Chicago Loop
Encyclopedia
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas
located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown
Chicago
. It is the seat of government for Chicago and Cook County
, as well as the historic theater and shopping district (including State Street, "that great street" in the words of the song made famous by Frank Sinatra
).
As established in social research done by the University of Chicago
in the 1920s, the Loop is a defined community area of Chicago
. Chicago's central business district community area is bounded on the west and north by the Chicago River
, on the east by Lake Michigan
, and on the south by Roosevelt Road
, although the commercial core has expanded into adjacent community areas.
The community area includes Grant Park
and one of the largest art museums in the United States, the Art Institute of Chicago
. Other major cultural institutions that call this area home include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
, the Lyric Opera of Chicago
, the Goodman Theater, the Joffrey Ballet
, the central public Harold Washington Library
, and the Chicago Cultural Center
.
In what is now the Loop Community Area, on the southern banks of the Chicago River
, near today's Michigan Avenue Bridge
, the U.S. Army erected Fort Dearborn
in 1803. It was the first settlement in the area sponsored by the United States
.
turning loops in the central business district, and especially those of two lines that shared a loop, constructed in 1882, bounded by Madison, Wabash, State, and Lake. Other research has concluded that "the Loop" was not used as a proper noun until after the 1895–97 construction of the Union elevated railway loop
.
, 16,388 people live in the Loop. The median sale price for residential real estate was $710,000 in 2005 according to Forbes.
Loop architecture has been dominated by high-rises since early in its history. Notable buildings include the Home Insurance Building
, considered the first skyscraper
(demolished in 1931); the Chicago Board of Trade Building
, a National Historic Landmark
; and Willis Tower, the tallest in the United States. Some of the historic buildings in this district were instrumental in the development of high-rises. Chicago's street numbering system - dividing addresses into North, South, East and West quadrants, originates in the Loop at the intersection of State Street
and Madison Street
.
This area abounds in shopping opportunities, including the Loop Retail Historic District
, although it competes with the more upscale Magnificent Mile
area to the north, and with suburb
an shopping mall
s. It includes Chicago's former Marshall Field's
department store
location in the Marshall Field and Company Building
; the original Sullivan Center Carson Pirie Scott
store location (closed February 21, 2007); and Sears on State. Chicago's Downtown Theatre District is also found within this area, along with numerous restaurant
s and hotel
s.
Chicago has a famous skyline
which features many of the tallest buildings in the world as well as the Chicago Landmark
Historic Michigan Boulevard District
. Chicago's skyline is spaced out throughout the downtown area, giving it a graceful bridgelike appearance. The Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the United States, stands at the west end of the Loop in the heart of the city's financial district, along with other buildings, such as 311 South Wacker Drive
and the AT&T Corporate Center
.
Chicago's third tallest building, the Aon Center
, is located just south of Illinois Center
. The complex is at the east end of the Loop, east of Michigan Avenue
. Two Prudential Plaza
is also located here, just to the west of the Aon Center.
The Loop contains a wealth of outdoor sculpture
, including works by Pablo Picasso
, Joan Miró
, Henry Moore
, Marc Chagall
, Alexander Calder
, and Jean Dubuffet
. Chicago's cultural heavyweights, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Goodman Theatre
, the Chicago Theatre
, the Lyric Opera
at the Civic Opera House building, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
, are also in this area, as is the historic Palmer House Hilton
hotel, found on East Monroe Street.
Chicago's lakefront, which is almost exclusively recreational park area from north to south, features Grant Park
in this downtown area. Grant Park is the home of Buckingham Fountain
, the Petrillo Bandshell
, the Grant Park Symphony (where free concert
s can be enjoyed throughout the summer), and Chicago's annual two-week food
festival, the Taste of Chicago
, where more than 3 million people try foods from over 70 vendors. A recent addition to Grant Park is the architecturally forward Millennium Park
, which opened in the summer of 2004, featuring a Frank Gehry
's Jay Pritzker Pavilion
, Jaume Plensa
's Crown Fountain
and Anish Kapoor
's Cloud Gate
sculpture and spanning what were formerly open railyards on the city's lakefront.
The Chicago River
, which delineates the area, also provides entertainment and recreational opportunities, including the annual dyeing of the river green in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Trips down the Chicago River, including architectural tours, by commercial boat operators are great favorites with both locals and tourists.
The Loop is the seat of Chicago's government. It is also the government seat of Cook County, Illinois
and houses an office for the governor of the State of Illinois
. The century old City Hall/County Building
houses the chambers of the Mayor, City Council and County Board.
Across the street, the Richard J. Daley Center
accommodates a famous Picasso
sculpture and the state law courts. Given its proximity to government offices, the Center's plaza serves as a kind of town square for celebrations, protests and other events.
The nearby James R. Thompson Center
is the city headquarters for state government, with an office for the Governor. Many state agencies have offices here, including the Illinois State Board of Education
.
A few blocks away is the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse
housing federal law courts and other federal government offices. This is the seat of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
. The Kluczynski Federal Building
is across the street. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
is located on LaSalle Street in the heart of the financial district. The United States Postal Service
operates the Loop Station Post Office at 211 South Clark Street.
and Lakeshore East
developments, as well as separate developments like Aon Center
, Prudential Plaza, Park Millennium Condominium Building, Hyatt Regency Chicago, and the Fairmont Hotel. The area has a triple-level street system
and is bisected by Columbus Drive. Most of this district has been developed on land that was once used by the Illinois Central Railroad rail yards. The early buildings in this district such as the Aon Center and One Prudential Plaza
used airspace rights in order to build above the railyards.
The triple-level street system
allows for trucks to mainly travel and make deliveries on the lower levels, keeping traffic to a minimum on the upper levels.
Upcoming buildings include the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Tower and the Aqua building, part of Lake Shore East that is being built by Magellan development
. Construction has begun on Aqua, with an expected completion date in 2009. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel & Tower project is struggling with financing.
The Near East Side is served by the following Chicago Public Schools
: Ogden School and Wells Community Academy High School
.
Printer's Row, also known as Printing House Row, is a neighborhood located in the southern portion of the Loop community area of Chicago. It is centered on Dearborn Street from Congress Parkway on the north to Polk Street on the south, and includes buildings along Plymouth Court on the east and Federal Street to the west. Most of the buildings in this area were built between 1886 and 1915 to house printing
, publishing, and related businesses. Today, the buildings have mainly been converted into residential lofts. Part of Printer's Row is an official landmark district, the Printing House Row District
. The annual Printer's Row Book Fair is held in early June along Dearborn Street.
Printer's Row is zoned to the following Chicago Public Schools: South Loop School and Phillips Academy High School.
, is the oldest train station still standing in Chicago; it has been converted to retail and office space. Most of the area south of Congress Parkway and east of the Chicago River
, excepting Printer's Row, is referred to as the South Loop. The southern boundary of the neighborhood is under debate. While the southern boundary for the community area is Roosevelt Road, the term "South Loop" is often used to describe an area that extends as far south as 18th Street or Cermak Road. Numerous shops south of Roosevelt Road with "South Loop" in their name hint that this more generous definition may be gaining recognition.
The more restrictively-defined area includes River City, the northern half of Dearborn Park, and portions of State Street
, Wabash Avenue, and Michigan Avenue
. The more generous definitions would include the Central Station development, Dearborn Park II, the Prairie District, and even the northern growth of Chinatown.
The major landowner in the South Loop is Columbia College Chicago
, a private school that owns 17 buildings. Also to be found here is the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
, championed by Mayor Daley.
South Loop is zoned to the following Chicago Public Schools: South Loop School and Phillips Academy High School. Jones College Prep High School
, which is a selective enrollment magnet school
drawing students from the entire city, is also located in the South Loop.
The South Loop was historically home to vice districts, including the brothels, bars, burlesque theaters, and arcades. Inexpensive residential hotels on Van Buren and State Street made it one of the city's Skid Rows until the 1970s. One of the largest homeless shelters in the city, the Pacific Garden Mission
, was located at State and Balbo from 1923 to 2007. The new location is further south and across the Chicago River, at 1458 S. Canal St.
The Chicago Journal newspaper covers the neighborhood and other urban communities.
A former manufacturing corridor turned art-edgy neighborhood, the area consists primarily of warehouses that are still in use or have been converted to loft condominiums (loftominiums), restaurants, night clubs, art galleries, and some retail. It is also the home of Harpo Studios, owned by well known talk show host Oprah Winfrey, and the production site of her syndicated television show.
Historic Michigan Boulevard District
, which is the section of Michigan Avenue
opposite Grant Park
and Millennium Park
.
, after New York City
's Midtown Manhattan
. Its financial district near LaSalle Street
is home to the CME Group
's Chicago Board of Trade
and Chicago Mercantile Exchange
.
Aon Corporation maintains its headquarters in the Aon Center
. CHASE
Bank has its commercial and retail banking headquarters in Chase Tower
. Exelon
also has its headquarters in the Chase Tower
. United Airlines
has its headquarters in 77 West Wacker Drive
. United moved its headquarters to Chicago from Elk Grove Township, Illinois in early 2007. In addition United's parent company, United Continental Holdings
, also has its headquarters in 77 West Wacker. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
has its headquarters in the Michigan Plaza
complex. Sidley Austin
has its headquarters in the One South Dearborn
building in the Chicago Loop. Morton Salt
has its headquarters in the Chicago Loop.
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
is located in an office in the Aon Center, the French-American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago has an office in 35 East Wacker
, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in the United States is located in an office at 303 East Wacker Drive, and the US Mexico Chamber of Commerce Mid-America Chapter is located in an office in One Prudential Plaza
.
Previously the grocery store company Red & White
once had its headquarters in the Loop. McDonald's
was headquartered in the Chicago Loop until 1971, when it moved to Oak Brook, Illinois
. When Bank One Corporation
existed, its headquarters were in the Bank One Plaza (now Chase Tower). When Amoco
existed, its headquarters were in the Amoco Building (now the Aon Center).
, Australia, Brazil Canada
, Costa Rica
, the Czech Republic, Ecuador
, El Salvador
, France, Guatemala
, Haiti
, Indonesia
, Israel, the Republic of Macedonia, the Netherlands
, Pakistan, India, Peru
, the Philippines
, South Africa
, Turkey
, and Venezuela
. In addition the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
of the Republic of China
is in the Chicago Loop.
, Columbia College Chicago
, and Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy
are all located in the Chicago Loop. DePaul University
also has a campus in the Loop.
National-Louis University
is located in the historic Peoples Gas Building
on Michigan Avenue
across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago
. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the nation's largest independent schools of art and design, is headquartered in Grant Park
.
Harold Washington College
is a City Colleges of Chicago
community college located in the Loop. Adler School of Professional Psychology is a college located in the Loop.
Robert Morris University (Illinois) is located here. Argosy University
has its head offices on the thirteenth floor of 205 North Michigan Avenue in Michigan Plaza
. Harrington College of Design is located at 200 West Madison Street after relocating from the Merchandise Mart. Trinity Christian College
offers an accelerated teaching certification program at 1550 S. State Street in the South Loop.
serves residents of the Chicago Loop. Its main administrative offices are in the 125 South Clark Street Building in the Chicago Loop.
Some residents are zoned to the South Loop School in the Chicago Loop, while some are zoned to the Ogden School. Some residents are zoned to Phillips Academy High School, while others are zoned to Wells Community Academy High School
.
Jones College Prep High School
, a public, selective enrollment school is also located here. Muchin College prep (1 of the 10 Noble Charter Schools) is located right in the heart of the city where the North, South, East, and West side meet.
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. It is the seat of government for Chicago and Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
, as well as the historic theater and shopping district (including State Street, "that great street" in the words of the song made famous by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
).
As established in social research done by the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in the 1920s, the Loop is a defined community area of Chicago
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
. Chicago's central business district community area is bounded on the west and north by the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
, on the east by Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
, and on the south by Roosevelt Road
Roosevelt Road
Roosevelt Road is a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. It is 1200 South in the city's street numbering system, but only one mile south of Madison Street...
, although the commercial core has expanded into adjacent community areas.
The community area includes Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
and one of the largest art museums in the United States, the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. Other major cultural institutions that call this area home include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
, the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
, the Goodman Theater, the Joffrey Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is a dance company in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1956. From 1995 to 2004, the company was known as The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. The company regularly performs classical ballets including Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker, while balancing those classics with pioneering modern...
, the central public Harold Washington Library
Harold Washington Library
The Harold Washington Library Center is the central library for the Chicago Public Library System. It is named for former Mayor Harold Washington. It is located just south of the Loop 'L', at 400 S. State Street in Chicago. It is a full service library and ADA compliant. As with all libraries in...
, and the Chicago Cultural Center
Chicago Cultural Center
The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building that houses the city's official reception venue where the Mayor of Chicago has welcomed Presidents and royalty, diplomats and community leaders. It is located in the Loop, across Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park...
.
In what is now the Loop Community Area, on the southern banks of the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
, near today's Michigan Avenue Bridge
Michigan Avenue Bridge
The Michigan Avenue Bridge has a north–south orientation, spanning the main stem of the Chicago River between the Near North Side and Loop community areas of Chicago. Its northern portal lies at the foot of the Magnificent Mile, between the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower...
, the U.S. Army erected Fort Dearborn
Fort Dearborn
Fort Dearborn was a United States fort built in 1803 beside the Chicago River in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by 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...
in 1803. It was the first settlement in the area sponsored by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Etymology
It is believed the origin of the term loop is derived from the cable carCable car
A cable car is any of a variety of transportation systems relying on cables to pull vehicles along or lower them at a steady rate, or a vehicle on these systems.-Aerial lift:Aerial lifts where the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable:...
turning loops in the central business district, and especially those of two lines that shared a loop, constructed in 1882, bounded by Madison, Wabash, State, and Lake. Other research has concluded that "the Loop" was not used as a proper noun until after the 1895–97 construction of the Union elevated railway loop
The Loop (CTA)
The Loop is the two mile circuit of elevated railroad that forms the hub of the 'L' rapid transit system in Chicago, Illinois. The Loop is so named because the railroad loops around a rectangle formed by Lake Street , Wabash Avenue , Van Buren Street , and Wells Street...
.
Population
According to the 2000 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, 16,388 people live in the Loop. The median sale price for residential real estate was $710,000 in 2005 according to Forbes.
Attractions
Home Insurance Building
The Home Insurance Building was built in 1884 in Chicago, Illinois, USA and destroyed in 1931 to make way for the Field Building . It was the first building to use structural steel in its frame, but the majority of its structure was composed of cast and wrought iron...
, considered the first skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
(demolished in 1931); the Chicago Board of Trade Building
Chicago Board of Trade Building
The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a skyscraper located in :Chicago, Illinois, United States. It stands at 141 W. Jackson Boulevard at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon, in the Loop community area in Cook County. Built in 1930 and first designated a Chicago Landmark on May 4, 1977, the...
, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
; and Willis Tower, the tallest in the United States. Some of the historic buildings in this district were instrumental in the development of high-rises. Chicago's street numbering system - dividing addresses into North, South, East and West quadrants, originates in the Loop at the intersection of State Street
State Street (Chicago)
State Street is a large south-north street in Chicago, Illinois, USA and its south suburbs. It begins on the Near North Side at North Avenue. For much of its course, it lies between Wabash Avenue on the east and Dearborn Street/Lafayette Avenue on the west...
and Madison Street
Madison Street (Chicago)
Madison Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to human intervention, the Chicago River emptied into Lake Michigan at the present day intersection of Madison Street and Michigan Avenue....
.
This area abounds in shopping opportunities, including the Loop Retail Historic District
Loop Retail Historic District
Loop Retail Historic District is a shopping district within the Chicago Loop community area in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is bounded by Lake Street to the north, Congress Parkway to the south, State Street to the west and Wabash Avenue to the east...
, although it competes with the more upscale Magnificent Mile
Magnificent Mile
The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, that runs along a portion of Michigan Avenue extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side community area. The district is located adjacent to downtown; it is also one block...
area to the north, and with suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s. It includes Chicago's former Marshall Field's
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
location in the Marshall Field and Company Building
Marshall Field and Company Building
Marshall Field and Company Building or Macy's at State Street is the former flagship location of the former Marshall Field's department store and the current location of the Chicago flagship of Macy's...
; the original Sullivan Center Carson Pirie Scott
Carson Pirie Scott
Carson Pirie Scott & Co., known informally as Carson's, is an upscale chain of department stores that have been in business for over 150 years. Their product price points are targeted to the moderate-to-upscale shopper...
store location (closed February 21, 2007); and Sears on State. Chicago's Downtown Theatre District is also found within this area, along with numerous restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s and hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s.
Chicago has a famous skyline
Skyline
A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...
which features many of the tallest buildings in the world as well as the Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
Historic Michigan Boulevard District
Historic Michigan Boulevard District
The Historic Michigan Boulevard District is a historic district in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States encompassing Michigan Avenue between 11th or Roosevelt Road , depending on the source, and Randolph Streets and named after the nearby Great Lake...
. Chicago's skyline is spaced out throughout the downtown area, giving it a graceful bridgelike appearance. The Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the United States, stands at the west end of the Loop in the heart of the city's financial district, along with other buildings, such as 311 South Wacker Drive
311 South Wacker Drive
311 South Wacker Drive in Chicago, USA, is a post-modern 65-story skyscraper completed in 1990. At 961 feet tall, it is the seventh tallest building in Chicago and the 16th tallest in the United States...
and the AT&T Corporate Center
AT&T Corporate Center
The Franklin Center is a 60-story skyscraper completed in 1989 as the AT&T Corporate Center to consolidate the central region headquarters of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company . It stands at a height of and contains in the Loop neighborhood of downtown Chicago...
.
Chicago's third tallest building, the Aon Center
Aon Center (Chicago)
The Aon Center is a modern skyscraper in the Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, United States, designed by architect firms Edward Durell Stone and The Perkins and Will partnership, and completed in 1973 as the Standard Oil Building...
, is located just south of Illinois Center
Illinois Center
Illinois Center is a mixed-use urban development in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA, lying east of Michigan Avenue. It is notable in that the streets running through it have three levels. Elsewhere in Chicago, some streets have two levels, with the lower level for through traffic and service...
. The complex is at the east end of the Loop, east of Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
. Two Prudential Plaza
Two Prudential Plaza
Two Prudential Plaza is a super-tall skyscraper that was built in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois, United States in 1990. At 995 feet tall, it is currently the sixth-tallest building in Chicago and the thirteenth tallest in the United States. The building was designed by the firm Loebl,...
is also located here, just to the west of the Aon Center.
The Loop contains a wealth of outdoor sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, including works by Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
, Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
, Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
, Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
, and Jean Dubuffet
Jean Dubuffet
Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a more authentic and humanistic approach to image-making.-Life and work:Dubuffet was...
. Chicago's cultural heavyweights, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Goodman Theatre
Goodman Theatre
The Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of Chicago theatre, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization...
, the Chicago Theatre
Chicago Theatre
The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother...
, the Lyric Opera
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
at the Civic Opera House building, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
, are also in this area, as is the historic Palmer House Hilton
Palmer House
The Palmer House Hilton is a famous and historic hotel in downtown Chicago.-History:There have been three Palmer House Hotels at the corner of State and Monroe Streets in Chicago....
hotel, found on East Monroe Street.
Chicago's lakefront, which is almost exclusively recreational park area from north to south, features Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
in this downtown area. Grant Park is the home of Buckingham Fountain
Buckingham Fountain
Buckingham Fountain is a Chicago landmark in the center of Grant Park. Dedicated in 1927, it is one of the largest fountains in the world. Built in a rococo wedding cake style and inspired by the Latona Fountain at the Palace of Versailles, it is meant to allegorically represent Lake Michigan...
, the Petrillo Bandshell
James Petrillo
James Caesar Petrillo was the prominent leader of the American Federation of Musicians, a trade union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada.-Biography:Petrillo was born in Chicago, Illinois...
, the Grant Park Symphony (where free concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s can be enjoyed throughout the summer), and Chicago's annual two-week food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
festival, the Taste of Chicago
Taste of Chicago
The Taste of Chicago is the world's largest food festival, held annually for ten days in Grant Park, in Chicago starting the Friday before the 4th of July and ending the Sunday after . The event is the largest festival in Chicago...
, where more than 3 million people try foods from over 70 vendors. A recent addition to Grant Park is the architecturally forward Millennium Park
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
, which opened in the summer of 2004, featuring a Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
's Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan...
, Jaume Plensa
Jaume Plensa
Jaime Plensa is an Spanish artist and sculptor.-Biography:Plensa was born at Barcelona. Plensa studied art in his home city, in the "Llotja" School and in the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Jorge....
's Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain is an interactive work of public art and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium Park, which is located in the Loop community area. Designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa and executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects, it opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a...
and Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor CBE RA is a British sculptor of Indian birth. Born in Mumbai , Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design.He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice...
's Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park within the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The sculpture and AT&T Plaza are located on top of Park Grill, between the Chase Promenade and...
sculpture and spanning what were formerly open railyards on the city's lakefront.
The Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
, which delineates the area, also provides entertainment and recreational opportunities, including the annual dyeing of the river green in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Trips down the Chicago River, including architectural tours, by commercial boat operators are great favorites with both locals and tourists.
Government
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
and houses an office for the governor of the State of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The century old City Hall/County Building
Chicago City Hall
Chicago City Hall is the official seat of government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. Adjacent to the Richard J. Daley Center and the James R...
houses the chambers of the Mayor, City Council and County Board.
Across the street, the Richard J. Daley Center
Richard J. Daley Center
The Richard J. Daley Center, also known by its courtyard Daley Plaza and named after longtime mayor Richard J. Daley, is the premier civic center of the City of Chicago in Illinois. Situated on Randolph and Washington Streets between Dearborn and Clark Streets, the Richard J. Daley Center is...
accommodates a famous Picasso
Chicago Picasso
The Chicago Picasso is an untitled monumental sculpture by Pablo Picasso in Chicago, Illinois. The sculpture, dedicated on August 15, 1967, in Daley Plaza in the Chicago Loop, is tall and weighs 162 tons...
sculpture and the state law courts. Given its proximity to government offices, the Center's plaza serves as a kind of town square for celebrations, protests and other events.
The nearby James R. Thompson Center
James R. Thompson Center
The James R. Thompson Center is located at 100 W. Randolph Street in the Loop, Chicago, Illinois and houses offices of the State of Illinois. The building opened in May 1985 as the State of Illinois Center. It was renamed in 1993 to honor former Illinois Governor James R. Thompson...
is the city headquarters for state government, with an office for the Governor. Many state agencies have offices here, including the Illinois State Board of Education
Illinois State Board of Education
The Illinois State Board of Education administers public education in the state of Illinois. The State Board consists of nine members who are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the...
.
A few blocks away is the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse
Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse
The Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, commonly referred to as the Dirksen Federal Building, is a skyscraper in downtown Chicago, Illinois, at 219 South Dearborn Street. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1964. The building is 384 feet tall, with 30...
housing federal law courts and other federal government offices. This is the seat of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
. The Kluczynski Federal Building
Kluczynski Federal Building
The Kluczynski Federal Building is a modernist skyscraper in the downtown Chicago Loop located at 230 South Dearborn Street. The 45-story structure was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1974 as the last portion of the new Federal Center. It is tall and stands on the site...
is across the street. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of twelve regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the nation's central bank....
is located on LaSalle Street in the heart of the financial district. The United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
operates the Loop Station Post Office at 211 South Clark Street.
Neighborhoods
In addition to the government, financial, theatre and shopping districts, these neighborhoods are also part of the Loop community area.Near East Side
The Near East Side is a mixed-use district bordered by Michigan Avenue to the west, the Chicago River to the north, Randolph Street to the south, and Lake Shore Drive to the east. It encompasses the entire Illinois CenterIllinois Center
Illinois Center is a mixed-use urban development in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA, lying east of Michigan Avenue. It is notable in that the streets running through it have three levels. Elsewhere in Chicago, some streets have two levels, with the lower level for through traffic and service...
and Lakeshore East
Lakeshore East
Lakeshore East is a master-planned mixed use urban development being built by the Magellan Development Group in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located in the northeastern part of the Loop, which, along with Illinois Center, is called the Near East...
developments, as well as separate developments like Aon Center
Aon Center (Chicago)
The Aon Center is a modern skyscraper in the Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, United States, designed by architect firms Edward Durell Stone and The Perkins and Will partnership, and completed in 1973 as the Standard Oil Building...
, Prudential Plaza, Park Millennium Condominium Building, Hyatt Regency Chicago, and the Fairmont Hotel. The area has a triple-level street system
Multilevel streets in Chicago
Downtown Chicago, Illinois has some double-decked and a few triple-decked streets immediately north and south of the Main Branch and immediately east of the South Branch of the Chicago River. The most famous and longest of these is Wacker Drive, which replaced the South Water Street Market upon its...
and is bisected by Columbus Drive. Most of this district has been developed on land that was once used by the Illinois Central Railroad rail yards. The early buildings in this district such as the Aon Center and One Prudential Plaza
One Prudential Plaza
One Prudential Plaza is a 41-story structure in Chicago completed in 1955 as the headquarters for Prudential's Mid-America company...
used airspace rights in order to build above the railyards.
The triple-level street system
Multilevel streets in Chicago
Downtown Chicago, Illinois has some double-decked and a few triple-decked streets immediately north and south of the Main Branch and immediately east of the South Branch of the Chicago River. The most famous and longest of these is Wacker Drive, which replaced the South Water Street Market upon its...
allows for trucks to mainly travel and make deliveries on the lower levels, keeping traffic to a minimum on the upper levels.
Upcoming buildings include the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Tower and the Aqua building, part of Lake Shore East that is being built by Magellan development
Magellan Development
Magellan Development Group, LLC is a Chicago real estate and property development company that was formed as a result of a long term corporate partnership between Magellan Development Group and NNP Residential Development....
. Construction has begun on Aqua, with an expected completion date in 2009. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel & Tower project is struggling with financing.
The Near East Side is served by the following Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools, commonly abbreviated as CPS by local residents and politicians and officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, is a large school district that manages over 600 public elementary and high schools in Chicago, Illinois...
: Ogden School and Wells Community Academy High School
Wells Community Academy High School
Wells Community Academy High School is a 4-year public high school located in the West Town neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. Wells serves grades 9 through 12, and is a part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299...
.
Printer's Row
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
, publishing, and related businesses. Today, the buildings have mainly been converted into residential lofts. Part of Printer's Row is an official landmark district, the Printing House Row District
Printing House Row District
The Printing House Row District is a U.S. historic district on the 500 through 800 blocks of South Dearborn, South Federal and South Plymouth Streets in the Loop community area of Chicago, IL...
. The annual Printer's Row Book Fair is held in early June along Dearborn Street.
Printer's Row is zoned to the following Chicago Public Schools: South Loop School and Phillips Academy High School.
South Loop
Dearborn Station at the end of Printers row, in the South Loop Printing House DistrictSouth Loop Printing House District
South Loop Printing House District is a historic district in the downtown Chicago Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. It is not the same as Printing House Row District which is a different district.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.Places included in the district that...
, is the oldest train station still standing in Chicago; it has been converted to retail and office space. Most of the area south of Congress Parkway and east of the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
, excepting Printer's Row, is referred to as the South Loop. The southern boundary of the neighborhood is under debate. While the southern boundary for the community area is Roosevelt Road, the term "South Loop" is often used to describe an area that extends as far south as 18th Street or Cermak Road. Numerous shops south of Roosevelt Road with "South Loop" in their name hint that this more generous definition may be gaining recognition.
The more restrictively-defined area includes River City, the northern half of Dearborn Park, and portions of State Street
State Street (Chicago)
State Street is a large south-north street in Chicago, Illinois, USA and its south suburbs. It begins on the Near North Side at North Avenue. For much of its course, it lies between Wabash Avenue on the east and Dearborn Street/Lafayette Avenue on the west...
, Wabash Avenue, and Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
. The more generous definitions would include the Central Station development, Dearborn Park II, the Prairie District, and even the northern growth of Chinatown.
The major landowner in the South Loop is Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
, a private school that owns 17 buildings. Also to be found here is the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
The National Veterans Art Museum, formerly the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, located at 1801 S. Indiana Avenue in Chicago's South Loop is dedicated to displaying and studying art produced by veterans from the Vietnam War and other wars and conflicts. Originally a traveling exhibition, while...
, championed by Mayor Daley.
South Loop is zoned to the following Chicago Public Schools: South Loop School and Phillips Academy High School. Jones College Prep High School
Jones College Prep High School
William Jones College Preparatory, commonly known as Jones College Prep, is a four-year selective enrollment prep school located in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
, which is a selective enrollment magnet school
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
drawing students from the entire city, is also located in the South Loop.
The South Loop was historically home to vice districts, including the brothels, bars, burlesque theaters, and arcades. Inexpensive residential hotels on Van Buren and State Street made it one of the city's Skid Rows until the 1970s. One of the largest homeless shelters in the city, the Pacific Garden Mission
Pacific Garden Mission
Pacific Garden Mission is a homeless shelter in the South Loop section of Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1877, by Colonel George Clarke and his wife, Sarah. It has been nicknamed, "The Old Lighthouse." It is the oldest such shelter in Chicago...
, was located at State and Balbo from 1923 to 2007. The new location is further south and across the Chicago River, at 1458 S. Canal St.
The Chicago Journal newspaper covers the neighborhood and other urban communities.
West Loop Gate / West Loop
Often called just "the West Loop," West Loop Gate is in the Near West Side community area along the western bank of the Chicago River. It is bounded by Grand Avenue on the north, the Ashland Avenue on the west, the Eisenhower Expressway on the south and the Chicago River on the east.A former manufacturing corridor turned art-edgy neighborhood, the area consists primarily of warehouses that are still in use or have been converted to loft condominiums (loftominiums), restaurants, night clubs, art galleries, and some retail. It is also the home of Harpo Studios, owned by well known talk show host Oprah Winfrey, and the production site of her syndicated television show.
Historic Michigan Boulevard District
The Loop also contains the Chicago LandmarkChicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
Historic Michigan Boulevard District
Historic Michigan Boulevard District
The Historic Michigan Boulevard District is a historic district in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States encompassing Michigan Avenue between 11th or Roosevelt Road , depending on the source, and Randolph Streets and named after the nearby Great Lake...
, which is the section of Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
opposite Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
and Millennium Park
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, USA and originally intended to celebrate the millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously...
.
Economy
The Chicago Loop is the second largest commercial business district in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, after New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
. Its financial district near LaSalle Street
LaSalle Street
LaSalle Street is a major north-south street in Chicago named for Sieur de La Salle, an early explorer of Illinois. The portion that runs through the Loop is considered to be Chicago's financial district...
is home to the CME Group
CME Group
The CME Group bases prices for US gasoline on Brent Crude rather than West Texas Intermediate Crude , which many believe is responsible for artificially high gas prices for US consumers...
's Chicago Board of Trade
Chicago Board of Trade
The Chicago Board of Trade , established in 1848, is the world's oldest futures and options exchange. More than 50 different options and futures contracts are traded by over 3,600 CBOT members through open outcry and eTrading. Volumes at the exchange in 2003 were a record breaking 454 million...
and Chicago Mercantile Exchange
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is an American financial and commodity derivative exchange based in Chicago. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board. Originally, the exchange was a non-profit organization...
.
Aon Corporation maintains its headquarters in the Aon Center
Aon Center (Chicago)
The Aon Center is a modern skyscraper in the Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, United States, designed by architect firms Edward Durell Stone and The Perkins and Will partnership, and completed in 1973 as the Standard Oil Building...
. CHASE
Chase (bank)
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
Bank has its commercial and retail banking headquarters in Chase Tower
Chase Tower (Chicago)
Chase Tower, located in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago at 10 South Dearborn Street, is a 60 story skyscraper completed in 1969. At 850 feet tall, it is the tenth tallest building in Chicago, the tallest building inside the Chicago 'L' Loop elevated tracks, and the 32nd tallest in the United...
. Exelon
Exelon
Exelon Corporation is an electricity generating and distributing company headquartered in the Chase Tower in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago. It was created in October, 2000 by the merger of PECO Energy Company and Unicom, of Philadelphia and Chicago respectively. Unicom owned Commonwealth Edison...
also has its headquarters in the Chase Tower
Chase Tower (Chicago)
Chase Tower, located in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago at 10 South Dearborn Street, is a 60 story skyscraper completed in 1969. At 850 feet tall, it is the tenth tallest building in Chicago, the tallest building inside the Chicago 'L' Loop elevated tracks, and the 32nd tallest in the United...
. United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
has its headquarters in 77 West Wacker Drive
77 West Wacker Drive
77 West Wacker Drive, also known as the United Building, is an office building in the Loop, Chicago. Finished in 1992, the building rises to a height of 668 ft with around of interior space. The building, with 51 floors, was designed by Ricardo Bofill...
. United moved its headquarters to Chicago from Elk Grove Township, Illinois in early 2007. In addition United's parent company, United Continental Holdings
United Continental Holdings
United Continental Holdings, Inc. , is a publicly traded airline holding company, incorporated in Delaware with headquarters in the United Building in Chicago, Illinois. UCH owns and operates United Airlines, Inc. and Continental Airlines, Inc. both of which use the trade name United Airlines...
, also has its headquarters in 77 West Wacker. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a federation of 39 separate health insurance organizations and companies in the United States. Combined, they directly or indirectly provide health insurance to over 100 million Americans. The history of Blue Cross dates back to 1929, while the history of...
has its headquarters in the Michigan Plaza
Michigan Plaza
Michigan Plaza is an office complex in Chicago Loop area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The complex is managed by MB Real Estate.The complex consists of the 44 story 205 North Michigan Avenue and the 25 story 225 North Michigan Avenue...
complex. Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin LLP, formerly known as Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, is one of the oldest law firms in the world. It is the sixth-largest U.S.-based corporate law firm with more than 1,650 lawyers, annual revenues of more than one billion dollars, and offices in 17 cities worldwide, with the most...
has its headquarters in the One South Dearborn
One South Dearborn
One South Dearborn is a 571 ft tall skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed from 2003 to 2005 and has 39 floors. DeStefano Keating Partners designed the building, which is the 47th tallest in Chicago. The current anchor tenant is Sidley Austin LLP, which moved into One South...
building in the Chicago Loop. Morton Salt
Morton Salt
Morton Salt is a United States company producing salt for food, water conditioning, industrial, agricultural, and road/highway use. Based in Chicago, the business is North America's leading producer and marketer of salt. It is a subsidiary of the German company K+S.-History:The company began in...
has its headquarters in the Chicago Loop.
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization promoting business in the Chicago metropolitan area of the United States. The Chamber is a voice at local, state and national levels for approximately 2,600 member companies and their 1.3 million employees...
is located in an office in the Aon Center, the French-American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago has an office in 35 East Wacker
35 East Wacker
__notoc__35 East Wacker, also known as the Jewelers' Building, is a 40-story historic building in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, located at the intersections of Wabash Avenue, and facing the Chicago River. It was built from 1925 to 1927, and was co-designed by Joachim G. Giaver and...
, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in the United States is located in an office at 303 East Wacker Drive, and the US Mexico Chamber of Commerce Mid-America Chapter is located in an office in One Prudential Plaza
One Prudential Plaza
One Prudential Plaza is a 41-story structure in Chicago completed in 1955 as the headquarters for Prudential's Mid-America company...
.
Previously the grocery store company Red & White
Red & White (food stores)
Red & White Corporation is a chain of independently owned and operated food stores operating in the United States. While it has been supplanted by supermarket chains in many of its locations, its signature red dot logo with the words Red & White can still be found on small independent grocers in...
once had its headquarters in the Loop. McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
was headquartered in the Chicago Loop until 1971, when it moved to Oak Brook, Illinois
Oak Brook, Illinois
Oak Brook is a village in DuPage and Cook Counties, in Illinois. The population was 8,702 at the 2000 census. A suburb of Chicago, it is the headquarters of McDonald's and Lions Clubs International.-History:...
. When Bank One Corporation
Bank One Corporation
Some of the banks that were merged into these banks include:*Bank One**Security National Bank & Trust **Affiliated Bankshares of Colorado **American Fletcher Corp. **City National Bank and Trust Co...
existed, its headquarters were in the Bank One Plaza (now Chase Tower). When Amoco
Amoco
Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company , was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States....
existed, its headquarters were in the Amoco Building (now the Aon Center).
Diplomatic missions
Several countries maintain consulates in the Chicago Loop. They include ArgentinaDiplomatic missions of Argentina
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Argentina, excluding honorary consulates.-Europe:** Yerevan ** Vienna ** Brussels ** Sofia ** Prague ** Copenhagen ** Helsinki...
, Australia, Brazil Canada
Diplomatic missions of Canada
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Canada. Canada has an extensive diplomatic network, maintained by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. As a Commonwealth nation, Canada's diplomatic missions in the capitals of other commonwealth nations are referred to as High Commissions...
, Costa Rica
Diplomatic missions of Costa Rica
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Costa Rica. Costa Rica is one of the more developed countries in Latin America, and has a moderate sized number of diplomatic missions abroad...
, the Czech Republic, Ecuador
Diplomatic missions of Ecuador
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Ecuador, excluding honorary consulates.-Europe:** Vienna ** Brussels ** Paris ** Berlin ** Hamburg ** Vatican City ** Budapest...
, El Salvador
Diplomatic missions of El Salvador
This is a list of diplomatic missions of El Salvador, excluding honorary consulates. El Salvador is a small Central American country with a modest number of diplomatic missions abroad....
, France, Guatemala
Diplomatic missions of Guatemala
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Guatemala, excluding honorary consulates. Guatemala is a small Central American country.-Europe:** Vienna ** Brussels ** Paris ** Berlin ** Vatican City...
, Haiti
Diplomatic missions of Haiti
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Haiti, excluding honorary consulates. Haiti occupies the western half of the island of Hispaniola.-Europe:** Brussels ** Paris ** Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe...
, Indonesia
Diplomatic missions of Indonesia
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Indonesia, excluding honorary consulates. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, holds significant diplomatic weight in Southeast Asia, the Non-Aligned Movement and within the Islamic world.-Europe:...
, Israel, the Republic of Macedonia, the Netherlands
Diplomatic missions of the Netherlands
This is a list of diplomatic missions of the Netherlands, excluding honorary consulates.-Europe:** Tirana ** Vienna ** Baku ** Brussels ** Antwerp ** Ghent...
, Pakistan, India, Peru
Diplomatic missions of Peru
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Peru, excluding honorary consulates.-Europe:** Vienna ** Brussels ** Prague ** Helsinki ** Paris ** Berlin ** Frankfurt...
, the Philippines
Diplomatic missions of the Philippines
This is a list of diplomatic missions of the Philippines. The Philippines has a wide network of diplomatic missions in major cities around the world to forward Philippine interests in the areas that they serve, as well as to serve the ever-growing numbers of Overseas Filipinos...
, South Africa
Diplomatic missions of South Africa
This is a list of diplomatic missions of South Africa. South Africa dramatically expanded its diplomatic presence globally, especially in Africa, in the immediate years after the end of apartheid...
, Turkey
Diplomatic missions of Turkey
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Turkey, excluding honorary consulates. In 1793, the first permanent Turkish embassy was established by Selim III in London....
, and Venezuela
Diplomatic missions of Venezuela
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Venezuela, excluding honorary consulates.- Africa :** Algiers ** Luanda ** Brazzaville ** Cotonou ** Cairo ** Malabo ** Addis Ababa...
. In addition the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office
A Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office , sometimes known as a Taipei Economic and Cultural Office or a Taipei Representative Office , is a representative office, established by the Republic of China in countries that have diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China...
of the Republic of China
Diplomatic missions of the Republic of China
This is a list of diplomatic missions of the Republic of China. Due to the fierce competition between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China for diplomatic recognition, the ROC only maintains a handful of full-fledged diplomatic missions abroad...
is in the Chicago Loop.
Education
Colleges and universities
Roosevelt UniversityRoosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a coeducational, private university with campuses in Chicago, Illinois and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university is named in honor of both former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university's curriculum is based on...
, Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
, and Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy
Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy
Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy is an accredited, for-profit private college located in Chicago, Illinois, offering two-year degree programs in digital arts and entertainment technologies...
are all located in the Chicago Loop. DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
also has a campus in the Loop.
National-Louis University
National-Louis University
National–Louis University is a private non-profit American university. NLU has campuses in and near Chicago, Illinois, as well as in Wisconsin, Florida, and Nowy Sącz, Poland. Many NLU courses and programs are also offered at-a-distance. The university practices multi-campus, at-a-distance, and...
is located in the historic Peoples Gas Building
Peoples Gas Building
The Peoples Gas Building is located on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Adams Street in the Michigan Boulevard Historic District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. This 21-story office building was built from 1910 to 1911 and designed by D.H. Burnham & Company. The building was...
on Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue may refer to:* Michigan Avenue * Michigan Avenue , a designation for much of both current and former U.S. Route 12 in Michigan...
across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the nation's largest independent schools of art and design, is headquartered in Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
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Harold Washington College
Harold Washington College
Harold Washington College is a community college within the City Colleges of Chicago system of Chicago, Illinois. It is located in the Loop at 30 E Lake St...
is a City Colleges of Chicago
City Colleges of Chicago
The City Colleges of Chicago is a system of seven community colleges which provide learning opportunities for Chicago residents at the schools or online, and also members of the US military through the Navy Campus to enhance their knowledge and skills. Student enrollment was 115,000 in 2007...
community college located in the Loop. Adler School of Professional Psychology is a college located in the Loop.
Robert Morris University (Illinois) is located here. Argosy University
Argosy University
Argosy University is a for-profit university owned by Education Management Corporation, with 19 locations in 13 U.S. states and online. The university offers numerous programs at various levels, including certification; associates, bachelors, masters, specialist, and doctoral degrees, postdoctoral...
has its head offices on the thirteenth floor of 205 North Michigan Avenue in Michigan Plaza
Michigan Plaza
Michigan Plaza is an office complex in Chicago Loop area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The complex is managed by MB Real Estate.The complex consists of the 44 story 205 North Michigan Avenue and the 25 story 225 North Michigan Avenue...
. Harrington College of Design is located at 200 West Madison Street after relocating from the Merchandise Mart. Trinity Christian College
Trinity Christian College
Trinity Christian College is a liberal arts college located in Palos Heights, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago. The college was founded in 1959 by a group of Chicago businessmen who wanted to establish a college providing students with a Christian higher education in a Reformed tradition...
offers an accelerated teaching certification program at 1550 S. State Street in the South Loop.
Primary and secondary schools
Chicago Public SchoolsChicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools, commonly abbreviated as CPS by local residents and politicians and officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, is a large school district that manages over 600 public elementary and high schools in Chicago, Illinois...
serves residents of the Chicago Loop. Its main administrative offices are in the 125 South Clark Street Building in the Chicago Loop.
Some residents are zoned to the South Loop School in the Chicago Loop, while some are zoned to the Ogden School. Some residents are zoned to Phillips Academy High School, while others are zoned to Wells Community Academy High School
Wells Community Academy High School
Wells Community Academy High School is a 4-year public high school located in the West Town neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. Wells serves grades 9 through 12, and is a part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299...
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Jones College Prep High School
Jones College Prep High School
William Jones College Preparatory, commonly known as Jones College Prep, is a four-year selective enrollment prep school located in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
, a public, selective enrollment school is also located here. Muchin College prep (1 of the 10 Noble Charter Schools) is located right in the heart of the city where the North, South, East, and West side meet.
Notable landmarks in the Chicago Loop
- Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
- Auditorium Building
- Buckingham FountainBuckingham FountainBuckingham Fountain is a Chicago landmark in the center of Grant Park. Dedicated in 1927, it is one of the largest fountains in the world. Built in a rococo wedding cake style and inspired by the Latona Fountain at the Palace of Versailles, it is meant to allegorically represent Lake Michigan...
- Carbide & Carbon BuildingCarbide & Carbon BuildingThe Carbide & Carbon Building is a Chicago landmark located at 230 N. Michigan Avenue. The building, which was built in 1929, is an example of Art Deco architecture designed by Daniel and Hubert Burnham, sons of architect Daniel Burnham, and was designated a Chicago Landmark on May 9, 1996...
- Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company BuildingCarson, Pirie, Scott and Company BuildingThe Sullivan Center, formerly known as the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building or Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Store, is a commercial building at 1 South State Street at the corner of East Madison Street in Chicago, Illinois. It was designed by Louis Sullivan for the retail firm...
- Chicago Board of Trade BuildingChicago Board of Trade BuildingThe Chicago Board of Trade Building is a skyscraper located in :Chicago, Illinois, United States. It stands at 141 W. Jackson Boulevard at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon, in the Loop community area in Cook County. Built in 1930 and first designated a Chicago Landmark on May 4, 1977, the...
- Chicago TheatreChicago TheatreThe Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother...
- Chicago Cultural CenterChicago Cultural CenterThe Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building that houses the city's official reception venue where the Mayor of Chicago has welcomed Presidents and royalty, diplomats and community leaders. It is located in the Loop, across Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park...
- Chicago City HallChicago City HallChicago City Hall is the official seat of government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. Adjacent to the Richard J. Daley Center and the James R...
- Civic Opera House
- Field Building
- Fine Arts BuildingFine Arts Building (Chicago)The ten-story Fine Arts Building, also known as the Studebaker Building, is located on Michigan Avenue across from Grant Park in Chicago in the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. It was built for the Studebaker company in 1884–5 by Solon Spencer Beman, and extensively remodeled...
- Grant ParkGrant Park (Chicago)Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
- Jewelers Row District
- Mather TowerMather TowerMather Tower is a Neo-Gothic, terra cotta-clad high-rise structure in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
- McCormick PlaceMcCormick PlaceMcCormick Place is the largest convention center in the United States. It is made up of four interconnected buildings sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about 4 km south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows, including the Chicago Auto Show,...
- Historic Michigan Boulevard DistrictMichigan Avenue (Chicago)Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
- Monadnock BuildingMonadnock BuildingThe Monadnock Building , is a skyscraper located at 53 West Jackson Boulevard in the south Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The north half of the building was designed by the firm of Burnham & Root and built in 1891...
- The Palmer House
- Printing House RowPrinter's Row, ChicagoPrinter's Row, also known as Printing House Row, is a neighborhood located south of the Chicago downtown area known as the Loop. It is bounded by Congress Parkway on the north, Polk Street on the south, Plymouth Court on the east, and the Chicago River on the west. This neighborhood overlaps...
- Reliance BuildingReliance BuildingThe Reliance Building is a skyscraper located at 32 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The first floor and basement were designed by John Root of the Burnham and Root architectural firm in 1890, with the rest of the building completed by Charles B. Atwood in 1895...
- Rookery BuildingRookery BuildingThe Rookery Building is a historic landmark located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Completed by John Wellborn Root and Daniel Burnham of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiece buildings. It once housed the office of the...
- Symphony CenterSymphony CenterSymphony Center is a music complex located at 220 South Michigan Avenue in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta, Symphony Center includes the 2,522-seat Orchestra Hall, which dates from 1904; Buntrock Hall, a rehearsal and...
- home of the Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago Symphony OrchestraThe Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival... - Willis Tower - formerly the Sears Tower