Jean Baptiste Point du Sable is regarded as the first permanent non-Native settler of what would later become Chicago, Illinois, and is recognized as the city's founder. The site where he settled near the mouth of the Chicago River around the 1780s is memorialized as a National Historic Landmark, now located in Pioneer Court.
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 Secretary of War. The original fort was destroyed following the Battle of Fort Dearborn during the War of 1812, and a replacement Fort Dearborn was constructed on the same site in 1816 and decommissioned by 1837.
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of 156 miles (251 km) that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center. Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chicago Portage is a link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Basin, and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico.
Grant Park is a large urban park in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Located within the city's central business district, the 319-acre (1.29 km2) park's features include Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum Campus.
Michigan Avenue is a north-south street in Chicago that runs at 100 east on the Chicago grid. The northern end of the street is at DuSable Lake Shore Drive on the shore of Lake Michigan in the Gold Coast Historic District. The street's southern terminus is at Sibley Boulevard in the southern suburb of Dolton, but like many other Chicago streets, it exists in several disjointed segments.
Lake Shore Drive is a semi-limited access expressway that runs alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan and its adjacent parkland and beaches in Chicago, Illinois. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue, the Drive is designated part of U.S. Highway 41. A portion of the highway on the Outer Drive Bridge and its bridge approaches is multilevel.
Streeterville is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, north of the Chicago River. It is bounded by the river on the south, the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue on the west, and Lake Michigan 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 and Ohio Street Beach 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.
Lincoln Park is a 1,208-acre (489-hectare) park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue, on the south, to near Ardmore Avenue on the north, just north of the DuSable Lake Shore Drive terminus at Hollywood Avenue. Two museums and a zoo are located in the oldest part of the park between North Avenue and Diversey Parkway in the eponymous neighborhood. Further to the north, the park is characterized by parkland, beaches, recreational areas, nature reserves, and harbors. To the south, there is a more narrow strip of beaches east of Lake Shore Drive, almost to downtown. With 20 million visitors per year, Lincoln Park is the second-most-visited city park in the United States, behind Manhattan's Central Park.
Jean La Lime or Lalime was a trader from Quebec, Canada who worked in what became the Northwest Territory of the United States. He worked as an agent for William Burnett, also of Canada, to sell to the Native Americans and take furs in exchange. He was among the first European permanent settlers in Chicago. He was killed there in 1812, in what was called the "first murder in Chicago", by John Kinzie, a trading partner of Burnett who was another early settler from Canada.
The Magnificent Mile is a section of Michigan Avenue in Chicago devoted to retail, dining, hotels and tourist attractions. Running from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side, the district is located one block east of Rush Street and is the main retail corridor between the Loop and Gold Coast. It is bounded by Streeterville neighborhood to its east and River North to its west.
Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School is a public 4–year high school campus in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Chicago Public Schools and named after Chicago's first permanent non-native settler, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable. Constructed between 1931 and 1934, DuSable opened in 1935.
The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, formerly the DuSable Museum of African American History, is a museum in Chicago that is dedicated to the study and conservation of African-American history, culture, and art. It was founded in 1961 by Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, her husband Charles Burroughs, Gerard Lew, Eugene Feldman, Bernard Goss, Marian M. Hadley, and others. They established the museum to celebrate black culture, at the time overlooked by most museums and academic establishments. The museum has an affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution.
The DuSable Bridge is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue across the main stem of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. The bridge was proposed in the early 20th century as part of a plan to link Grant Park (downtown) and Lincoln Park (uptown) with a grand boulevard. Construction of the bridge started in 1918, it opened to traffic in 1920, and decorative work was completed in 1928. The bridge provides passage for vehicles and pedestrians on two levels. An example of a fixed trunnion bascule bridge, it may be raised to allow tall ships and boats to pass underneath. The bridge is included in the Michigan–Wacker Historic District and has been designated as a Chicago Landmark.
DuSable Park is a former commercial and industrial site in Chicago. It is located at the mouth of the Chicago River that has been the subject of environmental remediation and is undergoing redevelopment into a public park. The project, first announced in 1987 by Mayor Harold Washington, is named in honor Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, who settled nearby in the 1780s and is known as the "Founder of Chicago". For decades, the project has awaited completion of remediation, funding, and agreements to develop. The development at 400 Lake Shore began construction in 2024.
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 Chicago, Illinois. A National Historic Landmark, the site of Point du Sable's homestead is now partially occupied by and commemorated in Pioneer Court, off DuSable Bridge at 401 N. Michigan Avenue in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois.
The Michigan–Wacker Historic District is a National Register of Historic Places District that includes parts of the Chicago Loop and Near North Side community areas in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The district is known for the Chicago River, two bridges that cross it, and eleven high rise and skyscraper buildings erected in the 1920s. Among the contributing properties are the following Chicago Landmark structures:
401 North Michigan is a 35-story skyscraper in the Streeterville area of Chicago, built in 1965 at 401 North Michigan Avenue, along the north bank of the Chicago River. It was designed by Bruce Graham and Natalie de Blois in the international style. Along with the Tribune Tower and Wrigley Building, it forms the southern gateway to Chicago's famous Magnificent Mile. The building was built atop the site of a cabin belonging to Chicago's first permanent resident, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable. In reference to du Sable, the large plaza adjacent to the building has been named Pioneer Court.
Forever Marilyn is a giant statue of Marilyn Monroe designed by Seward Johnson. The statue is a representation of the image of Monroe taken from Billy Wilder's 1955 film The Seven Year Itch. Created in 2011, the statue has been displayed in a variety of locations in the United States, as well as in Australia.
Kitihawa Point Du Sable was a Potawatomi woman who, with her husband Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, established the first permanent settlement in what is now the city of Chicago. By the late 1700s, Kitihawa and her husband had set up their farm and trading post near the mouth of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.
A bronze bust of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable by Erik Blome is installed in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois.
