| 100 East | |
.jpg) Michigan Avenue in theStreeterville neighborhood ofChicago | |
| Location | Chicago |
|---|---|
| South end | Prairie Avenue inSouth Holland |
| Major junctions | |
| North end |  US 41 (Lake Shore Drive) |
Michigan Avenue is a north-south street inChicago that runs at 100 east on theChicago grid. The northern end of the street is atDuSable Lake Shore Drive on the shore ofLake Michigan in theGold Coast Historic District. The street's southern terminus is atSibley Boulevard in the southern suburb ofDolton, but like many other Chicago streets, it exists in several disjointed segments.[1]
As the home of theChicago Water Tower, theArt Institute of Chicago,Millennium Park, and the shopping on theMagnificent Mile, it is a street well-known to Chicago natives as well astourists to the city. Michigan Avenue also is the main commercial street ofStreeterville. It includes all of theHistoric Michigan Boulevard District and most of theMichigan–Wacker Historic District, including the scenic urban space anchored by theDuSable (Michigan Avenue) Bridge.
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The oldest section of Michigan Avenue is the portion that currently bordersGrant Park in theChicago Loop section of the city. The name came fromLake Michigan, which until 1871 was immediately east of Michigan Avenue. The street at that time ran north to theChicago River and south to the city limits. Michigan Avenue initially was primarily residential. By the 1860s, large homes and expensive row houses dominated Michigan Avenue.
At no point is Michigan Avenue currently called Michigan Boulevard, but prior to theGreat Chicago Fire of 1871, the street was officially known as Michigan Boulevard and often referred to as "Boul Mich".[2] But in the 1900–1907 ads for the Chicago Musical College, the address was referred to as "202 Michigan Boul." As recently as the 1920s, North Michigan Avenue (especially theMagnificent Mile) was referred to as "Upper Boul Mich".[3]Paris'sBoulevard Saint-Michel is the original Boul Mich.
North of the Chicago River today's Michigan Avenue was known as Pine Street. In 1866, a small portion of Pine Street was "vacated" and moved 80 feet (24 m) further west of the original Pine street location to accommodate the installation of the new pumping station's standpipe. This standpipe, engineered to regulate water pressure, would be housed within architect William W. Boyington's castle structure (Water Tower) that still stands on that site today. In 1869 the Board of Public Works began paving Pine Street from Chicago Avenue to Whitney street (today, Walton street) the northern terminus, with Belgian wood blocks also known as Nicolson pavement.
Pine Street was renamed to Lincoln Park Boulevard as far south as Ohio Street when the street connected with Lake Shore Drive in the early 1890s, and then became part of Michigan Avenue, which already had the name Michigan Avenue and was called Michigan Boulevard before the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, south of the Chicago River. Both the North and South Michigan Avenues were joined physically with the opening of the Michigan Avenue bridge in 1920. In 1926, after years of clogged automobile traffic, the water tower and pumping station were separated by realigning Michigan Avenue to run between them.
In theGreat Fire of 1871, all buildings on Michigan Avenue from Congress Street north to the river were destroyed. Immediately after the fire, the character of Michigan remained residential, but the street no longer was directly on the lake shore, as after the Fire, wreckage from the burnt district was used to fill in the inner harbor of Chicago, beginning the landfills that by the 1920s had moved the lake shore more than a quarter-mile east of its original shoreline, creating space for an expanded Grant Park. Beginning in the 1880s, the expansion of the central business district replaced houses on Michigan Avenue so that today, Michigan's character is primarily commercial north of 35th Street.
The first city showcase on Michigan Avenue was the Exposition Building, which was built on the current site of the Art Institute, the east side of Michigan at Adams, in 1874. By the 1890s, an imposing wall of buildings was constructed on the west side of Michigan Avenue downtown, including theAuditorium Building and the main branch of theChicago Public Library (now theChicago Cultural Center). As the east side of Michigan Avenue downtown was developed as a park, the wall of buildings lining the west side of Michigan Avenue across from the park became the nucleus of the city's skyline.
In 1924, the firsttraffic lights in Chicago were installed on Michigan Avenue afterJohn D. Hertz fronted the city $34,000 for the purchase, installation, and maintenance.[4] In July 1940, theRusseks women's clothing store chain opened up a store at 200 North Michigan Avenue.[5] It was the first retail establishment in theMid-West to be entirely equipped with fluorescent lighting, and was noted for being entirely air conditioned.[5]
Historically,Illinois Route 1 andU.S. Route 41 were routed on Michigan Avenue. Illinois Route 1 has been truncated to Chicago's south side and U.S. Route 41 is now routed on Lake Shore Drive.
Michigan Avenue originally ended at the Chicago River, and what is now Michigan Avenue north of the river was originally named Pine Street, after scattered pine trees originally found in its vicinity. As early as 1891, plans were proposed to extend Michigan Avenue north across the river.[6] An early plan called for a tunnel to link Michigan Avenue south of the river with Pine Street,[7] and in 1903 an editorial in theChicago Tribunenewspaper proposed a newBascule bridge across the river at Michigan Avenue.[8][9]
This plan was further elaborated upon inDaniel Burnham's1909 Plan of Chicago,[10] and in 1911 a plan was selected that included the widening of Michigan Avenue from Randolph Street to the river, replacing the Rush Street bridge with a new bridge at Michigan Avenue and the construction of a double-decked boulevard along Pine Street as far as Ohio Street.[11] When theMichigan Avenue Bridge was completed, Pine Street was renamed Michigan Avenue. At its north end it merges intoLake Shore Drive near theDrake Hotel.
Today, the area north of theChicago River is referred to as the "Magnificent Mile", or sometimes simply the Mag Mile. It contains a mixture of upscaledepartment stores, restaurants, high-end retailers, office buildings andhotels, and caters primarily totourists and the affluent. The area also has a high concentration of the city'sadvertising agencies.
It is the home of Chicago's famousWater Tower landmark,Jane Byrne Park around the Water Tower with its historic clock, as well as the eight-levelWater Tower Place shopping center which grew up next door to, and overshadowed, the comparatively diminutive landmark. North of the shopping center can be found the famousJohn Hancock Center, theArt DecoPalmolive Building (also known as thePlayboy Building) and the lavishDrake Hotel. The entire mile is noted for its spectacularChristmas displays. At the northern edge of this district can be found theOne Magnificent Mile building;Chicago LandmarkEast Lake Shore Drive District, an extremely expensive and exclusive one-block area ofreal estate running east from North Michigan Avenue and facing directly ontoLake Michigan; and the on-ramp to northboundLake Shore Drive.
For a few blocks on both sides of theChicago River, the road is double-decked, including the bridge over the river. The lower level north of the river is where the famousBilly Goat Tavern is located, and south of the river it intersects with Lower Wacker Drive. On the upper lever, tall office buildings and hotels line both sides of the Avenue, untilMillennium Park.
The portion of Michigan Avenue oppositeGrant Park is theChicago LandmarkHistoric Michigan Boulevard District. Major cultural institutions, such as theChicago Cultural Center,Symphony Center, and theAuditorium Theatre are located here, as are many late 19th and early 20th century skyscrapers. In 2009, the Chicago Cultural Mile Association was created to bring "awareness of the unique strengths and diverse offerings available to visitors"[12] in this portion of Michigan Avenue.
TheArt Institute of Chicago is across the boulevard, in Grant Park along the Avenue. Several large historic hotels are located just south ofIda B. Wells Drive, including the Hilton Towers Chicago (formerly, the Stevens Hotel), theCongress Plaza Hotel andThe Blackstone Hotel. Between them is theSpertus Institute of Jewish Studies.
The Avenue extends south intoNear South Side, Chicago and beyond – past what was once the notoriousLevee District, the graceful homes of thePrairie Avenue District, the historicSecond Presbyterian Church, the former home of the legendaryChess Records at 2120 South Michigan and the site where theLexington Hotel, a hideout ofAl Capone, once stood.
South ofCermak Road is theMotor Row District, a historic strip along Michigan Avenue that was home to many early 20th century automobile "palaces." A point of interest in this area is the former Illinois Automobile Club, which later was used as the home ofThe Chicago Defender, a prominent African-American Chicago newspaper at 2400 South Michigan. A little bit further south isBronzeville, a historic black community in Chicago. Points of interest include the historicMercy Hospital and Medical Center, theIllinois College of Optometry and theSouth Side Community Art Center.
The intersection of Michigan Avenue and 35th Street is home to two important local institutions. On the northwest corner isDe La Salle Institute, a Catholic high school which was attended by futureChicago mayorsRichard J. Daley,Richard M. Daley, andMichael Bilandic. On the southwest corner is theChicago Police Department Headquarters. Michigan Avenue continues through theSouth Side and dead ends at 63rd Street, just north of a rail yard and parking lots.
The Avenue continues heading south at 66th Street to Marquette Road, where it moves a half-block to the east back into alignment with the run north of 63rd Street. It then continues south to 89th Street where it dead ends once again for a housing subdivision and a railroad line. It resumes at 91st Street heading south through the working classRoseland community, featuring a large commercial strip along Michigan between 111th and 115th streets. The street dead ends again at 127th Street just before theCal-Sag Channel. It begins again in the southsuburb ofRiverdale before finally terminating at Sibley Boulevard or IL RT-83.
TheChicago "L"Red Line'sChicago andGrand stations are useful for reaching the Magnificent Mile. Both theMonroe andJackson stations are close to the Art Institute. Stations on the east side ofthe Loop (Adams/Wabash andWashington/Wabash stations) are also close to the Art Institute.Millennium andVan Buren Street stations are located east of Michigan Avenue serving theMetra Electric andSouth Shore Lines. The avenue is also traversed by a multitude of bus routes and taxi cabs primarily in theDowntown andMagnificent Mile areas.[13]
South of downtown, plenty of bus routes (e.g. bus routes 1 and 4) continue to run south along Michigan Avenue before reaching theBronzeville neighborhood. There are no bus routes along Michigan Avenue between 35th Street and 95th Street. South of 95th Street, more bus routes run along Michigan Avenue as multiple bus routes in the South Side end at the95th/Dan Ryan station. One bus route,34 South Michigan, travels from 95th/Dan Ryan station toAltgeld Gardens Homes via its namesake street.[13]
At 121st Street, theState Street station on the Blue Island branch of theMetra Electric District serves Michigan Avenue.[13]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
41°53′48″N87°37′27″W / 41.89669°N 87.62416°W /41.89669; -87.62416
