Chicago Imagebase

Chicago's Downtown circa 1893:
Rand McNally's Bird's-Eye Views and Guide to Chicago.

In honor of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and in anticipation of the huge crowds that were to come to the Fair, the Chicago mapmaking and publishing firm of Rand McNally produced a series of lavish bird's-eye views of the downtown "loop", still the object of envy throughout the world for its energy, its capital base, and its rapid growth. The views themselves focused on something more subtle, and more central, to the history of American urbanization and its architecture: the way that buildings themselves were coming to symbolize, singularly and in the aggregate, urban power and prestige.

Vicinity of the Board of Trade. (81K)

Art Institute. (62K)

From Adams Street, Looking South. (75K)

East End of Adams Street, Looking South. (62K)

From Adams Street, Looking North on La Salle. (78K)

From Adams Street, North on Dearborn. (182K)

North from East Adams Street. (186K)

Looking West from Michigan Boulevard. (269K)

Vicinity of Van Buren and Grand Central Stations. (123K)

Printing-House Row, from Van Buren Street. (286K)

Region of Twelfth Street Station. (299K)

Location of Depots and Hotels. (301K)

The Wholesale District, North on Market Street. (239K)

Within the Heavy Wholesale District. (240K)

Two Great Railway Stations. (239K)

North of Court House. (231K)

From State Street, Looking East. (235K)

West of the Court House. (234K)

From Randolph Street, Looking South on La Salle. (231K)

Looking South from Lake Street. (241K)

At the Mouth of the Chicago River. (142K)

"Wolf Point" in 1893. (251K)