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Chicago Lakefront Trail

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The Chicago Lakefront Trail (LFT) is a 18.5-mile-long (29.8 km) partial shared-use path for walking , jogging , skateboarding , and cycling , located along the western shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago , Illinois . The trail passes through and connects Chicago's four major lakefront parks along with various beaches and recreational amenities. It also serves as a route for bicycle, skateboard and personal transporter commuters. On busy summer days 70,000 people use the trail.

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86-482: The LFT is located wholly within the Chicago city limits and spans from 7100 South/2560 East to 5800 North/1000 West. It is a dedicated-use path, although frequent intersections do pose a threat to path users. These intersections are clearly signed both to path users and motorists. From north to south, it runs through Lincoln Park , Grant Park , Burnham Park , and Jackson Park . In 1963, Mayor Richard J. Daley designated

172-632: A Nike missile base. The Army camouflaged their missile launchers and barracks behind honeysuckle hedges. When the Army left in the 1970s, bird watchers noticed how the honeysuckle attracted birds. They successfully lobbied the park district for a new preserve. After extensive replanting, the site supports woodland, tall prairie, and lake dune habitat that annually attracts tens of thousands of migratory birds of more than 300 different species. The Uptown Natural Area, opened in 2022, features nature trails through six acres of native prairie and savanna. Lincoln Park

258-836: A golf course ; a driving range; skate park, and areas for horseback riding . Near Montrose Point is Cricket Hill, one of few sledding hills available in Chicago parks. There are seven public beaches for swimming , sunbathing, and beach volleyball along the park's 7-mile shoreline that are guarded during the summer months. The beaches from north to south are, Thorndale, Hollywood, and Foster in Edgewater; Montrose in Uptown; North Avenue in Lincoln Park; and Oak Street and Ohio in Near North. The first City of Chicago public beach, North Avenue Beach, opened in Lincoln Park in 1895. The Lincoln Park Passerelle ,

344-623: A par -36 course. Further south, inland of Lakeshore Drive, is a driving range and miniature golf course. There are three harbors in the Park providing marina and docking facilities for boaters: north to south, they are Montrose in Uptown , Lakeview's Belmont Harbor, and Diversey Harbor in the Lakeview and the Lincoln Park Neighborhoods. Montrose Harbor provides 630 dock facilities and is home to

430-475: A bar and restaurant (Castaways), concession stand, a lifeguard station, and restrooms. Oak Street Beach, located at 1000 North, covers the area from the North Avenue 'Hook' Pier south to Ohio Street Beach (Illinois St. Beach, Olive Beach), about 1.5 mi (2 km). Oak Street is home to the largest area of deep water swimming in the city (1/2 mile (800 m) over 10 ft (3 m)). Until 2006 Oak Street Beach

516-439: A cultural center and lakeside café housed in two large century old lake homes and their carriage houses, as well as a playground. Lincoln Park is Chicago's largest public park and contains the city's remaining north side lake front beaches, running for seven miles (11 km) through the communities of Edgewater , Uptown , Lake View , Lincoln Park , and Near North . Lane Beach Park, more commonly known as Thorndale Beach,

602-819: A few beavers . Great blue herons , black-crowned night herons , green herons , mallards , wood ducks , song sparrows and woodpeckers can regularly be spotted at the North Pond Nature Sanctuary. Further north in the park, in the Lake View neighborhood (3600 N), there is the Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary ( 41°56′56″N 87°38′26″W  /  41.94889°N 87.64056°W  / 41.94889; -87.64056  ( Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary ) ; formerly, Lincoln Park Addison Migratory Bird Sanctuary). First landscaped and constructed with limited public access in

688-502: A footbridge, connected to the beach in 1940 over the newly constructed Lake Shore Drive. The Waveland Avenue Golf Course (now Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course) in the Uptown and Lakeview, Chicago neighborhoods section of the park provides a lakeside setting for the game. ( 41°57′09″N 87°38′29″W  /  41.95250°N 87.64139°W  / 41.95250; -87.64139  ( Waveland Avenue Golf Course ) ) Known for its challenging narrow fairways, it offers nine tees on

774-541: A golf course, lacrosse fields, rugby pitches, tennis courts, volleyball courts, field houses, a target archery field, a skate park, and a driving range. The park also features several harbors with boating facilities, as well as public beaches for swimming, and nature reserves. There are landscaped gardens, public art, bird refuges, a zoo , the Lincoln Park Conservatory , the Chicago History Museum ,

860-491: A lakefront beach. It is located in a former lagoon of Humboldt Park which was dredged and given a sand bottom. At 41°54′24″N 87°42′11″W  /  41.9066°N 87.7031°W  / 41.9066; -87.7031  ( Humboldt Park Beach ) , this "beach" is mostly used by small children as a shallow wading pond. It is guarded in the summer and drained when not guarded. Burnham Park runs for 6 miles (9.7 km) along Chicago's lakefront from Grant Park in

946-484: A pier due to sand capture. Early beaches were generally funded by private entities such as hotels and private clubs, screened from the public. Late 19th century city ordinances prohibited public bathing, but popular norms created demand for public beaches. Proponents saw public beaches as an opportunity to accommodate demand for public baths and eliminate the expenditure of enforcement resources on ordinance violations for public bathing. The city responded by opening

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1032-479: A sculpture by Frederick Hibbard . The Fern Room or Fernery was opened in 1895. It contains plants of the forest floor, primarily a vast collection of ferns. The Tropical Room was originally called the stove house. Opened in 1895, it contained an assortment of tropical plants suspended from bark-covered walls. It is now called the Orchid Room and has a collection of approximately 25,000 natural species. The Display House

1118-643: A series of small "street-end" beaches that unlike most Chicago beaches are often separated by private property and therefore, unconnected to each other by public parkland. Juneway Terrace Beach is the northernmost beach in Chicago. It is located at 7800 North and Lake Michigan. It lies within Rogers Avenue Beach and Park . It is separated from Rogers Beach by a stretch of rip rap protecting three apartment buildings. Rogers Beach lies in Rogers Avenue Beach and Park at 7705 North. Barely one block long,

1204-636: A third great story-teller in Lincoln Park. This seated Shakespeare includes a lap for children to climb onto. A bust of Sir Georg Solti , a conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , was also situated in the Lincoln Park Conservatory's formal garden until its relocation to Grant Park in 2006. Statues honoring the German poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller can also be found in Lincoln Park. The large Goethe statue

1290-665: Is a large memorial to Ulysses S. Grant in Lincoln Park overlooking Cannon Drive . The sculpture was created in 1891 by Louis Rebisso . The statue of Hans Christian Andersen by Johannes Gelert (1896) on Stockton Drive near Webster Avenue provides a tribute to the Danish storyteller. The Eugene Field Memorial (1922) designed by Edward McCartan remembers the Chicago Daily News columnist and poet who wrote " Little Boy Blue " and " Winken, Blinken, and Nod ". William Ordway Partridge 's statue of William Shakespeare (1894) provides

1376-858: Is a small stone beach in Burnham Park . It is not guarded, so swimming is not allowed. 41°47′29.88″N 87°34′46.16″W  /  41.7916333°N 87.5794889°W  / 41.7916333; -87.5794889 The 57th Street Beach is in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood, across Lake Shore Drive from the Museum of Science and Industry . Two large pedestrian underpasses at the intersection of 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive give access. Its long shoreline crosses from Burnham Park into Jackson Park. 57th Street Beach provides an area of deep swimming south of Promontory Point . 41°46′55.43″N 87°34′22.83″W  /  41.7820639°N 87.5730083°W  / 41.7820639; -87.5730083 The 63rd Street Beach

1462-739: Is a ten-acre pond that has become an important wildlife area. Historically the site was a dune, then a dumping ground, and an ornamental pond; it was converted in 1999–2000 into a natural area with a littoral zone that greatly improved the water quality by re-establishing native Midwestern ecology. The upland restoration of prairie, savanna, and woodland plants has included only top quality native species such as little bluestem, sky-blue aster, nodding wild onion, side-oats grama, butterfly weed, purple prairie clover, rough blazing star, wild quinine, prairie phlox, coneflowers, false dragonhead, northern prairie dropseed, showy goldenrod, rattlesnake master, shooting star, and wild bergamot. The North Pond Nature Sanctuary

1548-622: Is a working reproduction of a Midwestern farm containing horses and livestock such as pigs, cows, and sheep. At the Farm-in-the-Zoo, children can feed and interact with the animals and view live demonstrations of farm work such as the milking of cows. In 2010, the Zoo transformed the South Pond, to create a wildlife marsh habitat, with a Nature Boardwalk . The Lincoln Park Conservatory offers year-round displays of plants from many different climates around

1634-626: Is about his experience walking through the park during the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests . In 2004 the Lincoln Park Lagooners were inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame . Chicago beaches#Lincoln Park Beaches The beaches in Chicago are an extensive network of waterfront recreational areas operated by the Chicago Park District . The Chicago metropolitan waterfront includes parts of

1720-553: Is an 18-mile multi-use path in Chicago along the coast of Lake Michigan . It is popular with cyclists and joggers. It is designed to promote bicycle commuting . From north to south, it runs through Lincoln Park, Grant Park , Burnham Park and Jackson Park . The North Pond Nature Sanctuary ( 41°55′42″N 87°38′15″W  /  41.92833°N 87.63750°W  / 41.92833; -87.63750  ( North Pond ) ), located between Fullerton, Diversey, Stockton and Cannon,

1806-563: Is considered by many to be Chicago's premier beach. It has the largest lifeguard staff and is home to the most developed beachhouse. Technically running from North Avenue to Diversey Harbor in the Lincoln Park neighborhood , North Avenue Beach is characterized by its piers which hold the sand in place and create a scalloped shoreline, terminating in a Cape Cod -like hook. The beach hosts international volleyball tournaments as well as millions of sun worshippers every year. Chicago Park District lines

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1892-500: Is in Jackson Park . It is home to the largest and oldest beach house in the City. In July 1913, Jackson Park Beach was the site of a clash over required bathing attire when Dr. Rosalie Ladova was arrested for disorderly conduct for swimming in her bloomers after removing her bathing skirt. The establishment of the landmark beach house came about due to the residents of the area complaining to

1978-541: Is known for its statuary, being referred to as "Chicago's outdoor Statuary Hall " by WBEZ . Abraham Lincoln: The Man is a famous standing Lincoln statue in Lincoln Park by Augustus Saint-Gaudens , the same sculptor who created Abraham Lincoln: The Head of State in Grant Park. Replicas of Lincoln Park's Standing Lincoln can be found at Lincoln's tomb, Springfield and in Parliament Square , London. The statue

2064-514: Is largely a family beach and the southern half is largely a gay and lesbian beach. The northern half of the beach has shallow water which makes it kid-friendly and there is a long boardwalk ramp to allow closer access to the shoreline for strollers and wheelchairs near the Ardmore Avenue entrance. Beach volleyball is popular here. There is a beach house and concession stand, which opened in 2010. Unique among Lincoln Park's northern beaches there

2150-506: Is located at 5932 North in Edgewater at the intersection of Sheridan Road and Thorndale Avenue. This was once a standalone beach, as recently as the 1970s, but shifting sand and water levels later connected it to Hollywood Beach to the south. More recently, hard frozen waves that formed during the winter of 2015 carried much of the sand away, isolating the beach again. There is a boardwalk ramp, to allow stroller or wheelchair access closer to

2236-437: Is located at 6700 North. Hamilton Beach is currently closed due to a dredging project scheduled for completion in late 2014. Hamilton beach is actually nonexistent. [1] 41°59′44″N 87°39′17″W  /  41.995545°N 87.654639°W  / 41.995545; -87.654639  ( Berger Park ) Berger Park Beach is a small beach at the northeast corner of Berger Park in Edgewater . The park also contains

2322-482: Is located at 7400 North and Fargo is located at 7432 North. Offshore stretches of riprap act to reduce erosion of this beach, which is about three blocks long. In 2015, the beach was named in honor of architect Marion Mahony Griffin . The Australian Consul General, Roger Price , attended the beach's dedication for the woman who was instrumental in the design the Australian capital of Canberra . When she returned to

2408-560: Is located at Dearborn Street and North Avenue. It was fully restored in 1989 by the Lincoln Park Conservancy's Adopt-A-Monument Program, and 8,200 square feet of formal gardens were added in front of the monument. The only other person memorialized in statue in both Grant and Lincoln parks is Alexander Hamilton ; the statue of Hamilton was sculpted by John Angel . Just as there is an Abraham Lincoln statue in Grant Park , there

2494-706: Is located in Burnham Park near 31st Street. The beach is host every year to the Junior Lifeguard Chicago Area Tug-o-War. Near the beachouse is a large modern playground. In 2015, it was named in honor of artist, educator and museum founder, Margaret Taylor-Burroughs . Burroughs was a founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History and the Southside Community Art Center 4100 S. Lake Shore Drive (41st St. and Lake Michigan, parking at Oakwood Blvd.) 49th Street Beach

2580-509: Is located near Diversey Parkway and Stockton Drive. The smaller Schiller statue is located near the western entrance to the zoo. Cyrus Edwin Dallin 's 1890 A Signal of Peace is exhibited at the park. At Addison Street stands a 40-foot (12-meter) totem pole depicting Kwanusila the Thunderbird . A statue of John Peter Altgeld (1915), the nineteenth-century Illinois Governor who pardoned

2666-409: Is no nearby parking lot. In the upper beach, north of Ardmore and the boardwalk, near Thorndale beach is a small park district beach grass reserve for migrating birds and butterflies. Foster Avenue Beach is located at 5200 North ( 41°58′44″N 87°38′58″W  /  41.978826°N 87.649355°W  / 41.978826; -87.649355 ). It is a popular beach in the Edgewater section of

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2752-525: Is notable as the site where Mayor Richard M. Daley and the US Fish and Wildlife Service signed an Urban Conservation Treaty for Migratory Birds in April 2004, making the city eligible for federal funds to restore habitat for the lakefront migratory pathway for birds. Restoration with native plants has drawn a great diversity of wildlife to this urban pond including many species of birds , turtles , frogs , and even

2838-637: Is used for seasonal flower and plant exhibits. A docent program run by the Chicago Park District and Lincoln Park Conservancy provides free tours of the Conservatory and its outdoor gardens from 1–4 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and from 9 to Noon on Saturdays. Located on Fullerton Parkway between Stockton and Cannon Drives, the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool is an historic example of Prairie School landscape architecture. The Lily Pool

2924-851: The Chicago Academy of Sciences opened its most recent facility, the Nature Museum, in 1999. The Academy's previous museum building, the Matthew Laflin Memorial Building, was the Park District's first museum in the parks. The museum's exhibits include displays about the ecological history of the Illinois region, a live butterfly house, and a green home demonstration. The butterfly house features over 200 species of exotic butterflies. The museum also offers educational programs for adults and children. Located at Clark Street and North Avenue,

3010-454: The Chicago Park District , making it a popular beach for dog lovers. In the fenced-off section at the north end of the beach, leashless dogs are permitted on the sand. Montrose beach hosts the Junior Guard regional championships, the annual Beach Soccer Festival, and numerous runs and walks for various charities. The beach house on the south end of the beach was designed by E.V. Buchsbaum. It

3096-554: The Lake Michigan shores as well as parts of the banks of the Chicago , Des Plaines , Calumet , Fox , and DuPage Rivers and their tributaries. The waterfront also includes the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Sanitary and Ship Canal . Historically, the waterfront has been used for commerce, industry, and leisure. Leisure, such as fishing, swimming, hunting, walking and boating,

3182-551: The National Register of Historic Places in 1994, part of the oldest section of today's Lincoln Park near North Avenue began its existence as the City Cemetery in 1843. This was subdivided into a Potter's Field , Catholic cemetery, Jewish cemetery, and the general City Cemetery. These cemeteries were the only cemeteries in the Chicago area until 1859. In 1852, David Kennison, who is said to have been born in 1736, died and

3268-590: The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum , the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool , and a theater on the lake with regular outdoor performances held during the summer. In 1860, Lake Park (earlier, Cemetery Park), the precursor of today's park, was established by the city on the lands just to the north of the city's burial ground. Five years later, on June 12, 1865, the park was renamed to honor the recently assassinated President Abraham Lincoln . Added to

3354-475: The South Shore, Chicago community . South Shore Beach is the beach connected with the Chicago Park District's South Shore Cultural Center (formerly South Shore Country Club), which is located at the intersection of 71st Street and South Shore Drive. The Country Club is a magnificent old building and it is home to a ballroom, restaurant, golf course and tennis courts. The Beach also runs up against Jackson Park to

3440-517: The Uptown neighborhood (4400 N; 41°57′48″N 87°38′00″W  /  41.96333°N 87.63333°W  / 41.96333; -87.63333  ( Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary ) ), there is the 15-acre (6.1 ha) Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary (including "The Magic Hedge"). During the Cold War , Montrose point, which juts out into Lake Michigan, was used by the United States Army as

3526-607: The eponymous neighborhood . Further to the north, the park is characterized by parkland, beaches , recreational areas, nature reserves, and harbors. To the south, there is a more narrow strip of beaches east of Lake Shore Drive, almost to downtown. With 20 million visitors per year, Lincoln Park is the second-most-visited city park in the United States , behind Manhattan's Central Park . The park's recreational facilities include baseball/softball fields, basketball courts, beach volleyball courts, cricket pitches, football/soccer fields,

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3612-400: The 1920s, under the leadership of the Chicago Academy of Sciences , its spring is supplied with city water to mimic a natural lake marsh environment, with attendant forest and meadow environments. Most of its 7-acre (2.8 ha) area is entirely fenced around to preserve the habitat from human encroachment. Instead, a nature trail and a viewing platform are at its surrounding perimeter. During

3698-659: The 1940s, its Park District caretakers lost funding and the site was padlocked. In 1968, the entire site was almost bulldozed for golf course development but its Lake View neighbors, including Bill Jarvis, led a successful campaign to save and restore it. Today it hosts more than 150 species of birds, including six species of herons, like the black crowned night heron ; wood ducks ; woodcock ; hawks ; yellow-billed cuckoos ; hummingbirds ; thrushes ; vireos; 34 species of warblers ; and 18 native species of sparrows . In addition, small mammals such as rabbit, opossum , raccoon , and occasionally fox and coyote make their home there. In

3784-632: The Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club. Belmont Harbor provides 730 moorings, a fuel dock and a ship store. The Chicago Yacht Club has a Belmont station and the Belmont Yacht Club is located here. Diversey Harbor has 714 moorings and the Diversey Yacht Club provides a fueling dock. There is also a public launch at Diversey and the park also has rowing, sculling, and crewing channels. The Chicago Lakefront Trail (abbreviated as LFT)

3870-731: The Chicago History Museum (formerly the Chicago Historical Society) is dedicated to Chicago's human history. Perhaps among its most well-known possessions are Abraham Lincoln 's deathbed and several furniture pieces from the room where he died in the Petersen House in Washington, D.C. , as well as clothing he and wife Mary Todd Lincoln wore the evening of his assassination. The museum also houses Chicago's most important collection of materials related to local history from

3956-566: The Chicago River with deep cut of the Illinois & Michigan canal in 1871 and the construction of the Sanitary and Ship Canal at the start of the 20th century. The 1909 Burnham Plan led to development of the lakefront. Recreational development on the city lakefront became a priority due to the influence of Aaron Montgomery Ward . His belief that the public's access to the Lake left its impression on

4042-480: The Federal prison. Although the camp was located south of downtown Chicago, near the stockyards , the remains were originally interred at the site of today's Lincoln Park. Today, their gravesites may be found at Oak Woods Cemetery in the southern part of Chicago. A one-acre (4,000 m ) mass grave and a monument erected by Southerners and Chicago friends in 1895 memorializes these Southerners whose earthly remnants remain in

4128-926: The Great Chicago Fire to the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. In addition to the exhibits, the museum continues to house an extensive research library which includes books and other published materials, manuscripts, paintings, sculptures, and photos. Lincoln Park runs from north to south through five Chicago community areas: Edgewater , Uptown , Lake View , Lincoln Park , and Near North . Along its seven-mile (11 km) stretch, Lincoln Park has many specialized spaces for recreational activities. The Park contains playgrounds ; basketball , beach volleyball , tennis , volleyball courts, boating facilities; beaches ; swimming ; field and beach houses; running and bike paths; playing fields and pitches; archery, baseball , cricket, football , lacrosse , rugby , soccer , softball ;

4214-523: The LFT as the city's first official bike path. Over the years it grew in popularity. In 2017 and 2018 the Trail Separation Project sought to add capacity and increase safety by providing separation of bike and foot traffic lanes, utilizing both widened, dedicated lanes and in some areas newly constructed and separately dedicated path sections. An additional improvement was added with the construction of

4300-522: The Lincoln Park Conservancy and the Chicago Park District, which earned the site its historic designations, and renamed the site after Alfred Caldwell. The Lily Pool is open seasonally from mid-April to mid-November from 7:30 a.m. to the earlier of dusk or 7:30 p.m. every day. A docent program run by the Chicago Park District and Lincoln Park Conservancy offers free tours from 1–4 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and from 9 – Noon on Saturdays during operating season. First established in 1857,

4386-686: The Navy Pier Flyover, a dedicated bridge over the Chicago River . From Wacker Drive to Illinois Street the Lakefront Trail shared the pedestrian sidewalk on lower-level Lake Shore Drive . In order to reduce the conflicts between pedestrians and bicyclists, and avoid the very busy intersections at Illinois Street and Grand Avenue, the Chicago Department of Transportation started designing the Navy Pier Flyover in 2000. This bridge runs alongside

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4472-578: The North Side of Chicago , Illinois . Named after US President Abraham Lincoln , it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenue (5800 N) on the north, just north of the DuSable Lake Shore Drive terminus at Hollywood Avenue. Two museums and a zoo are located in the oldest part of the park between North Avenue (1600 N) and Diversey Parkway (2800 N) in

4558-531: The North. Author George Levy believes that remains of many of the Confederate prisoners are still to be found beneath what are currently baseball fields, the former site of the potter's field. From the 1860s through the 1950s the park expanded south and then north along seven miles (11 km) of Chicago's Lakefront. (See reference notes 1, 2 and 3). The establishment of public parkland along all of Chicago's Lakefront

4644-671: The Oak Street Beachstro and North Avenue's Castaways. It was part of the Park District's plan to add "more upscale concessions to the lakefront". Due to budget constraints, Chicago eliminated the traditional July 3 fireworks in Grant Park, instead opting for a scaled-down fireworks displays in three different locations in Chicago on the 4th of July. The north side display is held annually at Montrose Beach. 41°55′03″N 87°37′39″W  /  41.9175°N 87.6275°W  / 41.9175; -87.6275  ( North Avenue Beach ) The North Avenue Beach, located at 1600 North,

4730-427: The Oak Street Beachstro that is assembled every summer and dismantled at the end of the season. 41°53′37″N 87°36′45″W  /  41.8936°N 87.6125°W  / 41.8936; -87.6125  ( North Avenue Beach ) This beach, located in Lincoln Park adjacent to Addams Memorial Park and Olive Park, is just north of Ohio Street (600 N) east of Lake Shore Drive . It faces north, rather than

4816-516: The Tremont House in 1835. Couch is believed to not be the only person interred in the old burial ground in Lincoln Park. A plaque placed nearby states that "the remains of six Couch family members and one family friend are in the tomb." Partially due to the destruction of the Chicago Fire of wooden burial markers, it was difficult to identify many of the remains. As recently as 1998, construction in

4902-459: The United States in 1939, after her husband's death, she lived near the beach. 42°00′35″N 87°39′31″W  /  42.009605°N 87.658496°W  / 42.009605; -87.658496 North Sheridan Road and extending for eight blocks, Leone Beach is Chicago's largest. Contiguous with Leone/Loyola Beach located at 1050 West Pratt Boulevard. Formerly named Pratt Boulevard Beach, it

4988-570: The beach with poles for individuals and leagues to hang volleyball nets. These nets and this portion of the lakefront bike/running/blading path attract large numbers of people on weekends and weeknights. North Avenue is also center stage for the Chicago Air & Water Show , which draws over a million people a day from Ohio to Diversey along the lakefront. North Avenue Beach is the site of the annual AVP Chicago Open. The beach house resembles an ocean liner and contains bike and sports equipment rental,

5074-462: The cemetery sections of the park, and the plan required the removal of these graves to other newly opened cemeteries further from the city and lake. To this day, the Couch mausoleum can still be seen as the most visible reminder of the history as a cemetery, standing amidst trees, behind the Chicago History Museum . Ira Couch , who is interred in the tomb, was one of Chicago's earliest innkeepers, opening

5160-493: The city to extend the beach. Thus in 1914, the city ordered a 10-acre (40,000 m ) expansion to 63rd St. The South Park Commission architects came up with the plan to build the 63rd Street Pavilion . The construction was completed in 1919. The building historically provided showers, medical rooms, and bathrooms. Due to the building's age, it was restored in 2000. Today the pavilion is used by boaters, beach goers, and can be used for special events. There are three beach areas in

5246-426: The city. It was part of Lincoln Park’s final landfill extension completed in the 1950s between Foster Avenue and Ardmore Avenue. The design and planning for the extension started in 1947, with construction and fill beginning three years later. The work on the beach continued over the rest of the fifties, being concluded in 1958. The original beach house for the site, like the existing ones at Montrose and North Avenues,

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5332-472: The city." The idea was dropped during the Civil War, but revived by Dr. Rauch after the war ended. By 1864, the city council had decided to add all the 120-acre (0.49 km ) cemetery lands north of North Avenue to the park by relocating the graves. The cemetery sections south of North Avenue were also relocated but this land was left for residential development. An estimated 35,000 people total were buried in

5418-485: The development of Jackson , Burnham , Grant and Lincoln Parks . Continued popular support, led to the opening of several municipal beaches in the second decade of the 20th century. Modern beaches are formed from sand deposited by lake current, and occasionally inland sand excavated from nearby sand-pits left by the last ice age, or sand dredged from the lake bottom. Free Wi-Fi service at beaches city began in 2013. The far north Rogers Park neighborhood contains

5504-410: The first public bathing beach in 1895 in Lincoln Park primarily as a response to the efforts of the Free Bath and Sanitary League. Spaces were designated for public use and the city accepted responsibility for maintaining the beaches. By 1900 the lakefront was divided into zones of recreational, residential, agricultural and industrial uses. Lake Michigan water quality concerns lead to the reversal of

5590-404: The men convicted in the Haymarket affair bombing, can be seen just south of Diversey. This statue was created by Gutzon Borglum and unveiled on September 6 (Labor Day), 1915. The 1980 film My Bodyguard contains several scenes filmed in Lincoln Park. Phil Ochs' song "William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park and Escapes Unscathed", featured on his 1969 Rehearsals for Retirement album,

5676-440: The north to Jackson Park in the south, through the neighborhoods of Near South , Douglas , Oakland , Kenwood and Hyde Park . 41°51′48.53″N 87°36′26.97″W  /  41.8634806°N 87.6074917°W  / 41.8634806; -87.6074917 The 12th Street Beach is just south of the Adler Planetarium on Northerly Island (formerly the site of Meigs Field ). The beach runs from about 1300 S to about 1450 S, but

5762-429: The park also has tennis courts. After a January 2020 storm further eroded the shoreline, the Chicago Department of Transportation announced that riprap would replace the beach to stabilize the shoreline. Howard Beach lies in Howard Street Beach and Park at 7600 North, which is just south of Howard Street. It is perhaps 213 feet (65 m) long. Also to be deprecated as a result of the 2019-2020 lake erosion. Jarvis street

5848-432: The park revealed more bodies left over in the nineteenth century burial ground. Another large and notable group of graves relocated from the site of today's Lincoln Park were those of approximately 4,000 Confederate prisoners of war who died at Camp Douglas . Many prisoners perished between 1862 and 1865 as a result of the poor condition they were in when taken on the battlefield, or of disease and privation existing at

5934-407: The parks, there are 24 sand beaches along the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. Chicago's earliest sand beaches resulted naturally from capturing sand moved by the current south along the shoreline toward the Indiana Dunes , but these beaches were dynamic, shifted and eroded. When Chicago began building piers and other structures into the lake, large sandy beaches formed generally to the north of

6020-413: The path (listed from south to north) are the South Shore Cultural Center , the Museum of Science and Industry , McCormick Place , Soldier Field , Chicago's Museum Campus , Monroe Harbor, Navy Pier , Belmont Harbor, and the Waveland Clock Tower. The Lakefront Trail connects most of the Chicago beaches and three skate parks (31st Street, Grant Park, Wilson Avenue). Several dog parks are accessible from

6106-629: The shoreline as well as a modern playground for children. The park and beach was named for George A. Lane (1903-1974), a Chicago lawyer heavily involved in community development and politics. Lane also served as a faculty member at nearby Loyola University. Located at the 5800 North block where Lake Shore Drive ends at a curve that feeds into Sheridan Road (near Hollywood Avenue and North Lake Shore Drive; 41°59′11.51″N 87°39′9.38″W  /  41.9865306°N 87.6526056°W  / 41.9865306; -87.6526056 ) in Edgewater , this crescent-shaped beach serves two groups. The northern half

6192-406: The trail. Path maintenance is provided by the Chicago Park District . The Lakefront Trail is open 24 hours a day, but the parks and beaches along the path close at 11 PM. 41°52′58″N 87°36′52″W  /  41.88275°N 87.61433°W  / 41.88275; -87.61433 Lincoln Park (Chicago park) Lincoln Park is a 1,208-acre (489-hectare) park along Lake Michigan on

6278-532: The upper level of Lake Shore Drive from north of the Ohio Street Beach to Illinois Street, and then alongside the lower level of Lake Shore Drive as it crosses the Chicago River, with an exit in the middle serving Navy Pier and DuSable Park . Construction began in spring 2014 and was originally planned to be completed in 2018. The project experienced multiple delays, but was finished in May 2021. Some attractions along

6364-526: The usual east, because it formed on its own in a bay created by the Jardine Water Purification Plant which juts out into the Lake. Due to its unusual orientation, Ohio Street Beach serves as an ideal training site for open water swimming. One can swim north 0.5 miles (800 m) to the Oak Street curve without ever being more than a few feet from the seawall and shallow water. This is not

6450-458: The world. Today's conservatory was built in stages from 1890 to 1895. It consists of a vestibule, four display halls and fifteen propagating and growing houses. The vestibule and Palm House were built and opened to the public in 1892 and contain giant palms and rubber trees, including a 15 m (50 ft) fiddle-leaf rubber tree planted in 1891. In the Palm House, one can also find Garden Figure,

6536-545: Was a central tenet of the 1909 Burnham Plan for the development of Chicago. From 1912 until 1991, the park contained the Lincoln Park Gun Club . Another aspect of park history were the Young Lords Lincoln Park neighborhood sit ins and take-overs of institutions under the leadership of Jose Cha Cha Jimenez , protesting the displacement of Latinos by Mayor Richard J. Daley 's urban renewal policies. It

6622-472: Was also the only place in the city where SCUBA divers could dive close to the shore. The north ledge was once a hot spot for the city's gay community, and still is a second home to thousands of sunbathers, runners, skaters and bikers. At one point Oak Street was the city's most popular beach with its proximity to downtown and boasted tens of thousands of visitors each day. Oak Street Beach is also home to Chicago's only chess pavilion and an outdoor restaurant called

6708-629: Was also the scene of violent events that took place during the 1968 Democratic National Convention . These events transpired around the convention center, Grant Park, Old Town , and the park. I pointed out that it was in the best interests of the City to have us in Lincoln Park ten miles (16 km) away from the Convention hall. I said we had no intention of marching on the Convention hall, that I didn't particularly think that politics in America could be changed by marches and rallies, that what we were presenting

6794-661: Was an alternative life style, and we hoped that people of Chicago would come up, and mingle in Lincoln Park and see what we were about. Lincoln Park is well known for the Lincoln Park Zoo, a free zoo that is open year-round. Lincoln Park Zoo is home to a wide variety of animals. It includes big cats , penguins , gorillas , reptiles , monkeys , and other species totaling to nearly 1,250 animals. Two sections of Lincoln Park Zoo have been set aside for children. The partially indoor Pritzker Family Children's Zoo includes habitats of various North American wildlife. The Farm-in-the-Zoo

6880-491: Was buried in City Cemetery. Another notable burial in the cemetery was Chicago Mayor James Curtiss , whose body was lost when the cemetery was added to the park. Throughout the late 1850s, there was discussion of closing the cemetery or abandoning it because of health concerns. In fall 1858, Dr. John H. Rauch MD suggested that the burial grounds were a health risk, which "might serve extremely well for plantations of grove and forest trees" that would be "useful and ornamental to

6966-465: Was designed by E.V Buchsbaum. It was constructed sometime in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A new beach house with improved amenities was constructed in the 1990s. Montrose beach is Chicago's largest beach. It is located in Uptown . It also houses the most parking of any beach in Chicago. It is one of few beaches where patrons may launch non-motorized watercraft, such as kayaks and catamarans, into Lake Michigan. It also has one of only two dog beaches in

7052-601: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark on February 17, 2006. The Lily Pool had originally been built to cultivate tropical water lilies in 1889. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration hired landscape architect Alfred Caldwell to redesign the pool in the Prairie School style. From 1998 to 2002, the Lily Pool underwent an extensive restoration by

7138-473: Was modeled after the North Avenue Beach house and looks like a lake steamer. Unfortunately, in the 1950s, the east wing of the beach house burned in a fire and was not rebuilt. The beach house was remodeled with a 3,000-square-foot (280 m ) patio deck, and houses what was at the time of its construction, the third full-service restaurant on a Chicago beach, named "The Dock at Montrose Beach", following

7224-411: Was much more prevalent throughout the river sections of the waterfront system early in the 19th century before industrial uses altered the landscape. By midcentury, much leisure shifted to Lake Michigan. The first City of Chicago Public Beach opened in Lincoln Park in 1895. Today, the entire 28 miles (45 km) Chicago lakefront shoreline is reclaimed land , and primarily used for public parks. In

7310-636: Was named 12th Street Beach rather than (unlucky) 13th Street Beach. When 12th Street was renamed Roosevelt Road the beach retained its name, but now is sometimes called 14th Street Beach. There is also open water swimming that is great for triathletes or avid open water swimmers. The beach has bathrooms, a concession stand, and a lifeguard station. No longer extant, of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 . 41°50′20.75″N 87°36′22.49″W  /  41.8390972°N 87.6062472°W  / 41.8390972; -87.6062472 The Margaret Taylor Burroughs Beach

7396-415: Was renamed for local neighborhood activist Tobey Prinz by the Chicago Park District in 2014. There is a fishing pier and during the fall it is possible to catch salmon. Also known as Albion Beach, contiguous with North Shore Beach, located at 6600 North, ends just north of Loyola Avenue. Named for former 49th Ward Alderman David L. Hartigan. Columbia Beach is located at 6726 North. North Shore Beach

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