Sheridan Road is a major north-south street that leads from Diversey Parkway in

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 ...

, north to the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

border and beyond to Racine. Throughout most of its run, it is the easternmost north-south through street, closest to

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 ...

. From Chicago, it passes through Chicago's wealthy lakeside North Shore suburbs, and then

Waukegan Waukegan ( ) is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Chicago, Waukegan is a satellite city within the greater Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its popu ...

and

Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...

, until it reaches the Illinois-Wisconsin state line in Winthrop Harbor. In Wisconsin, the road leads north through Pleasant Prairie and Kenosha, until it ends on the south side of Racine, in Mount Pleasant. From North Chicago to the state line, Sheridan Road is signed as part of Illinois Route 137 in Illinois, and

Wisconsin Highway 32 State Trunk Highway 32 (often called Highway 32, STH-32 or WIS 32) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Wisconsin that runs north–south in the eastern part of the state. It runs from the Illinois border (at Illinois Route 137) north to the ...

through Kenosha and Racine in Wisconsin. Sheridan Road is known for its historic sites, lakefront parks, and gracious mansion homes in Evanston through Lake Bluff.

Chicago path

* It runs at 400 west from 2800 north (Diversey Parkway) to 3181 north (Belmont Avenue). * It runs at 3900 north from 600 (Lake Shore Drive) west to 956 west (Sheffield Avenue). * It runs at 1000 west from 3900 north (Byron Street) to 6356 north. * It runs at 6400 north from 970 west to 1158 west (Broadway). * It runs at 1200 west from 6400 north (Broadway/Devon Avenue) to 6756 north (Pratt Boulevard). * It runs from 1200 west at 6800 north to 1400 west at 7800 north (northern city limit).

History

A suburban extension of Chicago's

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 ...

to Waukegan was first promoted by the North Shore Improvement Association in the late 1880s. In 1889 this road was named ''Sheridan Road'' for Philip Henry Sheridan, a general in the Civil War who coordinated military relief efforts in Chicago following the

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 ...

. Much of the route had been laid out by 1893, and in 1894 it was proposed that the new road should be extended to

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, Wisconsin. Progress on the construction of the road was slowed by local opposition in some of the communities that it was to pass through, and construction was not completed until 1918. A statue of Sheridan by artist

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculpture, sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Moun ...

was placed alongside Sheridan Road and Belmont Avenue in Chicago's Lincoln Park in 1924. Sheridan Road in Illinois was signed as Illinois Route 42 in 1924; the original route ran along Sheridan Road from the Wisconsin border to Waukegan, then turned west along Washington Street, south along Green Bay Road (now part of IL 131), east along Rockland Road (now part of IL 176) before running south along Waukegan Road (now mostly part of IL 43). In 1925, Route 42 was realigned to include all of Sheridan Road in Illinois; the route continued south to the Indiana border at Hammond, and the old route became Illinois Route 42A. In 1929, the southern terminus of Route 42 was changed to the south end of Sheridan Road as US 41 supplanted the southern part of the route. This made the route coextensive with the Illinois portion of Sheridan Road. In 1930, Wisconsin Highway 42 was designated along the road in Wisconsin. In 1951, the WIS 42 designation was replaced by a WIS 32 one. Throughout the 1960s, much of the road was rebuilt with the construction of Interstate 43. Route 42 was removed from the state highway system in 1972. In 1974, as part of the Amstutz Expressway's construction, the road was narrowed to two lanes and an overpass built in Waukegan. The road was designated as part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour in 1988.

Places of interest

There are several landmarks and places of interest along Sheridan Road. In order from southernmost to northernmost: * Commonwealth Plaza Condominiums * Philip Henry Sheridan Statue * The Breakers at Edgewater Beach Apartments * Park Tower Condominium * The Renaissance (Building at 5510 North Sheridan) *Edgewater Condominium Plaza, 5445 North Sheridan occupies the precise spot of Edgewater Beach Hotel; 5455 North Sheridan, its twin building is set at right angle to the street) * Edgewater Beach Apartments * Colvin House * Mundelein College Skyscraper Building * Loyola University, Lakeshore Campus * Emil Bach House *Calvary Cemetery *

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

*Levere Memorial Temple, headquarters of

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon () is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856.Baird, William Raimond, ed. (1905).Baird's Manual of American College Fratern ...

fraternity * Grosse Point Lighthouse * Bahá'í House of Worship *

Plaza del Lago Plaza del Lago is a shopping center at 1515 Sheridan Road in Wilmette, Illinois, United States, which opened in 1928 as Spanish Court. It has been reported as the second-oldest shopping center in the United States designed for automobile use, and ...

* Henry Demarest Lloyd House *

North Shore Congregation Israel North Shore Congregation Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 1185 Sheridan Road in Glencoe, on the North Shore of Chicago, in Illinois, in the United States. History The congregation started in 1920 as the North ...

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is a primarily outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to pop. The first orche ...

* North Shore Sanitary District Tower * Willits House * Fort Sheridan * Barat College *

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducatio ...

* Great Lakes Naval Training Center *

AbbVie AbbVie Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. It is ranked sixth on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue. In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 74, and rank 89 on the ...

* Genesee Theatre * Illinois Beach State Park * Chiwaukee Prairie *Kenosha Sand Dunes * Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library * Bradford Community Church * Dinosaur Discovery Museum *

Carthage College Carthage College is a private college in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, it is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Carthage awards bachelor's degrees with majors in more than 40 subject areas and maste ...

Footnotes

{{coord, 42, 3, 17.2, N, 87, 40, 37.9, W, region:US-IL_type:landmark, display=title Evanston, Illinois Glencoe, Illinois Highland Park, Illinois Highwood, Illinois Kenosha, Wisconsin Lake Bluff, Illinois Lake Forest, Illinois North Chicago, Illinois Racine, Wisconsin Streets in Chicago Streets in Illinois Streets in Wilmette, Illinois Streets in Wisconsin Transportation in Lake County, Illinois Waukegan, Illinois Winnetka, Illinois Zion, Illinois

Chicago path

History

Places of interest

See also

Footnotes