The Chicago Picasso: Beginnings of Public Art in Chicago
It hard to walk past Daley Plaza and not catch a glimpse of Chicago Picasso. The colossal three dimension sculpture towers 50 feet into the sky above plaza. Some say it is a woman, a horse, or even a baboon. To locals of Chicago however, this sculpture is just the Picasso. (By the way, you […]
Illinois Governors Conference on Tourism
Last week, I attended the Illinois Governors Conference on Tourism, a three-day meeting for tourism professionals who work at hotels, restaurants, tour companies, transportation companies, and convention and visitors bureaus. We get updates on anything and everything in Illinois Tourism, and speakers often try to stress that we must not forget what’s outside of Chicago. […]
Lost Chicago Drinking Poems
We lose things for all kinds of reasons – we’re absent minded, we drop them, or we just plain forget about them. One could make many cases for why drinking poems might get lost over time: 1. People were drunk when they wrote them, so they aren’t worth being remembered. 2. People got drunk after […]
A Historic Home in an Ocean of Brutalism
Among the 1950s and 1960s buildings of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, one place just does not look like the others! The original Jane Addams Hull House, now a museum, has Italianate cornices and a columned porch. In addition to Jane Addams fame as the “Mother of Social Work,” here you can gain […]
Exploring the Chicago Archives
Tips For Finding Fascinating Documents and Objects in the Chicago Archives Tip #1 Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions I like to browse. I browse the paper, browse menus, and browse my way through museums. In bookstores, I will go to the fiction section and thumb through a few interesting-looking novels before choosing one to […]
Architecture at Decorators Supply
The title is just a joke. I had the rare opportunity to go on a private tour visit of the plaster-filled factory of Decorators Supply, a manufacturer of classical architectural details and significant figure in Chicago architectural history. They craft columns, pilasters, capitals, and a seemingly infinite list of ornaments out of plaster, wood, and […]
Group Urban Excursions (aka Private Tours)
2022 Update: We no longer offer public tours and have kept this post as a historical record of our role in innovating in travel and tourism. Lately we’ve been bombarded by interest in our private tours of Chicago, and it probably comes along with the surge in interest in unique experiences these days. (FYI, we […]
Answers About the Pedway
We get a lot of questions about the Chicago Pedway system our private tours of downtown. So here are some more in-depth responses. We research stories from Chicago history, architecture and culture like this while developing our live virtual tours, in-person private tours, and custom content for corporate events. You can join us to experience Chicago’s stories in-person […]
Been to Chicago’s Bronzeville Neighborhood?
Off the beaten path but still close to downtown, Bronzeville is a great place to learn more about our city. The four Chicago Community Areas of Grand Boulevard, Kenwood, Douglas, and Oakland comprise Bronzeville, which is historically known as the “Black Metropolis.” It served as the northern hub for the “Great Migration” of African Americans […]
Tour Questions Answered!
The curious people who come on our interactive, guided tours of history, culture and architecture sometimes have questions. Since Chicago Detours guides don’t make up answers for our architectural tours, we mark them down and then research the answers for them. Said research is done, so consider these tour questions answered! If you’ve come on […]
