Chicago in the 1890s
Grover Cleveland returned in 1893 and William McKinley took office in 1897. The Panic of 1893 brought a severe depression, and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago the same year made the classical civic style the national fashion. The war with Spain in 1898 left the country with overseas territory. What Chicago kept from the decade leans to Chicago School, the label the records put on 5 of these stops.
Every stop carries a construction date in the 1890s. The route covers 10 of them and runs 2.1 miles end to end. 2 stops are National Historic Landmarks.
Distances are straight lines between the coordinates in the National Park Service Register data, so the walk on the street will be longer. Nobody has walked or checked this as a route, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. Stops last changed Sep 18, 2026.
Map
Coordinates come from the National Park Service National Register spatial data. The solid line joins the stops in walking order and is not a street route. Listings with a restricted address in the Register are never mapped and never become stops. Data refreshed September 19, 2026.
Walking order
- 1Old Chicago Historical Society Building632 N. Dearborn St.Building · built 1892 · listed 1978start
- 2Cook County Criminal Court Building54 W. Hubbard St.Building · built 1893 · listed 19840.2 mi from stop 1
- 3Manhattan Building431 S. Dearborn St.Building · built 1891 · listed 19760.4 mi from stop 2
- 4Reliance BuildingNHL32 N. State St.Building · built 1895 · listed 19700.1 mi from stop 3
- 5Chicago Public Library, Central Building78 E. Washington St.Building · built 1897 · listed 19720.2 mi from stop 4
- 6Monadnock Block53 W. Jackson Blvd.Building · built 1891 · listed 19700.5 mi from stop 5
- 7Leiter Ii BuildingNHLNE corner of S. State and E. Congress Sts.Building · built 1891 · listed 19760.2 mi from stop 6
- 8Pontiac Building542 S. Dearborn St.Building · built 1891 · listed 19760.1 mi from stop 7
- 9Lakeside Press Building731 S. Plymouth Ct.Building · built 1897 · listed 19760.2 mi from stop 8
- 10Ludington Building1104 S. Wabash Ave.Building · built 1892 · listed 19800.3 mi from stop 9
2.1 straight-line miles over 9 legs. Printed from registeratlas.com/tours/il/chicago/era-1890s/
Taking it along
- Download the route as GPXFor a handheld GPS or a phone app
- Open all 10 stops in Google MapsSet the mode to walking once it opens
- Open the first stop in Apple MapsThe Apple Maps web link carries one destination, so this is stop 1 only