Mid West to Eastern Cities Amtrak Tour – Chicago Grant Park

Grant Park is a large urban park (319 acres) in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Located within the city’s central business district, the park’s features include, Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum Campus. Originally known as Lake Park, and dating from the city’s founding, it was renamed in 1901 to honor US President Ulysses S. Grant. The park’s area has been expanded several times through land reclamation, and was the focus of several disputes in the late 19th century and early 20th century over open space use. It is bordered on the north by Randolph Street, on the south by Roosevelt Road and McFetridge Drive, on the west by Michigan Avenue and on the east by Lake Michigan. The park contains performance venues, gardens, art work, sporting, and harbor facilities. It hosts public gatherings and several large annual events. Grant Park is popularly referred to as “Chicago’s front yard”. It is governed by the Chicago Park District.

Events

The park has been the site of many large civic events. It served as the staging ground for the city’s funeral procession for President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. In 1911, the park hosted the major Chicago International Aviation Meet. In 1913 the AAU held the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In 1959, to celebrate the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway and a related International Trade Fair, Queen Elizabeth II, disembarked here from the Royal Yacht Britannia, giving the park’s “Queen’s Landing” its name. The park was the scene of clashes between Chicago Police and demonstrators during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Pope John Paul II celebrated an outdoor mass to a large crowd here in 1979. Championship celebrations were staged here for the Chicago Bulls during the 1990s, and the Chicago Blackhawks after winning the Stanley Cup in 2013. The park was the location for President Barack Obama’s Election Day victory speech on the night of November 4, 2008. In 2015, Grant Park hosted the first outdoor National Football League (NFL) draft and a related festival. The Chicago Cubs held their rally for their World Series Championship win on November 4, 2016 with an estimated 5 million people attending the parade and event.

The park annually hosts some of Chicago’s biggest festivals, including The Taste of Chicago—a large food and music festival held each summer; the Grant Park Music Festival; the Chicago Jazz Festival; the Chicago Blues Festival; and Lollapalooza, a festival of rock concerts. The park is also the site of the start and finish lines of the Chicago Marathon.

Features

With 319 acres between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, Grant Park offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks. While bridges are used to span the tracks, and to connect with Millennium Park, the rest of the park must be reached by pedestrians at traffic crossings, except for a spacious underpass connection to the Museum Campus. There are also several parking garages under the park, along Michigan Avenue and east of Columbus Drive.

When the park was landscaped in the early 20th century in a formal beaux arts style, tall American Elms were planted in allées and rectangular patterns. While hundreds of these trees still exist, reaching 60 feet (18 m) tall, they were devastated in the late 1970s by Dutch elm disease. Hybrid elms have since been used to replace those lost.

The following photos and descriptions cover many of the park’s features. Extensive coverage of the Chicago Blues Festival is provided on my Earlyblues.com website – for 2010 here and for 2016 here.

The Art Institute of Chicago

Adorned Statue celebrating 2010 Stanley Cup Championship

The 2010 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) 2009–10 season, and the culmination of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks and the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers. It was Chicago’s eleventh appearance in the Final and their first since 1992, a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was Philadelphia’s eighth appearance in the Final and their first since 1997, a loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Chicago defeated Philadelphia four games to two to win their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.