Streeterville is a
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...
in the
Near North Side community area of
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, United States, north of the
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
. It is bounded by the river on the south, the
Magnificent Mile
The Magnificent Mile (sometimes locally abbreviated to the Mag Mile) is the approximately one-mile-long stretch of Michigan Avenue (Chicago), Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River to Oak Street (Chicago), Oak Street on the Near North Side ...
portion of
Michigan Avenue on the west, and
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
on the north and east, according to most sources, although the city of Chicago recognizes only a small portion of this region as Streeterville. Thus, it can be described as the Magnificent Mile plus all land east of it. The tourist attraction of
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of shops, restaura ...
and
Ohio Street Beach
Ohio Street Beach is an urban beach in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. It faces north.
In Lonely Planet's 2022 list of the nine "best beaches in Chicago for a taste of the lake life", Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu said Ohio Street Beach was ...
extend out into the lake from southern Streeterville.
To the north, the
East Lake Shore Drive District, where the Drive curves around the shoreline, may be considered an extension of the
Gold Coast. The majority of the land in this neighborhood is reclaimed
sandbar
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or ...
.
[
Named for George Streeter, the neighborhood contains a combination of hotels, restaurants, professional office centers, residential high rises, universities, medical facilities, and cultural venues.] The area has undergone increased development in the early 21st century as numerous empty lots in Streeterville have been converted into commercial and residential properties, especially in the southern part of the neighborhood.[ The neighborhood had earlier experienced booms following ]World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.[
]
History
Before the American settlement of the Chicago area, the lake shoreline fluctuated from year to year as storm waves eroded
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is disti ...
parts of the shore and built up the shore elsewhere. By 1803, when American troops started the construction of Fort Dearborn, a baymouth bar
In Russian geomorphology, a peresyp (), also known as a bay-mouth bar is a narrow sandbar that rises above the water level (like a spit (landform), spit) and separates a liman (landform), liman or a lagoon from the sea. Unlike tombolo bars, a ''p ...
blocked the mouth of the river causing it to jog southwards and enter Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
at about the level of present-day Madison Street. When surveyed in 1821 the Lake Michigan shoreline north of the river ran approximately along what is now North Saint Clair Street, just to the east of what is now Michigan Avenue. In 1834, after a number of failed attempts to cut through the sandbar at the mouth of the river, a pier
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
was built to protect a channel cut through the bar. Silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...
and sand accumulated north of this pier, creating usable land that was later nicknamed "The Sands". Squatter
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...
s and a vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
district encroached on the district, causing angst among the property owners. In 1857, Chicago Mayor John Wentworth evicted these trespassers from the land.[
]
In the late 1880s, George Streeter claimed that his newly acquired boat struck a sandbar just off the Chicago shoreline during a storm.[Salzmann, Joshua,''Journal of Illinois History'', Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Autumn 2006, pg.201 Vol. 9 Number 3] Landfill dumped in an effort to create land on which to build Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive; also known as DuSable Lake Shore Drive, the Outer Drive, the Drive, LSD or DLSD) is a semi-limited access Limited-access highway, expressway that runs alongside the sh ...
by the Lincoln Park Board created of new land along the lake front, which Streeter attempted to claim. Streeter claimed that this newly created land was his and that it was an independent territory which he called the District of Lake Michigan.
For the next few decades, Streeter persisted in his claims, sometimes supporting them through criminal means. A witness in Streeter's 1902 land fraud trial testified that Streeter had purposely set out to contest the claims of the wealthy shoreline owners. Contractor Hank Brusser told the court that Streeter asked him to fill in portions of the shoreline in order to create confusion over land titles. According to Brusser, Streeter said that: "They he owners of the shorelinewill have to buy us off" and that "We'll get a million out of it".[Clash in Streeter Trial, ''The Chicago Tribune'', page 7 column 3, July 10, 1902] Streeter was also motivated by the profit he gained by selling and taxing the land he claimed.[True Bills for Capt. Streeter, ''The Chicago Tribune'', page 3 column 1, February 1, 1902]
The local press became enamored with the story of Streeter's brash personality and his self-proclaimed district.[ Mayor William Hale Thompson tried to evict the Streeters for selling liquor,] and after several eviction attempts and gun battles, Streeter landed in jail.[ In 1918, the courts ruled against his claim of sovereignty.][ Today, the district is home to some of the most expensive real estate in Chicago.
]
The 1920 opening of the Michigan Avenue Bridge
The DuSable Bridge (formerly the Michigan Avenue Bridge) is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue (Chicago), Michigan Avenue across the main stem of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. The bridge was proposed ...
, which was part of the efforts to enact the Burnham Plan
The Burnham Plan is a popular name for the 1909 ''Plan of Chicago'' coauthored by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett and published in 1909. It recommended an integrated series of projects including new and widened streets, parks, new railro ...
of 1909, as well as the economic boom of the 1920s,[ brought wealth to the eastern sector of the Near North Side and paved the way for a luxury shopping district on North Michigan Avenue. Investors built high-rise apartment buildings such as those in the East Lake Shore Drive Historic District, and elaborate hotels.][ The Bridge connected to a North Michigan avenue that served as a replacement for the former Pine Street which hosted warehouses and factory buildings near the river, and large mansions and rowhouses in northward sections in the neighborhoods of McCormickville and Streeterville.] Magnificent Mile architecture during the economic boom of the 1920s emphasized historicist
Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...
architectural styles such as Beaux-Arts classicism, Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
, and vertical-style modernism
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
. The buildings redefined the Chicago skyline with stylistic variation that gave new meaning to urban context and design compatibility.[
A post-World War II construction surge occurred in the area,][ and in the 1950s the city pursued a plan of urban renewal. A local real estate developer named Arthur Rubloff led the revitalization of North Michigan Avenue under the banner of “The ]Magnificent Mile
The Magnificent Mile (sometimes locally abbreviated to the Mag Mile) is the approximately one-mile-long stretch of Michigan Avenue (Chicago), Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River to Oak Street (Chicago), Oak Street on the Near North Side ...
”. The success of this effort spurred the erection of more high-rise apartments and new investment in the Near North Side.[ This development led to the "canyonization" of Michigan Avenue, where the buildings on both sides of the street tower above, creating an " urban canyon".
]
Today
While Streeterville is generally bounded on the west by the Magnificent Mile, the city of Chicago and the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents, claim the boundary extends one block further to the west to Rush Street. Streeterville includes some of Chicago's tallest skyscrapers
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...
, such as the John Hancock Center, and upscale stores, hotels, and restaurants.
Although its main campus is in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...
, Northwestern University has its Chicago campus here. The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is on the Chicago campus and is adjacent to several closely affiliated hospitals, including Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located on Northwestern University's Campus of Northwestern University, Chicago campus in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship campus for Nort ...
, the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, the Prentice Women's Hospital, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. The Prentice Women's Hospital opened in October 2007, and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago opened in June 2012.[ The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is located in Streeterville and construction of a replacement facility, also in Streeterville, was begun in 2013. The ]Northwestern University School of Professional Studies
Northwestern University (NU) is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest chartered university in Illinois.
Chartered by the Illinois ...
and part of its Kellogg School of Management
The Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management (branded as Northwestern Kellogg) is the graduate business school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois.
History
Early ...
are nearby. The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is at Chicago Avenue and Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive; also known as DuSable Lake Shore Drive, the Outer Drive, the Drive, LSD or DLSD) is a semi-limited access Limited-access highway, expressway that runs alongside the sh ...
, adjacent to Lake Shore Park and Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
. In the western end of the park is the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
. The downtown campus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (branded as Chicago Booth) is the graduate business school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1898, Chicago Booth is the second-oldest ...
has a Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
setting to the south.[ The east side of the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue is part of Streeterville, as are ]Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of shops, restaura ...
, the most visited attraction in Chicago, and the John Hancock Observatory, the eighth-most visited attraction in Chicago.
The area east of Michigan Avenue and north of the Chicago River had a split personality for much of the 20th century - the northern portion upscale residential, retail, and university uses and the area near the Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
and Navy Pier dedicated to shipping and factories. At the end of the 1960s, however, residential complexes such as Lake Point Tower (1965) and McClurg Court Center (1971) began to appear among the warehouses and by the end of the century, residential and retail dominated the entire area. The neighborhood now has a reputation as part of an upscale residential strip that balances the more industrial western portion of the Near North Side.[
In 2007, construction started on what would have been Chicago's tallest skyscraper, the Chicago Spire. It was to be located in the southeastern corner of the neighborhood, next to ]Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive; also known as DuSable Lake Shore Drive, the Outer Drive, the Drive, LSD or DLSD) is a semi-limited access Limited-access highway, expressway that runs alongside the sh ...
. The Chicago Spire was originally supposed to be completed in 2010, but was later cancelled.
In the early 21st century, much of the southern part of the neighborhood that had previously contained warehouses and empty lots has undergone development,[ including the River East Center east of Columbus Drive. The River East Art Center serves as the primary retail hub apart from the Magnificent Mile.][ South Streeterville currently has numerous skyscrapers that are either proposed or already under construction such as a new tower at InterContinental Chicago and 500 North Lake Shore.
Streeterville hosts several landmarks and places that have been designated as historic districts. The East Lake Shore Drive Historic District, which consists of a row of early 20th century luxury apartments, sits on the northern edge of the district opposite Lake Michigan. The Old Chicago Water Tower District is located along Michigan Avenue where Streeterville meets the border of the River North and Gold Coast (Chicago) neighborhoods at Chicago Avenue. The Water Tower District contains the only public buildings that survived the ]1871 Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...
. Also, part of the Michigan–Wacker Historic District lies within Streeterville at the southern end of the Magnificent Mile and contains numerous high rises and skyscrapers built in the 1920s.[Wagner, Robert. (February 3, 1978]
National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Michigan–Wacker Historic District
, National Park Service, p.11
The neighborhood hosts several individual landmarks. The neighborhood hosts a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
, the
Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite
The Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite is the location where, around the 1780s, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable located his home and extensive trading post. This home is generally considered to be the first permanent, non-native, residence in Ch ...
, the home of the first non-Native, husband of a Native woman, in Chicago. Properties in the neighborhood listed in the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
include 257 East Delaware, the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments, the Drake Hotel, the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, the Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of shops, restaura ...
and the Palmolive Building. Other Chicago Landmarks in the neighborhood include Allerton Hotel, McGraw-Hill Building, Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton Office and Studio, Tribune Tower, and the Woman's Athletic Club. Notable buildings in the district include the skyscrapers on the Magnificent Mile:
: John Hancock Center ()
: 900 North Michigan ()
: Water Tower Place ()
: Park Tower ()
: Olympia Centre ()
: One Magnificent Mile ()
: Chicago Place ()
: Palmolive Building ().
Non-Michigan Avenue skyscrapers in the neighborhood include the following:
: Lake Point Tower ()
: River East Center ()
: North Pier Apartments ()
: Onterie Center ()
: Elysées Condominiums ()
: 401 East Ontario ()
: The Streeter ()
: Streeter Place ()
: 400 East Ohio Street ().
: One Bennett Park (837 feet (255 m))
Some of the notable buildings in the district that have not been designated are Wrigley Building
The Wrigley Building is a skyscraper located at 400–410 North Michigan Avenue on Chicago's Near North Side. It is located on the Magnificent Mile directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower. Its two towers in an elaborate style ...
and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
.
The neighborhood hosts more than 25 hotels, including the only three five star hotels in the Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
, the Ritz Carlton, The Peninsula Hotel, and the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago as well as the historic Drake Hotel. Two of these host the highest rated spas in Illinois.
Economy
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (, ''al-Qaṭariyya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, flying to over 170 internatio ...
operates an office in Suite 1310 at the John Hancock Center.
Playboy Enterprises' offices were on the 15th and 16th floors of 680 N. Lake Shore Drive until 2012.
Several consulates are in Streeterville. Countries with consulates include Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
, and Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.
Education
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
(CPS) operates public schools. Ogden International School
Ogden International School of Chicago is a public K-12 school in Chicago, Illinois founded in 1857. It is a part of Chicago Public Schools (CPS). It maintains three campuses: East Campus with elementary grades, Jenner Campus with middle school a ...
serves the community, for grades K-8. Streeterville residents are zoned to Wells Community Academy High School. Any graduate from Ogden's 8th grade program may automatically move on to the 9th grade at Ogden, but students who did not graduate from Ogden's middle school must apply to the high school.
Transportation
Streeterville is accessible via Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive; also known as DuSable Lake Shore Drive, the Outer Drive, the Drive, LSD or DLSD) is a semi-limited access Limited-access highway, expressway that runs alongside the sh ...
with multiple direct exits in both directions.[ In addition, the Chicago 'L' has stops at ]Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and Grand stations on the Red Line, which runs along State Street immediately to the west of the neighborhood. From the Kennedy Expressway the Ohio Street exit feeds into Streeterville.[ Numerous ]Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...
bus routes run within the neighborhood, notably along Michigan Avenue, Grand Avenue, and Chicago Avenue. During warm-weather months, water taxis and sightseeing boats ply the Chicago River along the south edge of the neighborhood and Navy Pier handles similar Lake Michigan water traffic.
Healthcare
The Streeterville neighborhood also contains many healthcare facilities that are based around the Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Feinberg's main hospital is the Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located on Northwestern University's Campus of Northwestern University, Chicago campus in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship campus for Nort ...
with a variety of specialty hospitals also in the neighborhood including the Prentice Women's Hospital, Lurie Children's Hospital, and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. In addition to the hospital buildings, the neighborhood contains a variety of medical research buildings that supplement patient care at the hospitals.
See also
* Centennial Fountain
*List of tallest buildings in Chicago
Chicago, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States, is home to 1,397 completed high-rises, 56 of which stand taller than . The tallest building in the city is the 110-Storey, story Willi ...
* Cap Streeter
Notes
External links
*
{{Coord, 41.893828, -87.619743, display=title
Central Chicago
Neighborhoods in Chicago
Populated places established in 1834
1834 establishments in Illinois