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TheWigwam was aconvention center and meeting hall that served as the site of the1860 Republican National Convention.[1] It was located inChicago,Illinois, atLake Street and Market (laterWacker Drive) near where theChicago River divides into its north and south branches, on property owned byGarrett Theological Seminary.[2] This site had previously been the site of theSauganash Hotel, Chicago's first hotel.[1] This is where supporters usheredAbraham Lincoln to the party nomination and the eventualU.S. Presidency. The location at Lake and Wacker was designated aChicago Landmark on November 6, 2002.[1] The name "Wigwam" was later associated with host locations for both the1864 Democratic National Convention and the1892 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The two-story Wigwam was built by Chicago business leaders to attract the 1860 Convention.[3][4] It was a temporary structure, built entirely of wood in little more than a month, and it could accommodate 10–12,000 people.[5][6][7] The building was used for political and patriotic meetings during the Convention and theAmerican Civil War.[6] It also served as a retail space until its demolition. The Wigwam was destroyed by fire on November 13, 1869. Following theGreat Chicago Fire of 1871, another "Wigwam" building at Washington (one city block south of Lake) and Market served as the temporary home of theChicago Board of Trade.[8]
It was anantebellum custom to call a political campaign headquarters a Wigwam.[6]Wigwam is also aNative American (specifically,Eastern Abenaki language) word for "temporary shelter".[7]
Mark Beaubien built atavern on the site of the later Wigwam in 1829–30.[9] In 1831, he added a frame to the log structure to create Chicago's first hotel, the Sauganash Hotel,[9] on the east bank of the south branch of theChicago River at the point where the north and south branches meet.[1] The newly formed Town of Chicago elected its first town trustees in 1833 in the hotel.[1] The building briefly served as Chicago's firsttheater,[1] and it hosted the first Chicago Theatre company in 1837 in an abandoned dining room.[10] The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1851,[1] and the Wigwam was built in its place nine years later.
Chicago has hosted the mostUnited States presidential nominating conventions (14Republican National Conventions and 11Democratic National Conventions, in addition to one notableProgressive Party assembly).[5] The 1860 Republican National Convention (the second Republican National Convention) was held at the Wigwam. The1864 Democratic National Convention was hosted in a different "Wigwam" built for the convention as a semicircular roofedamphitheater.[3][11] These were the first Chicago visits for each party's national convention.[5] Baltimore has hosted 10 and Philadelphia has hosted 9.[5] The1868 Republican National Convention returned to Chicago, but it was located at theCrosby Opera House.[5] The1892 Democratic National Convention convened in a temporary "Wigwam" inLake Park forGrover Cleveland's third nomination.[5]
The 1860 Republican National Convention was eventful for its nomination of Abraham Lincoln, who went on to aPresidency notably marked by the onset of theAmerican Civil War and the abolition ofslavery. During the convention, backroom dealing and political scheming played a role in the outcome.[5] Nevertheless, Lincoln, who had stayed in Springfield during the convention, received vociferous support and carried the nomination.[12]
Today, the corner of W. Lake Street and N. Wacker Drive bears the address of191 North Wacker. This address is in theLoopcommunity area in Chicago. The 157 m (516 ft), 37-story office tower, named 191 North Wacker, was designed byKohn Pedersen Fox and built in 2002.[13][14] The major tenants includeDrinker, Biddle & Reath, Much Shelist,Watson Wyatt Worldwide,Heitman Financial, andRSM McGladrey.[14] In 2017, the city rededicated plaques gifted in the early 20th century by theDaughters of the American Revolution, which commemorate the nomination of Lincoln at the Wigwam, and the Saganaush Hotel.[15]
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41°53′7.3″N87°38′11.2″W / 41.885361°N 87.636444°W /41.885361; -87.636444