Chicago Landmark is a designation by the
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
and the
City Council of Chicago for historic sites in
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 ...
, Illinois. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural, and social values. Once a site is designated as a landmark, it is subject to the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance, which requires that any alterations beyond routine maintenance, up to and including demolition, must have their
permit reviewed by the
Landmarks Commission. Many Chicago Landmarks are also listed on 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 ...
, providing federal tax support for preservation, and some are further designated
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 ...
s, providing additional federal oversight.
Criteria
The Mayor and the City Council appoint a nine-member
Commission on Chicago Landmarks
In-Commission or commissioning may refer to:
Business and contracting
* Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered
** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...
to develop landmark recommendations in accordance with a 1968 Chicago city ordinance.
The commission considers areas,
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
, places, buildings, structures, works of art, and other objects within the City of Chicago for nomination based solely on whether each meets two or more of the following criteria:
# Its value as an example of the architectural, cultural, economical, historical, social, or other aspect of the
heritage
Heritage may refer to:
History and society
* A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...
of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or the United States;
# Its location as a site of a significant historic event which may or may not have taken place within or involved the use of any existing improvements;
# Its identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect of the development of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or the United States;
# Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials or craftsmanship;
# Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States;
# Its representation of an architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other theme expressed through distinctive areas, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art, or other objects that may or may not be contiguous;
# Its unique location or distinctive physical appearance or presence representing an established and familiar visual feature of 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 ...
,
community
A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
, or the City of Chicago.
Once the commission has determined that a candidate meets at least two of the above criteria, the group may provide a preliminary landmark designation if the candidate "has a significant historic, community, architectural or aesthetic interest or value, the integrity of which is preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and ability to express such historic, community, architectural or aesthetic interest or value."
History
In Chicago, the
historic preservation
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...
movement initially sought to ensure the survival of individual buildings of special significance.
However, the movement has evolved to include districts and neighborhoods and even encompasses distinctive areas of the natural environment.
Preservation is now an integral element of
urban planning
Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
and design.
Three trends led to popular support of the formalization of the movement in response to extensive and far reaching destruction of Chicago's environment:
# government-sponsored "
urban renewal
Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...
", which had resulted in destruction of some residential areas;
# construction of high-speed, limited-access
expressways financed largely by
federal highway funds, which divided neighborhoods; and
# the
real estate boom in response to the demand for increased office space in the Loop.
In 1957,
Leon Despres (
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
alderman from the
5th ward) began the landmark preservation movement in Chicago, by adopting the
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
Robie House
The Robie House (also the Frederick C. Robie House) is a historic house museum on the campus of the University of Chicago in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Designed by the architect Frank Llo ...
.
This led to the formation of the City Landmarks Commission, who chose 39 buildings as "honorary" landmarks.
That body evolved into the present Commission on Chicago Landmarks which was empowered by Despres's 1968 city ordinance to select and protect 12 important buildings as the inaugural official Chicago Landmarks.
Although the movement was unable to save either
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...
's Garrick Theater in 1960 or Sullivan's ''Chicago Stock Exchange Building'' in 1972, the efforts spawned the
Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois in addition to the municipal Commission.
National recognition
Many landmarks have been designated with
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 ...
status by the
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...
for historical significance. All of those and a number of other districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation have been listed on 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 ...
. Not all Chicago Landmarks have been listed on the National Register, and not all Registered Historic Places (not even all of those that are further designated National Historic Landmarks) have been designated Chicago Landmarks. No Chicago Landmarks are classified as any other type of National Park System protected area including
National Parks
A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
,
National Monuments, or
National Preserves. The charts below detail these designations for the city of Chicago-designated sites and the National Historic Landmarks.
List of landmarks
For consistency, the list below uses the name from the Chicago Landmark website. Neighborhood names and boundaries are consistent with the
Community areas in Chicago
The city of Chicago is divided into 77 community areas for statistical and planning purposes. Census data and other statistics are tied to the areas, which serve as the basis for a variety of urban planning initiatives on both the local and re ...
.
Registered Historic Places and Landmarks not designated Chicago Landmarks
As noted in the list above, there are many places that are designated as City landmarks but they have not been nationally registered. There are also approximately 200 nationally Registered Historic Places in Chicago that are not also designated Chicago Landmarks.
[Estimate of approximately 200 RHPs in Chicago not also designated as Chicago Landmarks derived as follows: There are 296 RHPs in Chicago, and there are approximately or exactly 107 sites identified in this article as being RHPs. That yields 296–107 = 189. As this list-article is an incomplete list of Chicago Landmarks, missing perhaps one or two dozen, it is possible that the number of RHPs not designated landmarks is somewhat lower than 189, but the total would still round to 200.] Of these, 13 are further designated as U.S.
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 ...
s:
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Central Chicago
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in North Side Chicago
*
*
References
;Notes
External links
City of Chicago: Chicago Landmarks Listings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Landmarks
Landmarks
*
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 ...
Lists of landmarks
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 ...