Loop Alleys and L Tracks

The intersection of North Wabash Avenue and East Lake Street sits directly beneath the massive, rust-colored steel girders of the Chicago Union Loop. This track structure carries the elevated trains, casting the street level into a…

West Couch Place is a narrow, unremarkable alley tucked between the grand theaters of Chicago’s Loop. Its name commemorates the Couch family, who once owned a significant portion of this district, including the Tremont House hotel nearby.…

West Calhoun Place is a narrow, nondescript alley tucked into the grid of the Loop. It bears the name of John C. Calhoun, the nineteenth-century politician and vice president, whose name also once graced one of Chicago’s major…

The Quincy station is identifiable by its dark green, riveted steel structure and the authentic nineteen-nineties restoration of its nineteenth-century transit architecture. It opened in eighteen ninety-seven as part of the Union Loop, the…

The Chicago Board of Trade Building anchors the end of LaSalle Street with its dark, jagged limestone facade and the three-story bronze statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, perched at the peak. Built in nineteen thirty during…

The bright red Flamingo sculpture by Alexander Calder anchors Federal Plaza. It stands fifty-three feet tall, cutting a sharp silhouette against the straight lines and dark steel of the surrounding Ludwig Mies van der Rohe buildings. When…

The storefront at twenty-two East Jackson Boulevard occupies the base of the old Dearborn Station clock tower. You can identify it by the arched brick entrance and the circular window tucked into the heavy masonry of the nineteen…