National Historic Landmark · public aquarium · Chicago, Illinois

Shedd, John G., Aquarium

Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois. Built 1930 by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. Added to the National Register in 1987, and a National Historic Landmark.

Has a visitor website National Historic Landmark Built 1930 Listed 1987Graham, Anderson, Probst & White

Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 6 in the Commons category

What it is

Shedd Aquarium is a public aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is one of the oldest continually operating non-governmental aquariums in the U.S.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

Property type	Building
Address	1200 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL
County	Cook County
Listed	Feb 27, 1987
Listed for	Entertainment and recreation
Level of significance	National
Reference number	87000820
Built	1930 · more from the 1930s
Architect	Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Type of place	public aquarium, nonprofit organization
Visitors per year	1,814,857
Designations	National Historic Landmark
Contributing resources	1 building

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Address	1200 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL
Website	sheddaquarium.org ↗
Coordinates	41.8677° N, 87.6140° W · Directions ↗
Also in Chicago	419 listed places in Chicago → · walking tours →
Nearest national park unit	Pullman National Historical Park · 12 miles · on Park Atlas
Federal campgrounds nearby	West Beach Picnic Shelters 27 miles · Chellberg Farm Picnic Shelters 32 miles · Dunbar Group Site 34 miles

Listing on the Register does not open the door. Unless a museum or park runs it, treat this as private property and see it from the sidewalk.

At a glance

State: Illinois
County: Cook County
Listed: 1987
Type: Building
Landmark: Yes
Architect: Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Built: 1930

Cell signal

Verizon: 5G
AT&T: 5G (fast)
T-Mobile: 5G (fast)

Outdoor coverage as modeled by carriers in FCC filings as of 2025-12-31. This product uses FCC APIs and/or Data but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.

Official links

Sister site

Park Atlas

Every unit of the National Park System, with its fees, hours, alerts and campgrounds.

Open Park Atlas →

This record is built from National Park Service sources, re-read every Saturday, and Wikidata, re-read on the first Saturday of each month. Register Atlas is independent and is not affiliated with any agency, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. How the data is built →

Explore

Map

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Local history books for Chicago

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Sears in Chicago
Val Perry Rendel, 2019
Find at Bookshop.org
Chicago Rink Rats
Tom Russo and Darius "D-Breez" Stroud, 2017
Find at Bookshop.org
Chicago Haymarket Affair
Joseph Rulli, 2016
Find at Bookshop.org

Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Illinois

Looking for Lincoln in Illinois
Erika Holst, 2018
Find at Bookshop.org
Route 66 In Springfield
Cheryl Jett, 2010
Find at Bookshop.org
Cemeteries of Illinois
Hal Hassen and Dawn Cobb, 2017
Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

When was Shedd, John G., Aquarium listed on the National Register?

Feb 27, 1987. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.

Source: National Park Service

When was Shedd, John G., Aquarium built?

1930, designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White.

Source: Wikidata

Can I visit Shedd, John G., Aquarium?

Probably. Places of this type are usually open to the public, but the record lists no hours; the official website will have them.

Source: Official website

Where is Shedd, John G., Aquarium?

1200 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. The nearest national park unit is Pullman National Historical Park, 12 miles away.

Source: Pullman National Historical Park

Where is the nomination form for Shedd, John G., Aquarium?

The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.

Source: National Archives

Are there campgrounds near Shedd, John G., Aquarium?

Three federal campgrounds are within reach. The closest is West Beach Picnic Shelters, 27 miles away. Chellberg Farm Picnic Shelters is 32 miles away, and Dunbar Group Site is 34 miles away.

Source: Campsite Atlas

Is there cell service at Shedd, John G., Aquarium?

FCC coverage maps show Verizon 5G, AT&T 5G, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.

Source: FCC Broadband Map

Sources

Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 87000820. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.