Page 94 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Chicago
P. 94
92 CHIC A GO AREA B Y AREA
q John G. Shedd
Aquarium
See pp98–9.
w Adler Planetarium
See pp94–5.
e Prairie Avenue
Historic District
Prairie Ave., from 18th to Cullerton sts.
Map 6 D1. q Cermak-Chinatown
then bus 21. 8 Jul–Sep: 2pm
2nd & 4th Sun; call (312) 326-
1480. & The imposing Richardsonian Romanesque façade of Glessner House
When the city of Chicago (plaques along Prairie Avenue r Glessner House
was incorporated in 1837, mark the sites of demolished 1800 S Prairie Ave. Map 6 D1.
the area now known as the houses), but those that remain Tel (312) 326-1480. q Cermak-
Prairie Avenue Historic District offer a glimpse into its Chinatown. 8 mandatory: 1pm, 3pm
was not much more than a 19th-century splendor. Wed–Sun (except public hols). &
strip of sandy prairie bordering Along with Glessner House, (free Wed). = Lectures.
Lake Michigan. Its fortunes highlights of the district ∑ glessnerhouse.org
changed dramatically when include the Kimball House
the 1871 fire destroyed the (No. 1801). This mansion, The only extant residential
city center. Chicago’s wealthy, designed by Solon Spencer design in Chicago by Boston
including George Pullman Beman in 1890, is one of architect Henry Hobson
(see p121) and Marshall Field the best remaining examples Richardson, whose signature
(see p79), moved to the Near in the US of the Chateauesque style became known as
South Side, building their style. Clarke House, the Richardsonian Romanesque
grand mansions along Prairie oldest house in Chicago, (see p28), Glessner House
Avenue. It remained a mecca was moved to its current helped change the face of
for the city’s socialites until location on Indiana Avenue in residential architecture.
the late 1800s and early 1900s, 1977 to provide an additional Commissioned by farm-
when the rapidly growing attraction for the district. machinery manufacturer John
Gold Coast area superseded Elbridge G. Keith House J. Glessner and his wife, Frances,
Prairie Avenue as the address (No. 1900) is the oldest extant in 1885 and completed in
of choice. Many mansion on Prairie Avenue. 1887, the two-story house
mansions fell to Built in 1870, it was designed by represented a radical departure
the wrecker’s ball John W. Roberts in the Italianate from traditional design and
style (see p28). created a furor in the exclusive
At 1936 South Michigan Prairie Avenue neighborhood.
Avenue is the magnificent George Pullman is said to have
neo-Gothic Second proclaimed: “I do not know
Presbyterian Church, what I have ever done to have
designed by James that thing staring me in the
Renwick in 1874. face every time I go out of
Inside are 22 stained- my door.”
glass windows by A fortress-like building
Louis C. Tiffany and of rough-hewn pinkish gray
2 windows painted granite with three modified
by British Pre-Raphaelite turrets, the house dominates
artist Edward its corner site. The main
Burne-Jones. rooms and many of the large
The district windows face a southern
is reputedly close courtyard. The striking
to the site of a grim simplicity of the design is
event: the 1812 perhaps best reflected in the
massacre of settlers main entrance arch, which
fleeing Fort Dearborn frames a heavy oak door
Elbridge G. Keith House on Prairie Avenue (see p17). ornamented with grillwork.
092-093_EW_Chicago.indd 92 13/07/16 2:59 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.6)
Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm
