for "temporary shelter".

Sauganash Hotel

Mark Beaubien built a tavern

Tavern

A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....

 on the site of the Wigwam in 1829–30. In 1831, he added a frame to the log structure to create Chicago's first hotel, the Sauganash Hotel, on the east bank of the south branch of the Chicago River

Chicago River

The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...

 at the point where the north and south branches meet. The newly-formed Town of Chicago elected its first town trustees in 1833 in the hotel. The building briefly served as Chicago's first theater, and it hosted the first Chicago Theatre company in 1837 in an abandoned dining room. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1851, and the Wigwam was built in its place nine years later.

Conventions

Chicago has hosted the most United States presidential nominating convention

United States presidential nominating convention

A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election...

s (14 Republican National Conventions and 11 Democratic National Conventions, in addition to one notable Progressive Party

Progressive Party (United States, 1912)

The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed after a split in the Republican Party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt....

 assembly). The 1860 Republican National Convention (the second Republican National Convention) was held at the Wigwam. The 1864 Democratic National Convention

1864 Democratic National Convention

The 1864 Democratic National Convention was held at The Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois. The Convention nominated General George B. McClellan for the Presidency, and Representative George H. Pendleton for the Vice-Presidency. McClellan, age 37 at the time of the convention and Pendleton, age 39,...

 was hosted in a different "Wigwam" built for the convention as a semicircular roofed amphitheater. These were the first Chicago visits for each party's national convention. Baltimore has hosted 10 and Philadelphia has hosted 9. The 1868 Republican National Convention

1868 Republican National Convention

The 1868 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, on May 20 to May 21, 1868....

 returned to Chicago, but it was located at the Crosby Opera House. The 1892 Democratic National Convention

1892 Democratic National Convention

The 1892 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, June 21-23, 1892 and renominated Grover Cleveland, who had been the party's standard-bearer in 1884 and 1888. This marked the first time a former president was renominated by a major party in 36 years . Adlai E...

 convened in a temporary “Wigwam” in Lake 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...

 for Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

's third nomination.

1860 Republican National Convention

The 1860 Republican National Convention was eventful for its nomination of Abraham Lincoln, who went on to a Presidency

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 notably marked by the onset of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and the abolition of slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

. During the convention, backroom dealing and political scheming played a role in the outcome. Nevertheless, Lincoln, who had stayed in Springfield during the convention, received vociferous support and carried the nomination.

Today

Today, the corner of W. Lake Street and N. Wacker Drive bears the address of 191 N. Wacker. This address is in the West Loop neighborhood of the Loop 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...

 in Chicago. The 157 m (516 ft), 37-story office tower, named 191 North Wacker, was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox

Kohn Pedersen Fox

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates , an architectural firm responsible for several world-renowned buildings, provides architectural, interior and urban design as well as programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors...

 and built in 2002. The major tenants include Drinker, Biddle & Reath, Much Shelist, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

Watson Wyatt Worldwide

Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc. was a global consulting firm, which merged in January 2010 with Towers Perrin to form Towers Watson. The firm's services included managing the cost and effectiveness of employee benefit programs; developing attraction, retention and reward strategies; advising pension...

, Heitman Financial, and RSM McGladrey

RSM McGladrey

McGladrey is the 5th largest accounting firm in the United States by revenue and a member of the global accounting network RSM International.The firm has more than 8,000 employees across 85 offices nationwide providing assurance, tax, and consulting services...

.