The site offers architectural photos in the classic black-and-white style, as well as a description of each building.
I have seen some of the original photos on display, and they, themselves, are works of art.
The photos of individual buildings are linked in overlapping virtual tours that include styles, such as Art Deco
and Prairie School; architects, such as Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan; and areas, such as Loop North and Far South.
There is an interactive map that makes it easy to map out your own self-guided walking tour. The descriptions go far
beyond the architectural detail and offer rich insights into Chicago's history as a whole. There are many links in my
site to pages from the Chicago Landmarks site.
(For those with a more detailed interest, there also is a searchable database of the Chicago Historic Resources Survey.
This was completed in 1995 after a decade-long research effort by the City of Chicago to analyze the historic and architectural
importance of all buildings constructed in the city prior to 1940.)
Note from 2005: I now have a second favorite website, the
Encyclopedia of Chicago, which is posted by the Chicago Historical Society. This is a wonderful on-line resource. Each article contains
links to other articles, and it is fun to jump from one topic to another.
I urge visitors planning a trip to Chicago to consult both of these websites and to print out any pages that you might
think would be of use during your visit.
By the way, both photos on this page represent Chicago's history in finance. At the top is that Art Deco masterpiece,
the Chicago Board of Trade Building (141 W. Jackson Blvd.), and below is the
Heald Square monument (East Wacker Drive and North Wabash), which is dedicated to the financiers of the American Revolution. It is said
to be the only existing monument with that theme. Where else but in Chicago?!
