The
Chicago River is a
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
that runs 156 miles (251 km) and flows through
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
, including the
downtownThe Loop or The Chicago Loop are the terms used to designate the historical center of downtown Chicago. Most accurately, the term refers to an area bounded by a public transit circuit along Lake Street on the north, Wabash Avenue on the east, Van Buren Street on the south, and Wells Street on the...
. Though not especially long, the river is notable for the 19th century
civil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings...
feats that directed its flow south, away from
Lake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. The second largest of the Great Lakes by volume The third largest of the Great Lakes by surface area , it is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin,...
, into which it previously emptied, and towards the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
basin. This was done for reasons of sanitation. The river is also noted for the local custom of dyeing it green to commemerate St. Patrick's Day.
Geography
Originally, the river flowed into Lake Michigan. Its course jogged southward from the present river to avoid a
baymouth barA baymouth bar is a depositional feature as a result of longshore drift. It is a spit that completely closes access to a bay, thus sealing it off from the main body of water. These bars usually consist of accumulated gravel and sand carried by the current of longshore drift and deposited at a less...
, entering the lake at about the level of present day
Madison StreetMadison Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to human intervention, the Chicago River emptied into Lake Michigan at the present day intersection of Madison Street and Michigan Avenue....
. Today, the Main Stem of the Chicago River flows due west from Lake Michigan, past the
Wrigley BuildingThe Wrigley Building is a skyscraper located directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower on the Magnificent Mile...
and the
Merchandise MartWhen opened in 1930, the Merchandise Mart or the Mart, located in Chicago, Illinois, was the largest building in the world with of floor space. Previously owned by the Marshall Field family, the Mart centralized Chicago's wholesale goods business by consolidating vendors and trade under a single...
to Kinzie Street, where it meets the North Branch of the river. The North Branch is formed by the West Fork, the East Fork (also known as the
Skokie RiverThe Skokie River is a small river that flows through the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. It flows almost parallel to the shore of Lake Michigan, and historically discharged its outflow into that lake via the Chicago River...
) and the Middle Fork, which join into the North Branch at
Morton Grove, IllinoisMorton Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,451 at the 2000 census.The Village President of Morton Grove since April 27, 2009 is Daniel J...
. From downtown, the river flows south along the South Branch, and into the
Illinois and Michigan CanalThe Illinois and Michigan Canal ran 96 miles from the Bridgeport neighborhood in Chicago on the Chicago River to LaSalle-Peru, Illinois, on the Illinois River. It was finished in 1848 when Chicago Mayor James Hutchinson Woodworth presided over its opening; and it allowed boat transportation from...
and
Chicago Sanitary and Ship CanalThe Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, historically known as the Chicago Drainage Canal, is the only shipping link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system, by way of the Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers. The canal also carries Chicago's treated sewage into the Des Plaines River...
. From there the water flows into the
Des Plaines RiverThe Des Plaines River is a river that flows southward for 150 miles through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the U.S. Midwest, eventually meeting the Kankakee River west of Channahon to form the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi River...
and eventually reaches the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
.
Early non-Native American settlers
Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, the Founder of Chicago, was the first non-
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
to establish a permanent residence near the Chicago River. He built his farm on the northern bank at the mouth of the river in the 1780s. In 1808
Fort DearbornFort Dearborn, named in honor of Henry Dearborn, was a United States fort built on the Chicago River in 1803 by troops under Captain John Whistler. It was on the site of the present-day city of Chicago...
was constructed on the opposite bank on the site of the present-day
Michigan Avenue BridgeThe Michigan Avenue Bridge is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River, the boundary between the Loop and Near North Side community areas, in downtown Chicago...
.
At one time, and as late as 1830, the north branch of today's Chicago River was known locally as Guarie’s (or Gary's) River. Guarie is a phonetic spelling of the name of an early settler/trader by the name of Guillory who lived along the Chicago river sometime around 1778.
Early improvements
In the 1830s and 1840s considerable effort was made to cut a channel through the sandbar to improve shipping. In 1900 the river's flow was reversed in order to keep Lake Michigan clean.
In 1928, the South Branch of the Chicago River between Polk and 18th Street was straightened and moved ¼ miles (400 m) west to make room for a railroad terminal.
Reversing the flow
Originally, the river flowed into Lake Michigan. As Chicago grew this allowed sewage and other pollution into the clean-water source for the city. This contributed to several
public healthPublic health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based...
problems, including some problems with typhoid. Starting in the 1850s much of the flow was diverted across the
Chicago PortageThe Chicago Portage connects the watersheds and the navigable waterways of the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. It crosses the continental divide that separates the Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean watersheds from the Gulf of Mexico watershed.The St...
into the Illinois and Michigan Canal. In 1900, the
Sanitary District of ChicagoThe Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago is a sanitary district, a type of special-purpose district, chartered in northern Illinois. It is an independent unit of local government with an elected Board of Commissioners...
, then headed by
Rudolph HeringRudolph Hering was a founder of modern environmental technology.He came to Dresden at age 13 to attend school there and studied civil engineering at the Technische Universität Dresden as a member of the German Student Corps Altsachsen.He was involved in the reversing of the Chicago river; his name...
, completely reversed the flow of the river using a series of canal locks and caused the river to flow into the newly completed Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Before this time the Chicago River was known by many local residents of Chicago as "the stinking river" because of the massive amounts of
sewageSewage is water-carried wastes, in either solution or suspension, that flow away from a community. Also known as wastewater flows, sewage is the used water supply of the community. It is more than 99.9% pure water and is characterized by its volume or rate of flow, its physical condition, its...
and
pollutionPollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms . Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light...
which poured into the river from Chicago's booming industrial economy. Through the 1980s, the river was quite dirty and often filled with
garbageWaste is unwanted or unusable material.In living organisms, waste is the unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from them. More commonly, waste refers to the materials that are disposed of in a system of waste management.Waste is directly linked to human development, both technologically...
; however, during the 1990s, it underwent extensive cleaning as part of an effort at beautification by Chicago Mayor
Richard M. DaleyRichard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party and current Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007...
.
Recently, researchers at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public research university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Illinois system....
created a three-dimensional, hydrodynamic simulation of the Chicago River, which suggested that density currents are the cause of an observed bi-directional wintertime flow in the river. At the surface, the river flows east to west, away from Lake Michigan, as expected. But deep below, near the riverbed, water travels west to east, toward the lake.
All outflows from the
Great Lakes BasinThe Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose direct runoff and watersheds form a large drainage...
are regulated by the joint U.S.-Canadian
Great Lakes CommissionThe Great Lakes Commission is an eight-state compact United States agency established in 1955 through the Great Lakes Basin Compact, in order to "promote the orderly, integrated and comprehensive development, use and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin," which includes the...
and the outflow through the Chicago River is set under a
U.S. Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
decision (1967, modified 1980 and 1997). The city of Chicago is allowed to remove 3200 cubic feet per second (91 m³/s) of water from the Great Lakes system; about half of this, 1 billion US gallons a day (44 m³/s), is sent down the Chicago River, while the rest is used for drinking water. In late 2005 the Chicago-based
Alliance for the Great LakesThe Alliance for the Great Lakes was originally founded in 1970 as the Lake Michigan Federation. The purpose of the LMF was to promote awareness and policy to protect and preserve the Lake Michigan...
proposed re-separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to address such ecological concerns as the spread of
invasive species'Invasive species' is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically...
.
Eastland disaster
In 1915, the
EastlandThe S.S. Eastland was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On 24 July 1915 the ship rolled over while tied to a dock in the Chicago River...
, an excursion boat docked at the Clark Street bridge, rolled over, killing 812 passengers.
Chicago Flood
On April 13, 1992 the
Chicago FloodThe Chicago Flood occurred on April 13, 1992, when the damaged wall of a utility tunnel beneath the Chicago River opened into a breach which flooded basements and underground facilities throughout the Chicago Loop with an estimated 250 million gallons of water. -Cause:Rehabilitation work on the...
occurred when a pile driven into the riverbed caused stress fractures in the wall of a long-abandoned tunnel of the
Chicago Tunnel CompanyThe Chicago Tunnel Company built a unique freight tunnel network under the downtown of the city of Chicago. It inspired the construction of the London Post Office Railway.-History:...
near Kinzie Street. Most of the 60-mile (97 km) network of underground freight railway, which encompasses much of downtown, was eventually flooded along with the lower levels of buildings it once serviced and attached underground shops and pedestrian ways.
Ecology
The Chicago River has been highly affected by the industrial and residential areas around with attendant changes to the quality of the water and riverbanks. Several species of warmwater fish are known to inhabit the river including
largemouthThe largemouth bass is a species of fish in the sunfish family. It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth and northern largemouth...
and
smallmouth bassThe smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...
,
rock bassThe rock bass , also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller...
,
crappiePomoxis is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...
,
bluegillThe Bluegill is a species of freshwaterfish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family of order Perciformes. It is native...
,
catfishCatfish are a diverse group of hairey fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores , and even to a tiny...
and
carpCarp is a common name for various species of an oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. Some consider all cyprinid fishes carp, and the family Cyprinidae itself is often known as the carp family...
. The river also has a large population of
crayfishCrayfish, crawfish, or crawdads — members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea — are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
. The South Fork of the Main (South) Branch, which was the primary sewer for the
Union Stock YardsThe Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the name of the meatpacking district in Chicago for over a century starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired swampland to a centralized processing area...
and the meatpacking industry, was once so polluted that it became known as
Bubbly CreekBubbly Creek is the nickname given to the South Fork of the Chicago River's South Branch, which runs entirely within the city of Chicago, Illinois. Gases bubbling out of the riverbed from the decomposition of blood and entrails dumped into the river by the local stockyards in the early 20th...
. Illinois has issued advisories regarding eating fish from the river due to
PCBPolychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 1 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx, where x = 1-10. PCBs were widely used for many...
and
mercuryMercury , also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum , is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80...
contamination, including a "do not eat" advisory for carp more than 12 inches long. There are concerns that
silver carpThe silver carp is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish, a variety of Asian carp native to north and northeast Asia. It is cultivated in China....
and
bighead carpThe bighead carp is a freshwater fish, one of several Asian carps. It has a large, scaleless head, a large mouth, and eyes located very low on the head. Adults usually have a mottled silver-gray coloration. Adults can be quite large...
, now
invasive species'Invasive species' is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically...
in the Mississippi and
Illinois RiverThe Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . The river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water...
s, may reach the
Great LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. They are sometimes referred to as the "Third...
through the Chicago River. Despite the pollution concerns, the Chicago River remains a very popular target for freshwater recreational fishing. In 2006, the Chicago Park District started the annual "Mayor Daley's Chicago River Fishing Festival", which has increased in popularity with each year.
St. Patrick's Day
As part of a more than forty year old Chicago tradition the Chicago River is dyed green in observance of St. Patrick's Day. The actual event does not necessarily occur on St. Patrick's Day and is scheduled for the Saturday of the closest weekend. For example in 2009, the river was dyed on Saturday, March 14, 2009 whereas St. Patrick's day was on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.
Bill King, the administrator of Chicago's St. Patrick's Day committee, stated that "the idea of dyeing the Chicago River green originally came about by accident when a group of plumbers were using
fluoresceinFluorescein is a fluorophore commonly used in microscopy, in a type of dye laser as the gain medium, in forensics and serology to detect latent blood stains, and in dye tracing. Fluorescein has an absorption maximum at 494 nm and emission maximum of 521 nm .Fluorescein also has an isosbestic point ...
dye to trace illegal substances that were polluting the river".
The
United States Environmental Protection AgencyThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged to regulate chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land...
(EPA) outlawed the use of
fluoresceinFluorescein is a fluorophore commonly used in microscopy, in a type of dye laser as the gain medium, in forensics and serology to detect latent blood stains, and in dye tracing. Fluorescein has an absorption maximum at 494 nm and emission maximum of 521 nm .Fluorescein also has an isosbestic point ...
for this purpose, since it was proven to be harmful to the river. The secret ingredients used to dye the river green today are claimed to be safe and not harmful to the thousands of living organisms that find a habitat in the Chicago River.
In keeping with this Chicago St. Patrick's Day tradition, in 2009, at the request of First Lady
Michelle ObamaMichelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States....
, who is a Chicago native, the White House fountains were dyed green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
Bridges
The first bridge across the Chicago River was constructed over the north branch near the present day Kinzie Street in 1832. A second bridge, over the south branch near Randolph Street, was added in 1833. The first movable bridge was constructed across the main stem at Dearborn Street in 1834. Today, the Chicago River has 38 movable bridges spanning it, down from a peak of 52 bridges. These bridges are of several different types, including
trunnion basculeA bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic. Bascule is a French term for seesaw and balance, and bascule bridges operate along the same principle...
, scherzer rolling lift,
swing bridgeA swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring at or near to its center, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration below...
s and vertical lift bridges.
The following
bascule bridgeA bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic. Bascule is a French term for seesaw and balance, and bascule bridges operate along the same principle...
s cross the river (and its south branch) into the
Chicago LoopThe Loop or The Chicago Loop are the terms used to designate the historical center of downtown Chicago. Most accurately, the term refers to an area bounded by a public transit circuit along Lake Street on the north, Wabash Avenue on the east, Van Buren Street on the south, and Wells Street on the...
:
- Harrison Street Bridge (1960)
- Congress Parkway/I-290 Bridge (1955)
- Van Buren Street Bridge (1956)
- Jackson Boulevard Bridge (1917)
- Adams Street Bridge (1927)
- Monroe Street Bridge (1919)
- Madison Street Bridge (1922)
- Washington Street Bridge (1913)
- Randolph Street Bridge (1984)
- Lake Street Bridge (1915)
- Franklin Street Bridge
The Franklin–Orleans Street Bridge over the Chicago River was built in October 1920, directly southwest of the Merchandise Mart. Connecting the Near North Side with "The Loop," is at the junction of the branches of the river, lying directly west of the Wells Street Bridge...
(1920)
- Wells Street Bridge
The Wells Street Bridge over the Chicago River was built in 1922. Standing east of the Franklin Street Bridge and southeast of the Merchandise Mart, the bascule bridge connects the Near North Side with "The Loop." The bridge is double decked, the lower deck carrying 3 lanes of traffic south over...
(1922)
- La Salle Street Bridge (1928)
- Clark Street Bridge
The Clark Street Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, connecting the Near North Side with The Loop.-History:...
(1929)
- Dearborn Street Bridge
The Dearborn Street Bridge over the Chicago River was built in 1962. It connects the Near North Side with "The Loop." The American Institute of Steel Construction honored the bridge with the 1963 "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" award in the Movable Span category....
(1962)
- State Street Bridge (1948)
- Wabash Avenue Bridge
The Wabash Avenue Bridge over the Chicago River was built in 1930. Standing east of the Michigan Avenue Bridge and southwest of the Trump International Hotel and Tower , the bascule bridge connects the Near North Side with "The Loop" area....
(1930)
- Michigan Avenue Bridge
The Michigan Avenue Bridge is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River, the boundary between the Loop and Near North Side community areas, in downtown Chicago...
(1920)
- Columbus Drive Bridge (1982)
- Link Bridge
The Link Bridge is the official name of the bridge carrying the Lake Shore Drive portion of U.S. Route 41 over the main branch of the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is designed as a bascule bridge, and is one of only two in the city to have an upper and lower deck.- History :The Link...
, also known as Lake Shore Drive Bridge or Outerlink Drive Bridge (1936)
Other bridges:
- Canal Street railroad bridge
The Canal Street railroad bridge is a vertical lift bridge across the south branch of the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois. When it was constructed in 1915 its 1500 ton main span was the heaviest of any vertical lift bridge in the United States...
(1914)
- Cherry Avenue Bridge
The Cherry Avenue Bridge is an asymmetric bob-tail swing bridge that spans the North Branch Canal of the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois...
(1902)
- Cortland Street Drawbridge
The Cortland Street Drawbridge over the Chicago River is the original Chicago-style fixed-trunnion bascule bridge, designed by John Ericson and Edward Wilmann. When it opened in 1902 on the north side of Chicago, it was the first such bridge built in the United States...
(1902)
- Kinzie Street railroad bridge
The Chicago and North Western Railway Kinzie Street railroad bridge is a single leaf bascule bridge across the north branch of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its opening in 1908 it was the world's longest and heaviest bascule bridge...
(1908)
- North Avenue Bridge
The North Avenue Bridge can refer to one of three bridges that has carried North Avenue over the North Branch of the Chicago River on the north side of Chicago, Illinois...
(2008)
Famous buildings
Many of Chicago's landmark buildings line the banks of the river. A partial list follows:
Main branch
- Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
- Wrigley Building
The Wrigley Building is a skyscraper located directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower on the Magnificent Mile...
- Tribune Tower
The Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...
- Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago)
The Trump International Hotel and Tower, also known as Trump Tower Chicago and locally as the Trump Tower, is a skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown . The building, named after real estate developer Donald Trump, was designed by architect Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill...
- Marina City
Marina City is a mixed-use residential/commercial building complex occupying an entire city block on State Street in Chicago, Illinois. It lies on the north bank of the Chicago River, directly across from Chicago's Loop district...
- Merchandise Mart
When opened in 1930, the Merchandise Mart or the Mart, located in Chicago, Illinois, was the largest building in the world with of floor space. Previously owned by the Marshall Field family, the Mart centralized Chicago's wholesale goods business by consolidating vendors and trade under a single...
- Chicago Spire (2011)
- Waterview Tower
Waterview Tower is a mixed-use, partially-constructed skyscraper in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Originally scheduled for completion in 2009, construction was suspended in early 2008 at a height of 26 floors as the developer became unable to secure financing...
(originally 2008, now 2009)
- 333 Wacker Drive
333 West Wacker Drive is a highrise office building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. On the side facing the Chicago River, the building features a curved green glass façade, while on the other side the building adheres to the usual rectangular street grid....
- Leo Burnett Building
The Leo Burnett Building, located on 35 West Wacker Drive at North Dearborn Street in the Chicago Loop, is a 46 story, 635 foot tall skyscraper above the Chicago River's west bank. When built in 1989, it was the 12th tallest structure in Chicago. It was designed by Kevin Roche-John Dinkeloo and...
South branch
- Boeing
The Boeing Company is a major aerospace and defense corporation, founded by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Its international headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois, since 2001...
Company World Headquarters
- Civic Opera House
The Civic Opera House is an opera house located at 20 North Wacker Drive in Chicago. It is part of a building which contains a 45-story office tower and two 22-story wings. This structure opened on November 4, 1929 and has an Art Deco interior...
- Chicago Mercantile Exchange
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is an American financial and commodity derivative exchange based in Chicago. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board. Originally, the exchange was a non-profit organization...
- Union Station
Union Station is a Chicago train station that opened in 1925, replacing an earlier 1881 station, and is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago. Union Station was built on the west side of the Chicago River and stands between Adams Street and Jackson Street...
See also
- Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
- Chicago's First Lady
Chicago’s First Lady , the official cruiseline of the Chicago Architecture Foundation, provides passengers with tours of the Chicago River...
- Illinois Department of Transportation
The Illinois Department of Transportation is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel tax and federal funding to local juridictions in the...
- List of Illinois rivers
External links