Wolf Point, Chicago
Encyclopedia
Wolf Point is the location at the confluence of the North, South and Main Branches of the Chicago River
in the present day Near North Side
, Loop, and Near West Side
community areas
of Chicago. This fork in the river is historically important in the development of early Chicago. This was the location of Chicago's first three tavern
s, its first hotel, Sauganash Hotel
, its first ferry, its first drug store and the first bridges across the Chicago River. The name is said to possibly derive from a Native American Chief whose name translated to wolf, but alternate theories exist.
Historically, the west bank of the river at the fork was called "Wolf Point," but in the 1820s and 1830s it came to denote the entire area and the settlement that grew up around the fork. Wolf Point is now often used more specifically to refer to a plot of land on the north side of the fork in the Near North Side community area that is owned by the Kennedy family
as part of the larger Merchandise Mart Center complex. Today the north bank at the fork is used for a parking lot, the west bank includes a condominium high rise and railroad tracks, and the south bank serves as the transition point of Wacker Drive from an east-west street to a north-south street.
states that 'the place was then called Wolf Point, from its having been the residence of an Indian named "Moa-way," or "the Wolf."' Other alternate explanations are that it was so-named after the landlord of what would later be called the Wolf Point Tavern killed a ferocious wolf and hung a painted sign of a wolf outside his tavern to commemorate the event, or that it was named by a soldier at Fort Dearborn
because it was a place where wolves would gather at night. Originally the term Wolf Point referred to the west bank of the Chicago River at the fork junction of its branches, but it gradually came to refer to the whole region around the forks and in modern usage is often more specifically used to mean the plot of land on the north side of the forks. The confluence of the three branches of the river near Wolf Point provided inspiration for Chicago's Municipal Device, a Y-shaped, city identification symbol that can be seen on many buildings in Chicago, and on city owned vehicles.
, who first arrived in Chicago on October 1, 1818, stated that he had been told of Guarie by Antoine De Champs and Antoine Beson, who had been traversing the Chicago Portage
annually since about 1778. Hubbard wrote that De Champs had shown him evidence of a trading house and the remains of a cornfield supposed to have belonged to Guarie. The cornfield was located on the west bank of the North Branch of the Chicago River, a short distance from the forks at what is now Fulton Street; early settlers named the North Branch of the Chicago River the Guarie River, or Gary's River.
James Kinzie, the son of early settler John Kinzie
, built a tavern on the west bank of the river at Wolf Point in 1828. By 1829 this tavern was operated for Kinzie by Archibald Caldwell who was granted a liquor license on December 8 of that year. Caldwell left Chicago early in 1830 and Elijah Wentworth became the landlord of the tavern. He was in turn succeeded by Charles Taylor (1831–1833) and William Walters (1833–1836). The tavern became known as the 'Wolf Point Tavern' or 'Wolf Tavern' and a painted sign of a wolf was hung outside the tavern by approximately 1833.
In about 1829, Samuel Miller and his brother John opened a store on the north bank of the river at the forks. In 1830, they enlarged their store and began to operate it as a tavern in competition with the Wolf Point Tavern. On June 2, 1829 Samuel Miller and Archibald Clybourn had been authorized to operate the first ferry across the Chicago River. Clybourn was the ferry man, crossing the North Branch of the river between Miller's tavern and the Wolf Point Tavern. In 1831 John Miller built a log house near his brother's tavern that he used as a tannery; Chicago's first recorded factory. Samuel Miller sold the tavern and moved away following the death of his wife in 1832.
Mark Beaubien opened the Eagle Exchange Tavern in a log cabin on the south bank in 1829. In 1831 Beaubien added a frame
addition and opened the Sauganash Hotel, Chicago's first hotel. Immediately adjacent to the hotel's public bar was Chicago's first drug store. Beaubien left the Sauganash Hotel in 1834, but the hotel continued in operation until it was destroyed by a fire in 1851. The site of the Sauganash Hotel was redeveloped as the Wigwam
in 1860; the site today is at 191 North Wacker and is designated as a Chicago Landmark
.
James Kinzie built the Green Tree Tavern at the northeastern corner of Canal and Lake Streets in 1833. The tavern went through a succession of owners and name changes before being moved in 1880 to 33, 35, and 37 Milwaukee Avenue. In 1902 plans were made to preserve the building and move it to Garfield Park, however the hotel collapsed before work could start on this project.
Archibald Clybourn's ferry across the North Branch of the river was replaced by a bridge in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and a bridge across the South Branch of the river located between Lake and Randolph Streets was added in the winter of 1832 and 1833. Early settlers J. D. Caton, John Bates, Charles Cleaver, and John Noble wrote in a letter in the fall of 1883 that both of these bridges were constructed of logs; they were about 10 feet (3 m) wide, and cleared the river by about 6 feet (1.8 m).
opened in 1848, the landmass at Wolf Point was decreased by dredging to accommodate a turning basin
for ships. In the autumn of the same year the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad
opened Chicago's first railroad depot at Wolf Point, on the southwestern corner of Kinzie and Canal Streets. By 1857 the site of Wolf Point Tavern was being used as a lumber yard; the Fulton Elevator, one of Chicago's earliest grain elevators, was built just to the north of the former tavern in 1852. Several blocks to the west of Wolf Point were destroyed in a large fire on September 15, 1859. The Fulton Elevator survived this, and the Great Chicago Fire
of 1871, but was burned down on September 7, 1873. It was rebuilt in the same year, and another grain elevator, the St Paul Elevator, was added immediately to the south of the original in 1879. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway company
purchased both elevators in 1889 for $400,000 ($ million today), but demolished them in 1906. Currently, the site is occupied by the Riverbend Condominiums at 333 North Canal Street.
The property on the north bank of the river at Wolf Point was owned by businessman Marshall Field
until it was sold to Democratic Party figure and Kennedy family
patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy in 1945 or 1946, depending on the source. Although the Kennedy family sold much of the complex center property to Vornado Realty Trust
in 1998 as part of a larger $625 million ($ million) transaction, the family retained their interest in the 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of Wolf Point land. The area still owned by the Kennedy family is bounded by the Chicago River to the east, west, south and 350 West Mart Center
to the north. The Merchandise Mart
is located diagonally to the northeast. The location is currently used as a parking lot
. There have been numerous plans to develop the property dating back to the late 1980s. In 2007, the Kennedys planned to develop the property with three high-rises and skyscraper
s to designs by Argentine-American architect
César Pelli
. The property is a coveted real estate location that has had several serious redevelopment plans in the past.
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...
in the present day Near North Side
Near North Side, Chicago
The Near North Side is one of 77 well-defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located north and east of the Chicago River, just north of the central business district . To its east is Lake Michigan and its northern boundary is the 19th-century city limit of Chicago,...
, Loop, and Near West Side
Near West Side, Chicago
The Near West Side, one of the 77 defined community areas of Chicago, is located , adjacent to the downtown central business district . The rich history of the Near West Side of Chicago has its genesis in the Hull House phenomenon...
community areas
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...
of Chicago. This fork in the river is historically important in the development of early Chicago. This was the location of Chicago's first three tavern
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
s, its first hotel, Sauganash Hotel
Sauganash Hotel
Sauganash Hotel is a former hotel; regarded as the first hotel in Chicago, Illinois. It was located at Wolf Point in the present day Loop community area at the intersection of the north, south and main branches of the Chicago River...
, its first ferry, its first drug store and the first bridges across the Chicago River. The name is said to possibly derive from a Native American Chief whose name translated to wolf, but alternate theories exist.
Historically, the west bank of the river at the fork was called "Wolf Point," but in the 1820s and 1830s it came to denote the entire area and the settlement that grew up around the fork. Wolf Point is now often used more specifically to refer to a plot of land on the north side of the fork in the Near North Side community area that is owned by the Kennedy family
Kennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
as part of the larger Merchandise Mart Center complex. Today the north bank at the fork is used for a parking lot, the west bank includes a condominium high rise and railroad tracks, and the south bank serves as the transition point of Wacker Drive from an east-west street to a north-south street.
Background
The origin of the name, Wolf Point, is unknown. In her 1856 memoir Wau-Bun, Juliette KinzieJuliette Augusta Magill Kinzie
Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie was an American, historian, writer and pioneer of the American midwest.-Biography:...
states that 'the place was then called Wolf Point, from its having been the residence of an Indian named "Moa-way," or "the Wolf."' Other alternate explanations are that it was so-named after the landlord of what would later be called the Wolf Point Tavern killed a ferocious wolf and hung a painted sign of a wolf outside his tavern to commemorate the event, or that it was named by a soldier at 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...
because it was a place where wolves would gather at night. Originally the term Wolf Point referred to the west bank of the Chicago River at the fork junction of its branches, but it gradually came to refer to the whole region around the forks and in modern usage is often more specifically used to mean the plot of land on the north side of the forks. The confluence of the three branches of the river near Wolf Point provided inspiration for Chicago's Municipal Device, a Y-shaped, city identification symbol that can be seen on many buildings in Chicago, and on city owned vehicles.
Early Settlement
The first non-indigenous settler at Wolf Point may have been a trader named Guarie. Writing in 1880 Gurdon HubbardGurdon Saltonstall Hubbard
Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard was an American fur trader, insurance underwriter and land speculator. Hubbard first arrived in Chicago on October 1, 1818 as a voyageur...
, who first arrived in Chicago on October 1, 1818, stated that he had been told of Guarie by Antoine De Champs and Antoine Beson, who had been traversing the Chicago Portage
Chicago Portage
The Chicago Portage connects the watersheds and the navigable waterways of the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. It crosses the continental divide that separates the Great Lakes and Gulf of St. Lawrence watersheds from the Gulf of Mexico watershed.Near Chicago, the St...
annually since about 1778. Hubbard wrote that De Champs had shown him evidence of a trading house and the remains of a cornfield supposed to have belonged to Guarie. The cornfield was located on the west bank of the North Branch of the Chicago River, a short distance from the forks at what is now Fulton Street; early settlers named the North Branch of the Chicago River the Guarie River, or Gary's River.
James Kinzie, the son of early settler John Kinzie
John Kinzie
John Kinzie was one of Chicago's first permanent European settlers. Kinzie Street in Chicago is named after him.-Early life:...
, built a tavern on the west bank of the river at Wolf Point in 1828. By 1829 this tavern was operated for Kinzie by Archibald Caldwell who was granted a liquor license on December 8 of that year. Caldwell left Chicago early in 1830 and Elijah Wentworth became the landlord of the tavern. He was in turn succeeded by Charles Taylor (1831–1833) and William Walters (1833–1836). The tavern became known as the 'Wolf Point Tavern' or 'Wolf Tavern' and a painted sign of a wolf was hung outside the tavern by approximately 1833.
In about 1829, Samuel Miller and his brother John opened a store on the north bank of the river at the forks. In 1830, they enlarged their store and began to operate it as a tavern in competition with the Wolf Point Tavern. On June 2, 1829 Samuel Miller and Archibald Clybourn had been authorized to operate the first ferry across the Chicago River. Clybourn was the ferry man, crossing the North Branch of the river between Miller's tavern and the Wolf Point Tavern. In 1831 John Miller built a log house near his brother's tavern that he used as a tannery; Chicago's first recorded factory. Samuel Miller sold the tavern and moved away following the death of his wife in 1832.
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
addition and opened the Sauganash Hotel, Chicago's first hotel. Immediately adjacent to the hotel's public bar was Chicago's first drug store. Beaubien left the Sauganash Hotel in 1834, but the hotel continued in operation until it was destroyed by a fire in 1851. The site of the Sauganash Hotel was redeveloped as the Wigwam
Wigwam (Chicago)
The Wigwam was a convention center and meeting hall that served as the site of the 1860 Republican National Convention. It was located in Chicago, Illinois at Lake Street and Market near the Chicago River. This site had previously been the site of the Sauganash Hotel, Chicago's first hotel...
in 1860; the site today is at 191 North Wacker and is designated as a 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,...
.
James Kinzie built the Green Tree Tavern at the northeastern corner of Canal and Lake Streets in 1833. The tavern went through a succession of owners and name changes before being moved in 1880 to 33, 35, and 37 Milwaukee Avenue. In 1902 plans were made to preserve the building and move it to Garfield Park, however the hotel collapsed before work could start on this project.
Archibald Clybourn's ferry across the North Branch of the river was replaced by a bridge in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and a bridge across the South Branch of the river located between Lake and Randolph Streets was added in the winter of 1832 and 1833. Early settlers J. D. Caton, John Bates, Charles Cleaver, and John Noble wrote in a letter in the fall of 1883 that both of these bridges were constructed of logs; they were about 10 feet (3 m) wide, and cleared the river by about 6 feet (1.8 m).
Development
When the Illinois and Michigan CanalIllinois and Michigan Canal
The Illinois and Michigan Canal ran from the Bridgeport neighborhood in Chicago on the Chicago River to LaSalle-Peru, Illinois, on the Illinois River. It was finished in 1848 when Chicago Mayor James Hutchinson Woodworth presided over its opening; and it allowed boat transportation from the Great...
opened in 1848, the landmass at Wolf Point was decreased by dredging to accommodate a turning basin
Canal basin
A canal basin is an expanse of waterway alongside or at the end of a canal, and wider than the canal, constructed to allow boats to moor or unload cargo without impeding the progress of other traffic, and to allow room for turning, thus serving as a winding hole...
for ships. In the autumn of the same year the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad
Galena and Chicago Union Railroad
The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was a railroad running west from Chicago to Clinton, Iowa and Freeport, Illinois, never reaching Galena, Illinois...
opened Chicago's first railroad depot at Wolf Point, on the southwestern corner of Kinzie and Canal Streets. By 1857 the site of Wolf Point Tavern was being used as a lumber yard; the Fulton Elevator, one of Chicago's earliest grain elevators, was built just to the north of the former tavern in 1852. Several blocks to the west of Wolf Point were destroyed in a large fire on September 15, 1859. The Fulton Elevator survived this, and the Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
of 1871, but was burned down on September 7, 1873. It was rebuilt in the same year, and another grain elevator, the St Paul Elevator, was added immediately to the south of the original in 1879. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway company
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...
purchased both elevators in 1889 for $400,000 ($ million today), but demolished them in 1906. Currently, the site is occupied by the Riverbend Condominiums at 333 North Canal Street.
The property on the north bank of the river at Wolf Point was owned by businessman Marshall Field
Marshall Field
Marshall Field was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.-Life and career:...
until it was sold to Democratic Party figure and Kennedy family
Kennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy in 1945 or 1946, depending on the source. Although the Kennedy family sold much of the complex center property to Vornado Realty Trust
Vornado Realty Trust
Vornado Realty Trust is a New York based real estate investment trust. It is the inheritor of real estate formerly controlled by companies including Two Guys and Alexander's.- History :...
in 1998 as part of a larger $625 million ($ million) transaction, the family retained their interest in the 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of Wolf Point land. The area still owned by the Kennedy family is bounded by the Chicago River to the east, west, south and 350 West Mart Center
350 West Mart Center
350 West Mart Center is the official name of the 24-floor multipurpose building located in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, at the intersection of the North Branch and the Main Branch of the Chicago River. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1977, the building is located in the...
to the north. The Merchandise Mart
Merchandise Mart
When opened in 1930, the Merchandise Mart or the Merch Mart, located in the Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois, was the largest building in the world with of floor space. Previously owned by the Marshall Field family, the Mart centralized Chicago's wholesale goods business by consolidating vendors...
is located diagonally to the northeast. The location is currently used as a parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
. There have been numerous plans to develop the property dating back to the late 1980s. In 2007, the Kennedys planned to develop the property with three high-rises and 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...
s to designs by Argentine-American architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
César Pelli
César Pelli
César Pelli is an Argentine architect known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects listed Pelli among the ten most influential living American architects...
. The property is a coveted real estate location that has had several serious redevelopment plans in the past.