RT Historic Michigan Boulevard District

Historic district including numerous significant buildings on Michigan Avenue facing Grant Park and point recognized as the end of Route 66

General Information

Hours:

Open 24 hours a day
Public sidewalks, plazas, and outdoor areas are accessible year-round

Fees:

Admission: Free

Pet Policy:

Leashed pets are permitted in public outdoor areas throughout the district.
Individual buildings, museums, hotels, and businesses may have their own pet policies.

Closest cities with hotels:

Chicago, Illinois (located in downtown Chicago)

Seasons:

Best visited year-round
Spring and Fall offer comfortable temperatures for architecture walks
Summer is ideal for sightseeing, festivals, and lakefront activities
Winter provides impressive holiday displays and skyline views

Location:

Michigan Avenue between Roosevelt Road and Randolph Street, Chicago, IL

Website:

chicago.gov

How to Get There

From Downtown Chicago (1 mi): Head toward Michigan Avenue in the Loop and follow Michigan Avenue south along Grant Park, where the Historic Michigan Boulevard District extends between Randolph Street and Roosevelt Road and includes many of Chicago's most iconic historic buildings and landmarks.

Overview

The Historic Michigan Boulevard District is a historic district in the Loop community area of Chicago, encompassing Michigan Avenue between 11th (1100 south in the street numbering system) or Roosevelt Road (1200 south), and Randolph Streets (150 north) and named after the nearby Lake Michigan. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 27, 2002. The district includes numerous significant buildings on Michigan Avenue facing Grant Park. In addition, this section of Michigan Avenue includes the point recognized as the end of U.S. Route 66. This district is one of the world's best known one-sided streets rivalling Fifth Avenue in New York City and Edinburgh's Princes Street. It lies immediately south of the Michigan-Wacker Historic District and east of the Loop Retail Historic District.

Buildings in the District

Several of the buildings listed below have played a prominent role in the cultural history of Chicago.

The Blackstone has become part of Chicago's history as the city that has hosted more United States presidential nominating conventions (26) than any other two American cities, The Blackstone Hotel has hosted almost every 20th century U.S. President, and it has contributed the phrase "in a smoke-filled room" to American political parlance.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuted on October 16, 1891 and made its home in the Auditorium Theatre until moving to Orchestra Hall in 1904. Theodore Roosevelt gave his famous Bull Moose speech in 1912 at the Auditorium and was nominated for President of the United States by the independent National Progressive Party. The Auditorium has hosted Jimi Hendrix, The Who, the Grateful Dead, and many others. The Auditorium Building is considered a milestone in the development of modern architecture.

The Chicago Cultural Center serves as the city's official reception venue where the Mayor of Chicago has welcomed Presidents and royalty, diplomats and community leaders. According to Crain's Chicago Business, the Chicago Cultural Center was the eighth most-visited cultural institution in the Chicago area in 2004, with 767,000 visitors. The interior includes ornate mosaics, marbles, bronze, and stained-glass domes designed by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company.

The Art Institute of Chicago is a fine-art museum well known for its Impressionist and American art.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Historic Michigan Boulevard District", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0