Dearborn Street is a street in Chicago, where it is 36 W in its grid system. It is the street immediately to the west of State Street, the city's north–south baseline. Dearborn Street appears on James Thompson's 1830

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

of Chicago, and was named for being the closest named north–south street to

Fort Dearborn Fort Dearborn was a United States fort, first built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by U.S. troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secre ...

Route description

South suburbs and the South Side

Dearborn Street begins as a residential street at 155th Place in South Holland near

South Suburban College South Suburban College is a public community college in South Holland, Illinois. It has a second campus in Oak Forest, Illinois. History South Suburban College was founded in 1927 as Thornton Junior College. At that time, the college was an ext ...

. Segments of Dearborn Street throughout the south suburbs and South Side neighborhoods are disjointed residential streets. Dearborn Street noticeably shifts westward by a few blocks north of Sibley Boulevard. Dearborn Street returns in the

West Pullman West Pullman is a neighborhood located on the far south side of the city of Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago. The neighborhood was initially inhabited by workers of the Pullman Train Company looking t ...

neighborhood in Chicago; however, it goes by the name "Lafayette Avenue" throughout most of the South Side. Lafayette Avenue serves as a southbound frontage road for I-94 (

Dan Ryan Expressway The Dan Ryan Expressway, often called "the Dan Ryan" by locals, is an expressway in Chicago that runs from the Jane Byrne Interchange with Interstate 290 (I-290) near downtown Chicago through the South Side of the city. It is designated ...

) between 98th Place and 66th Street. Lafayette Avenue becomes Dearborn Street again north of Garfield Boulevard. Dearborn Street gets interrupted due to areas occupied or once occupied by public housing projects (

Robert Taylor Homes Robert Taylor Homes was a public housing project located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. Constructed in 1962 and demolished by 2007, it was the largest housing project in the United States. The developme ...

Stateway Gardens Stateway Gardens was a Chicago Housing Authority, Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) public housing Public housing in the United States, project in the Douglas, Chicago#Bronzeville, Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side (Chicago), South Side of ...

, Dearborn Homes,

Harold L. Ickes Homes Harold L. Ickes Homes was a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) public housing project on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was bordered between Cermak Road to the north, 24th Place to the south, State Street to the east ...

, and

Hilliard Towers Apartments Hilliard Towers Apartments, formerly known as the Raymond Hilliard Homes CHA housing project, is a residential high-rise development in the near South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was designed by Bertrand Goldberg and is bounded by Clark Stre ...

) as well as the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

campus.

Downtown area

Dearborn Street also gets interrupted by

Dearborn Park Dearborn Park is a residential Chicago neighborhood located in the Chicago Loop, Loop and Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side Community areas of Chicago, community areas of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United Sta ...

, a residential area that occupies the now-demolished railyard for

Dearborn Station Dearborn Station (also called, Polk Street Depot) was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at Dearbo ...

. Dearborn Street resumes at Polk Street directly north of the preserved station building. Although Dearborn Street is a one-way road serving northbound vehicular traffic, it hosts a two-way north-south bikeway through downtown from Polk Street to Kinzie Street. The

Dearborn Street Bridge The Dearborn Street Bridge over the Chicago River was built in 1962. It connects the Near North Side with " The Loop." The American Institute of Steel Construction The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is a not-for-profit ...

carries the street across 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 ...

. Dearborn Street becomes a two-way road after passing

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. The park is operated by the New York City Department o ...

before ending at North Boulevard south of Lincoln Park.

Transportation

Although there is not a bus route dedicated to Dearborn Street, plenty of bus routes run along Dearborn Street, particularly in downtown and the Near North Side neighborhood. CTA bus routes 22, 24, 36, 62, 70, and 151, as well as Pace bus routes 850, 851, and 855 all run along Dearborn Street at some point. In the South Side, CTA bus route 75 runs south along Lafayette Avenue to serve

79th station 79th is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line. The station is located in the median of the Dan Ryan Expressway The Dan Ryan Expressway, often called "the Dan Ryan" by locals ...

on the Red Line. Because State Street is a frontage road serving northbound traffic, southbound bus route 29 runs along Lafayette Avenue. The Milwaukee-Dearborn subway underlies the street downtown.

Notes

External links

References

Streets in Chicago {{Chicago-stub