Lincoln Park Conservatory
Encyclopedia
The Lincoln Park Conservatory (1.2 ha / 3 acres) is a conservatory
and botanical garden
in Lincoln Park
in Chicago
, Illinois
. The conservatory is situated at 2391 North Stockton Drive just south of Fullerton Avenue, west of Lake Shore Drive
, and part of the Lincoln Park, Chicago
community area
. Positioned near the shore of Lake Michigan
, it is just north of the Lincoln Park Zoo
. The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool
and the North Pond Nature Sanctuary are further to the north along Stockton Drive. Along with the Garfield Park Conservatory
on Chicago's west side, it provides significant horticultural collections, educational programs and community out-reach efforts.
Conservatories were originally benevolent establishments attached to hospitals or other charitable or religious institutions. They provided plants and organisms for medicinal use and research. Nineteenth-century city dwellers, concerned with the ill effects of growing industrialization, became fascinated with horticulture
. In Chicago, three park commissions were organized in 1869 and, by 1895, Chicago had five conservatories
The Lincoln Park
Commission established a greenhouse
at the Lincoln Park site in 1877 and planted an adjacent formal garden in 1880. With the Industrial Revolution
, architects in both the U.S. and Europe began to use glass and iron in construction. Nationally renowned architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee
designed the Victorian
conservatory in collaboration with another Chicago architect, M.E. Bell. They created a glass building that would support "a luxuriant tropical growth, blending the whole into a natural grouping of Nature's loveliest forms." Silsbee gave the conservatory an exotic form by creating a series of trusses in the shape of ogee
arches.
s and rubber trees, including a 15 m (50 ft) fiddle-leaf rubber tree planted in 1891. In the Palm House, one can also find Garden Figure, a sculpture by Frederick Hibbard
. The Fern Room or Fernery, approximately five and a half feet below grade, was opened in 1895. It contains plants of the forest floor, primarily a vast collection of fern
s. The Tropical Room was originally called the stove house. Opened in 1895, it contained an assortment of tropical plants suspended from bark-covered walls. It is now called the Orchid Room and has a collection of approximately 25,000 natural species. The Display House is used for seasonal flower exhibits.
, the famous German poet. It was cast in Stuttgart, Germany and erected in 1886 by a group known as Chicago Citizens of German Descent. The original work is regarded as the masterpiece of its sculptor, Ernst Bildhauer Rau. To the west, the William Shakespeare Monument by William Ordway Partridge
sits in an old English garden. Installed in 1894, it was purchased through a bequest from Samuel Johnston
, a Chicago real estate and railway tycoon.
were removed and the entryway's original gabled roof was replaced with the bell-shaped roof that exists today. A new and expanded lobby space was constructed. The front of the conservatory was altered and expanded again in 1954 to provide public washrooms and create a solid entryway vestibule.
Conservatory (greenhouse)
A conservatory is a room having glass roof and walls, typically attached to a house on only one side, used as a greenhouse or a sunroom...
and botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
in Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park is an urban park in Chicago, which gave its name to the Lincoln Park, Chicago community area.Lincoln Park may also refer to:-Urban parks:*Lincoln Park , California*Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California...
in 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...
, 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 conservatory is situated at 2391 North Stockton Drive just south of Fullerton Avenue, west of Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
, and part of the Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
community area
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...
. Positioned near the shore of 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...
, it is just north of the Lincoln Park Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo is a free zoo located in Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868, making it one of the oldest zoos in the nation. The zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums ....
. The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool
Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool
-Notes:...
and the North Pond Nature Sanctuary are further to the north along Stockton Drive. Along with the Garfield Park Conservatory
Garfield Park Conservatory
Garfield Park is a site located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. It was designed as a pleasure ground by William LeBaron Jenney and is the oldest of the three great original Chicago West Side parks .It is home to the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest and...
on Chicago's west side, it provides significant horticultural collections, educational programs and community out-reach efforts.
Conservatories were originally benevolent establishments attached to hospitals or other charitable or religious institutions. They provided plants and organisms for medicinal use and research. Nineteenth-century city dwellers, concerned with the ill effects of growing industrialization, became fascinated with horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
. In Chicago, three park commissions were organized in 1869 and, by 1895, Chicago had five conservatories
Architects
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park is an urban park in Chicago, which gave its name to the Lincoln Park, Chicago community area.Lincoln Park may also refer to:-Urban parks:*Lincoln Park , California*Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California...
Commission established a greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
at the Lincoln Park site in 1877 and planted an adjacent formal garden in 1880. With the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, architects in both the U.S. and Europe began to use glass and iron in construction. Nationally renowned architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee
Joseph Lyman Silsbee
Joseph Lyman Silsbee was a significant American architect during the 19th and 20th centuries. He was well known for his facility of drawing and gift for designing buildings in a variety of styles.his most prominent works ran through Syracuse, Buffalo and Chicago He was influential as mentor to a...
designed the Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
conservatory in collaboration with another Chicago architect, M.E. Bell. They created a glass building that would support "a luxuriant tropical growth, blending the whole into a natural grouping of Nature's loveliest forms." Silsbee gave the conservatory an exotic form by creating a series of trusses in the shape of ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
arches.
Halls
Today's conservatory was built in stages from 1890-1895. It consists of a vestibule, four display halls and fifteen propagating and growing houses. The vestibule and Palm House were built and opened to the public in 1892 and contain giant palmArecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
s and rubber trees, including a 15 m (50 ft) fiddle-leaf rubber tree planted in 1891. In the Palm House, one can also find Garden Figure, a sculpture by Frederick Hibbard
Frederick Hibbard
Frederick Cleveland Hibbard Chicago based American sculptor, born in Canton, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Missouri before deciding to be a sculptor and becoming a pupil of Lorado Taft's at the Art Institute of Chicago...
. The Fern Room or Fernery, approximately five and a half feet below grade, was opened in 1895. It contains plants of the forest floor, primarily a vast collection of fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s. The Tropical Room was originally called the stove house. Opened in 1895, it contained an assortment of tropical plants suspended from bark-covered walls. It is now called the Orchid Room and has a collection of approximately 25,000 natural species. The Display House is used for seasonal flower exhibits.
Surrounding gardens
Throughout the long history of the conservatory, there has been an important relationship between the structure and its surrounding landscape. Twelve beds of colorful summer annuals and tropical plants surround Storks at Play, also known as the Eli Bates Fountain, by sculptors Augustus St. Gaudens and Frederick MacMonnies. This large formal garden is located just south of the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Called the Great Garden, it is one of the oldest public gardens in Chicago and pre-dates the present conservatory by 20 years. The Lincoln Park Commission installed the fountain in 1887. The Schiller Monument, at the south end of the garden, is a copy of an original monument to Friedrich SchillerFriedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, the famous German poet. It was cast in Stuttgart, Germany and erected in 1886 by a group known as Chicago Citizens of German Descent. The original work is regarded as the masterpiece of its sculptor, Ernst Bildhauer Rau. To the west, the William Shakespeare Monument by William Ordway Partridge
William Ordway Partridge
William Ordway Partridge was an American sculptor whose public commissions can be found in New York City and other locations....
sits in an old English garden. Installed in 1894, it was purchased through a bequest from Samuel Johnston
Samuel Johnston
Samuel Johnston was an American planter, lawyer, and statesman from Chowan County, North Carolina. He represented North Carolina in both the Continental Congress and the United States Senate, and was the sixth Governor of North Carolina.-Early Life and Revolutionary Politics:Johnston was born in...
, a Chicago real estate and railway tycoon.
Alterations
The Lincoln Park Conservatory underwent major alterations in 1925. The original terrace and the front vestibuleVestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
were removed and the entryway's original gabled roof was replaced with the bell-shaped roof that exists today. A new and expanded lobby space was constructed. The front of the conservatory was altered and expanded again in 1954 to provide public washrooms and create a solid entryway vestibule.
See also
- Garfield Park ConservatoryGarfield Park ConservatoryGarfield Park is a site located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. It was designed as a pleasure ground by William LeBaron Jenney and is the oldest of the three great original Chicago West Side parks .It is home to the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest and...
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- List of museums and cultural institutions in Chicago