Ghosts of Black Fridays Past on Chicago’s State Street
Black Friday in Chicago always brings hordes of deal-seekers to the downtown State Street shopping district. The term Black Friday arose in the 1980s, but State Street, that “great street,” has been a shopping mecca since the days of the great department stores. What about the stores of holidays past, the ones that are no longer […]
What’s New at Navy Pier?
For our outing this month, the Chicago Detours team decided to head out to see what’s new at Navy Pier. Much like our Segway tour adventure in September, we wanted to change gears for a Chicago experience more frequented by tourists than locals. I’ll admit that my interest was also piqued because 2016 marks the centennial celebrations for Navy […]
The History of the Curse of the Billy Goat
The Curse of the Billy Goat. It’s one of the most infamous legends in American professional sports. On October 22, 2016, the Chicago Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers and won the National League pennant for the first time since 1945, arguably breaking the curse. So where did this Curse of the Billy Goat come […]
Designing a University of Chicago Tour
Special for the University of Chicago, we’ve just developed a new tour of the University of Chicago campus and surrounding neighborhoods. The University of Chicago hired us to offer this tour for “Family Weekend,” when parents, siblings and grandparents of undergraduate students come to Hyde Park to learn more about the student experience. While the […]
The Magic of Working in the Monadnock Building
The Monadnock Building is a favorite for many Chicagoans, and we are ecstatic to call it the new home for Chicago Detours. A landmark skyscraper built in the 1890s, the Monadnock has been through a lot. We research stories from Chicago history, architecture and culture like this while developing our live virtual tours, in-person private tours, and custom […]
The Evolution of Wolf Point’s Buildings
Wolf Point, the Y-shaped spot where the North, South, and Main Branches of the Chicago River meet, is the at the very heart of Chicago. That junction hosted the first permanent settlement of Native Americans, French-Canadian fur trappers, and American settlers that became the city of Chicago. The ubiquitous Y-shaped municipal device that covers Chicago memorializes this location. […]
Seven Off the Beaten Path Chicago Museums
Chicago has some massively impressive museums. TripAdvisor named the Art Institute of Chicago the world’s top museum. The world-renowned trifecta down on Museum Campus draws huge crowds. History nerds, like myself, also have the Chicago History Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. Unfortunately, those museums tend to suck up all the attention from […]
Theater’s Architectural Relic Discovered on State Street
Architectural Relic at Demolition Site I found a pretty cool architectural relic yesterday. Clinging to the walls of the former Amalgamated Bank building on State Street are plaster details that looked distinctly like they were once in a theater. My guess was that over time the details on the bottom levels of this former theater had been […]
A Helping of Famous Chicago Food History
The James Beard Awards are in Chicago for the second year in a row. Considered the “Oscars of Food,” these awards will go to the best American restaurants, chefs, and bakers. Since I don’t regularly dine at Alinea, a very high-class Chicago institution, it seemed more appropriate to write up some of the working class […]
The “Madhouse” Architecture of Chicago Stadium
The old Chicago Stadium stood on the Near West Side for nearly 60 years until the United Center replaced it. Known as the “Madhouse on Madison” because of its rollicking crowds, the venue hosted the Blackhawks, Bulls, national political conventions, and even an NFL playoff game. Because of its architectural design, it had deafening acoustics and vertiginous […]