Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
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| Michigan Avenue |
|
| 100 East | |
| Direction: | North-South |
|---|---|
| From: | 950 North |
| To: | 12628 South |
| Major cities: | Chicago |
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east (except for one private block that runs at 125 east) south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system.[1]. As the home of the Chicago Water Tower, the Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park, and the Magnificent Mile, it is a street well known to Chicago natives as well as tourists to the city. Michigan Avenue also is the main commercial street of Streeterville.
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[edit] History
The oldest section of Michigan avenue is the portion that currently borders Grant Park. The name came from Lake Michigan, which until 1871 was immediately east of Michigan Avenue. The street at that time ran north to the Chicago river and south to the city limits. Originally, Michigan Avenue was primarily residential, and by the 1860s, large homes and expensive row houses dominated Michigan Avenue. In the Great 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. 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 the Auditorium Building and the main branch of the Chicago Public Library (now the Chicago 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 first traffic lights in Chicago were installed on Michigan Avenue after John D. Hertz fronted the city $34,000 for the purchase, installation, and maintenance.[2]
[edit] North Michigan Avenue & The Magnificent Mile
As Michigan had no bridge at first, it ended at the Chicago River. What is now Michigan Avenue north of the river was originally named Pine Street, after scattered pine trees originally found in its vicinity. Daniel Burnham proposed connecting Michigan and Pine in his 1909 Plan of Chicago, and in 1917, work on the bridge began. When the Michigan Avenue bridge was completed, Pine Street was renamed Michigan Avenue. At its north end it merges into Lake Shore Drive near the Drake Hotel.
Today, the area north of the Chicago River is referred to as the Magnificent Mile, or sometimes simply the Mag Mile. It contains a mixture of upscale department stores, restaurants, high-end retailers, office buildings and hotels, and caters primarily to tourists and the affluent. The area also has a high concentration of the city's major media firms, and advertising agencies, including the Chicago Tribune newspaper. The major hotels present on the street are The Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, The Peninsula, Intercontinental, Westin, Hard Rock Hotel, and The Drake.
It is the home of Chicago's famous Water Tower landmark, Water Tower Park with its historic clock, as well as the eight-level Water Tower Place shopping center which grew up next door to, and overshadowed, the comparatively diminutive landmark. The shopping center is anchored by two department stores: Macy's North Michigan store and Lord and Taylor. North of the shopping center can be found the famous John Hancock Center, the art deco Palmolive Building (also known as the Playboy Building) and the lavish Drake Hotel.
The Magnificent Mile is also the home of luxury hotels around the historic Chicago Water Tower Square. Across the historic Water Tower Square lies the Park Tower /Park Hyatt Hotel, one of the most successful luxury hotel/residential buildings in Chicago. The entire mile is noted for its spectacular Christmas displays. At the northern edge of this district can be found the exclusive One Magnificent Mile building; Chicago Landmark East Lake Shore Drive District, an extremely expensive and exclusive one-block area of real estate running east from North Michigan Ave. and facing directly onto to Lake Michigan; and the on-ramp to northbound Lake Shore Drive.
There are also numerous high-end salons on Oak Street. Unlike Michigan Avenue and Water Tower Place, which feature upscale chain stores and large department stores, Oak Street is known for its small exquisite boutiques. A few boutiques are so exclusive that they will only open doors for select patrons or prefer prior appointments.
[edit] Transportation
The CTA Red Line's Chicago and Grand stations are useful for reaching the Magnificent Mile. The avenue is also traversed by a multitude of bus routes & an even greater number of taxi cabs can always be hailed day or night.
[edit] Michigan Avenue from the River southwards
For a few blocks on both sides of the Chicago River, the road is bilevel, including the bridge over the river. Several large hotels are located just South of Congress Parkway, including the Hilton Chicago and the Congress Plaza Hotel. Between them is the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies. The street extends south continuously to 63rd Street, just north of a rail yard and parking lots. It continues south at 66th Street to Marquette Road, where it moves a half block to the east. It then continues south to 89th Street. It is disjointed twice again before 91st Street where it runs south to 127th Street. It begins again in the south suburb of Riverdale. The portion of Michigan Avenue opposite Grant Park is the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District.
[edit] See Also
[edit] References
- ^ Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, Streetwise Chicago, "Michigan Avenue/Michigan Avenue (Pvt.)", p. 87., Loyola University Press, 1988, ISBN 0-8294-0597-6
- ^ “Golden opportunity”, Chicago Tribune Magazine: 31, 2007-11-25
[edit] External links
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