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 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024414058 
 
Picture of Early Chicago. 
 

 
 CHICAGO: View of the proposed development in the center of the city, from Twenty-second 
 Street to Chicago Avenue, looking towards the Kast, over the Civic Center to Grant Park, and I/ake 
 Michigan. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
WACKER'S MANUAL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 Municipal Economy 
 
 Especially Prepared for Study in the Schools of Chicago 
 
 Auspices of the 
 CHICAGO PLAN COMMISSION 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER D. MOODY 
 
 Managing Director, Chicago Plan Commission 
 
 1912 
 
11^ 
 
 Copyright 1911 
 
 by 
 
 Walter D. Moody 
 
Wacker's Manual 
 
 OF 
 
 The Plan of Chicago 
 
 Municipal Economy 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 r Chicago is destined to become the center of the modern world, if the opportunities 
 in her reach are intelligently realized, and if the city can receive a sufficient supply of 
 
 : trained and enlightened citizens. ; 
 
 ^^ Actuated by this belief, the author has mapped out the part Chicago school chil- 
 dren are to play in creating the greater Chicago of the future. Chicago must grow to 
 conform to a scientific plan to replace the makeshift that has tried to keep pace with 
 the city's development in the past and to make this, possible it must have a citizenship 
 trained in its duties. A large proportion of the graduates from our schools remain in 
 Chicago for their professional or business lives, and this book is intended to fit them to 
 take an intelligent part as future citizens of a great city in carrying out the Plan of 
 Chicago. 
 
 Love of country, the feeling which is inherent in everj^ normal boy and girl, and 
 which is expressed by them throughout their lives in their many acts of patriotic de- 
 votion, is, by development of our civilization, being given a companion sentiment — ■ 
 devotion and passionate interest in the safety and welfare of our cities. This new feel- 
 ing of community patriotism, an outgrowth of modern conditions of life, takes the 
 form generally of a high and controlling pride in one's native city, or in the city in 
 wjiich one abides and has adopted as his home. 
 
 Modern educators and leaders in public affairs, noting the birth and rise of this 
 patriotic impulse in our cities, see in it a great factor for future good for the coun- 
 try. They see in it the approach of good government in the cities and the end of evil 
 administration of our communities. They see, too, that development and cultivation 
 of this impulse means good effects of the most stable and lasting character upon our 
 national institutions by a deepening, broadening, and intensifying of national patriotism. 
 Thus arises the recognized need of bringing out in the children of our cities a 
 sharp, clear, vivid interest in those cities, in their history, in their growth, in their 
 
W ACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 present, and in their future. Tlie fact that so many millions of our people now live in 
 cities, and that city growth is continuing on increasing lines, means absolutely that the 
 cities and their people will shape the course and form the destiny of our country at 
 large. The cities will set the policies for the nation. Impulses for good order, 
 cleanliness, honesty, and economy in government must be the product of education 
 of the children of our cities, if our country is to continue its course in history and 
 maintain its place in civilization. 
 
 Observers of this new and growing feeling of civic patriotism are finding that it 
 finds expression among the people, and particularly among the youth of the cities, as 
 freely as does that based on the broader foundation of love of native land. In some 
 ways this devotional impulse comes more quickly and freely, even, than that pertain- 
 ing to our national life. Wliile, of course, it never is expressed with the height of 
 emotion which meets an appeal to the older and deeper patriotism, it is usually much 
 easier to arouse. This is because one's citj^ is so much more closely and intimately 
 known than the great entity of the nation. 
 
 Students of modern history, seeking to classify or set apart this devotion to the 
 cit}'- by its people, and love of a city by its children, will find the feeling not only a 
 new, unique and valuable tendency of the times, but also a revival, under modern con- 
 ditions, of a patriotism as old as civilization itself. It is a restoration to the world, in 
 modified form, of the devotional impulse and effort by which the peoples of all the 
 great cities of the past built up, beautified and extended the fame of their cities. 
 
 It is becoming a recognized fact that the power, growth and advancement of a 
 city is limited only by the measure of united civic interest of its people. The stronger 
 and more vital the community spirit, the greater and more influential the city. It is 
 this spirit which gives Chicago its great world distinction, — an indomitable, living, 
 throbbing love for the city, expressing a demand of its united people that the city 
 shall deserve and achieve greatness. 
 
 Conditions, then, demand that this new impulse of love for this city shall be fos- 
 tered, and that our children shall be taught that they are the coming responsible heads 
 of their various communities. We direct the national patriotic impulse into the paths 
 of duty, and it is vital that we do the same with the new impulse for civic good. Con- 
 ditions which make for good health, good order and good citizenship must be made clear 
 to our children. The needs and possibilities for expansion and development of commu- 
 nity life under proper conditions must be outlined for the young, that effort under the 
 urge of civic patriotism may be properly directed. Finally, our children must be led 
 to recognize their duty of looking to the future, knowing that to be unmindful of the 
 needs of days to come is to be unfaithful of obligations to themselves, their communi- 
 ties and their Creator. 
 
 We have reached a time now when the citizen, to do his duty, must plan for the wel- 
 fare of coming generations. It is necessary that the people realize, and that the young 
 be taught, that the really great work of the world today is that which foresees and 
 builds for the future. 
 
 This book is intended to convince the child that he owes loyalty to the city that gave 
 him his education and offers him an opportunity to enter any one of her great fields of 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 industrial or professional activity. It seems advisable to give a nunriber of questions at 
 the end of each chapter to assist the child in this rather difficult subject. In seeking an- 
 swers to these questions the school child will instill in his mind a permanent interest in 
 the civic welfare of Chicago that will be an immense benefit to the future of our city. 
 Proper emphasis has been given to the history of great cities of the past and to the 
 causes that led to their power. It is the earnest purpose of the author to make the 
 child feel that in him rests the responsibility of assisting Chicago to attain her future 
 greatness. The co-operation of the instructor is earnestly sought for in teaching the 
 child how he may lend assistance in this work. It is the firm belief of the autlior that 
 the success of the Plan of Chicago depends on the hold it has in the hearts of this city's 
 future citizens. 
 
 Chicago, November 28, 1911. W. D. M. 
 
THE TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction 
 Prefatory Note 
 
 I. Municipal Economy H 
 
 II. The Basis for City Planning 19 
 
 III. Possibilities of Expansion 24 
 
 IV. City Building in Ancient Times 32 
 
 V. City Building in Europe 40 
 
 VI. Modern Cities in America 54 
 
 VII. Why Chicago Needs a Plan 59 
 
 VIII. Value of Permanency in City Building 65 
 
 IX. Origin of the Plan of Chicago 74 
 
 X. The Commercial Possibilities of a Plan for Chicago 86 
 
 XI. The Plan of Chicago ; Its Purpose and Meaning 95 
 
 XII. Solving Chicago 's Transportation Problems 99 
 
 XIII. Perfecting Our Street System 104 
 
 XIV. The Connecting Boulevard Link — Michigan Avenue 115 
 
 XV. A Park System for Chicago 125 
 
 XVI. Creating a Civic Center 135 
 
 XVII. Final Result of the Plan 140 
 
A LIST OF THE CHARTS AND PICTURES 
 
 Chicago : View of the Proposed Development in the Center of the City from Twenty-second 
 
 Street to Chicago Avenue Frontispiece 
 
 Fort Dearborn as Seen from the North, 1816 11 
 
 Chicago in 1832 12 
 
 Chicago, South Water Street, 1834 12 
 
 Chicago in 1845, from the West 13 
 
 Chicag;o in 1846 13 
 
 Flood in the Chicago River, 1849 14 
 
 Robert De LaSalle 14 
 
 Chicago, Michigan Avenue from Park Row, 1864 14 
 
 Father Jacques Marquette 15 
 
 Immediately After Great Chicago Fire of 1871 15 
 
 Tremont House, Corner Lake and Dearborn Streets, 1875 16 
 
 Michigan Avenue Looking Toward the South 19 
 
 First Locomotive in Chicago, 1848 20 
 
 Chicago's First Passenger Coach 20 
 
 Modern Steel Railroad Train, 1911 20 
 
 Chicago 's First Railroad Depot , 21 
 
 $20,000,000 Northwestern Passenger Station, Opened 1911 21 
 
 Mouth of the Chicago River ■ 24 
 
 Passenger Steamer Entering Chicago River 24 
 
 Shipping in Chicago River 24 
 
 Logging in Minnesota 25 
 
 Grand Crossing, Chicago, Showing a Section of Chicago as a Great Railway Center 25 
 
 Reaping Wheat in North Dakota 26 
 
 Cattle Range in Nebraska 26 
 
 Farming Country in Illinois 26 
 
 Coal Mine in Illinois 27 
 
 Flour Mills and Elevators in Wisconsin 27 
 
 Peach Orchard in Michigan 28 
 
 South Water Street, Chicago 28 
 
 Apple Orchard in Michigan 28 
 
 Chicago : View Looking West Over the City, Showing the Proposed Civic Center, the Grand 
 
 Axis, Grant Park and the Harbor 32 
 
 Athens During Siege of the Venetians 33 
 
 Ancient City of Babylon 33 
 
 Panorama of Modern Athens 33 
 
 Pericles, who Planned Ancient Athens 34 
 
 Athens and the Acropolis 34 
 
 Rome in the XlVth Century 35 
 
 Augustus Cffisar, the Roman Emperor and City Builder 35 
 
 Panorama of the Roman Forum 36 
 
 Rome : Baths of Caracalla 36 
 
 An Ancient Roman Circus, Near the Appian Way 37 
 
 The Arch of Constantine, Rome 37 
 
 Pantheon, Rome 38 
 
 Forum, Rome 38 
 
 Chicago : Proposed Boulevard on Michigan Avenue, View Looking North from a Point East 
 
 of the Public Library 40 
 
 Paris : Avenue des Champs Blysees Looking Towards the Arc de Triomphe 41 
 
 Louis XIV. of France, the Original City Builder 41 
 
Paris : Court of the Louvre ^^ 
 
 Transformation of the Banks of the Seine in Paris, 1780 ^^ 
 
 Transformation of the Banks of the Seine in Paris, 1830 ^p 
 
 Transformation of the Banks of the Seine in Paris, 1880 *^ 
 
 Chronological Views of Place de la Bastile, Paris, 1740 • • ■ ^^ 
 
 Chronological Views of Place de la Bastile, Paris, 1841 ^^ 
 
 Chronological Views of Place de la Bastile, Paris, 1878 ^^ 
 
 Baron Georges Eugene Haussmann, the Greatest City Builder of All Time. 45 
 
 Paris : The Place de la Concorde, Looking over the Seine towards the Madeleine 4t) 
 
 Rue de Rivoli, Paris 46 
 
 Dusseldorf, Germany • The Municipal Art Gallery 47 
 
 Dusseldorf , Germany : The Rhine Embankment 47 
 
 Dusseldorf, Germany : Municipal Theatre 48 
 
 Dusseldorf, Germany : Bridge across the Rhine 48 
 
 Stephanie Bridge, Vienna 49 
 
 Vienna, Kaerntnerring 49 
 
 Pranzen Bridge, Vienna 50 
 
 Karolin Bridge, Vienna 50 
 
 Kronprinz Rudolf Bridge, Vienna 51 
 
 Nancy, Prance : View of the Place Stanislas 51 
 
 Street Scene in Vienna 52 
 
 The Sieges Allee, Berlin , 52 
 
 Public Garden and the Theseus Temple 53 
 
 A Civic Center in Berlin 53 
 
 Chicago: Bird's-eye View of Grant Park, the Facade of the City, the Proposed Harbor and 
 
 the Lagoons of the Proposed Park on the South Shore 54 
 
 George Washington, Who Planned the City of Washington 55 
 
 Original Plan of Washington Designed by Peter Charles L 'Enfant 55 
 
 The Washington Monument, Garden and Mall Looking Toward the Capitol; Senate Park 
 
 Commission Plan 56 
 
 Cleveland Group Plan : View Looking Towards the Lake from the Proposed Civic Center ... 57 
 
 The L 'Enfant Plan of Washington as Developed by the Senate Park Commission of 1901 57 
 
 Cleveland Group Plan: Proposed Civic Center, Railway Station and Gardens Now Being 
 
 Executed ■ 58 
 
 Chicago : View Looking North on the South Branch of the Chicago River, Showing the Sug- 
 gested Arrangement of Streets and Ways for Teaming and Reception of Freight by Boat 
 
 at Different Levels 59 
 
 Plan of Athens in Roman Times 60 
 
 Vienna in the 17th Century 61 
 
 The Transformation of Paris under Haussmann . . ; 62 
 
 Panorama of Part of Modern Rome 63 
 
 Indian Camp on Chicago River 65 
 
 Marquette and Joliet, 1673 ; 66 
 
 French Fort at Chicago, 1685 67 
 
 Commerce on the Chicago-Portage, 1765 67 
 
 Fort Dearborn and Kinzie House, 1803-4 68 
 
 Fort Dearborn Massacre, 1812 69 
 
 Hubbard's Train, 1827 70 
 
 Illinois and Michigan Canal, 1848 71 
 
 Camp Douglas, 1862 71 
 
 Great Fire of 1871 ' ' 72 
 
 World's Fair, 1893 72 
 
 Memorial Cross in Memory of Marquette and Joliet 73 
 
 Chicago : Railway Stations Scheme West of the River between Canal and Clinton Streets 74 
 
 Chicago : Plan of the Street and Boulevard System, Present and Proposed 76 
 
 Diocletian Baths, Rome 77 
 
 The Viaduct at Auteuil over the River Seine, Paiis, France , 78 
 
 Modern Athens and Mt. Lycabettus 79 
 
 Siena, Italy 80 
 
Chicago : General Map Showing Topography, AVaterways and Complete System of Streets, 
 
 Boulevards, Parkways and Parks 81 
 
 Chicago : View of the City from Jackson Park to Grant Park 82 
 
 Chicago : Plan of a Complete System of Street Circulation and System of Parks and Play- 
 grounds 83 
 
 Arch of Septimus Severus, Rome 84 
 
 Temple of Vesta, Rome 84 
 
 Sir Christopher Wren 86 
 
 Chicago, Bird's-eye View 86 
 
 Vienna, Bird's-eye View 88 
 
 London, Bird's-eye View 90 
 
 New York, Bird's-eye View 91 
 
 Paris, Bird 's-eye View 92 
 
 Berlin, Bird's-eye View _ 93 
 
 The World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. The Court of Honor, Looking Towards 
 
 the Peristyle 94 
 
 Chicago: Plan of the Complete System of Street Circulation; Railway Stations; Parks, 
 Boulevard Circuits and Radial Arteries; Public Recreation Piers; Yacht Harbor and 
 
 Pleasure-Boat Piers 96 
 
 Chicago : Diagram of City Center, Showing the Proposed Arrangement of Railroad Passen- 
 ger Stations, the Complete Traction System, including Rapid Transit Subway and Ele- 
 vated Roads, and the Circuit Subway Line 99 
 
 Chicago: Diagram of the City Center, Showing the General Location of Existing Freight 
 Yards and Railroad Lines, the Present Tunnel System and Proposed Circuit, and Con- 
 nections for all These Services, Running to the Central Clearing Yards 100 
 
 Chicago: "The Great Central Market" 101 
 
 Chicago : Proposed Twelfth Street Improvement at its Intersections with jMiehigan Avenue 
 
 and Ashland Avenue 104 
 
 Chicago: Plan of the Center of the City, showing the Present Street and Boulevard Sys- 
 tem, and the Proposed Additional Arteries and Street Widenings. 105 
 
 Chicago : Plan of the Quadrangle 106 
 
 Chicago : Plan of the New Twelfth Street 107 
 
 Chicago : General Diagram of Exterior Highways Encircling or Radiating from the City . . 112 
 
 Chicago : Proposed Boulevard to connect the North and South Sides of the River 115 
 
 Michigan Avenue and Michigan Avenue Projected 118 
 
 Proposed Double Deck Bridge for North and South Boulevard Connection Michigan Avenue 
 
 and Michigan Avenue Projected 119 
 
 Diagram of North and South Boulevard Connection, showing Width of Street North and 
 South of the River and the Zone of the Proposed Improvement, Indicating all Intersect- 
 ing Thoroughfares 120 
 
 Section Through Michigan Avenue between Lake Street and South Water Street 121 
 
 The World's Cohimbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. The Court of Honor, Looking Towards 
 
 the Peristyle, Showing Effect of an Orderly Arrangement of Buildings 124 
 
 Chicago : View Looking South over the Lagoons of the Proposed Lake Front Park for the 
 
 South Shore 125 
 
 Chicago : Lake Shore from Chicago Avenue on the North to Jackson Park on the South .... 126 
 Chicago : Plan of a Park Proposed on the Main East-and-West Axis of the City at Congress 
 
 Street and Fifty-second Avenue 129 
 
 Chicago: Plan of a Park Proposed at Western Boulevard and Garfield Boulevard, being an 
 
 Extension of Gage Park 131 
 
 Chicago : Plan of a Park Proposed at the North Branch of the Chicago River and Graceland 
 
 Avenue 132 
 
 Chicago : View, Looking West, of the Proposed Civic Center, Plaza and Buildings, showing 
 
 it as the Center of the System of Arteries of Circulation and of the Surrounding Country 135 
 
 Chicago : The Business Center of the City within the First Circuit Boulevard 137 
 
 Chicago: The Proposed Civic Center Square, showing the Group of Surrounding Build- 
 ings Crowned by the Central Dome 138 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 In the following pages, the author aims to furnish a concise and interesting 
 text book in which brief notice is taken of Chicago's past, thoughtful consideration 
 given Chicago's present, and deep effort made to foresee Chicago's future. The ob- 
 ject is to prepare the student's mind for the reception of that portion of Wacker's 
 Manual which is devoted to a study of the Plan of Chicago. 
 
 What is the Plan of Chicago? 
 
 It is a plan to direct the future growth of the city in an orderly, systematic way. 
 
 What is its object? 
 
 To make Chicago a real, centralized city, instead of a group of overcrowded, over- 
 grown villages. 
 
 What does it mean? 
 
 That by properly solving Chicago's problems of transportation, street congestion, 
 recreation, and public health, the city may grow indefinitely in wealth and commerce. 
 It is realized that this is of significance only in connection with Chicago 's actual social, 
 intellectual, and moral upbuilding. 
 
 The ideal of a city must rise above mere commercial and industrial supremacy, tak- 
 ing the higher ground of becoming an attractive, larger home for its residents of all 
 classes, as well as for the stranger. 
 
 Because it affects the happiness and prosperity of all our citizens, and of millions yet 
 to have a home among us, the Plan of Chicago should, in some measure and in some de- 
 gree, be not only a study of our children but of every citizen. 
 
 Each citizen has duties to perform towards his city and rights to claim from it. 
 Unless in some measure he knows those duties and those rights, he can never act a just 
 and independent part. 
 
 Neglect of the citizen to give some of his time, some of his thought, and some of his 
 money for the public good, if widely distributed, would mean disaster to the community. 
 
 Chicago today stands at the threshold of a great future. 
 
 What are we, as citizens, to do to promote the future well-being of our city? 
 
 First, we are to study the Plan of Chicago that we may understand it. When that 
 is accomplished, we are to make it clearly and distinctively our ideal. 
 
 We are to look forward to the carrying out of the Plan of Chicago in the broad 
 spirit that an injury to one is an injury to all, and that the well-being of one promotes- 
 the well-being of all. 
 
 We are to make the Plan our ideal and to put it before us and dare to recognize it 
 and to believe in it and to build for it. 
 
 We are to look forward to the time when it will seem as extraordinary not to have 
 an official plan toward which to direct the growth of our city as it now seems that Chi- 
 cago was ever permitted to grow in an orderless and formless manner. 
 
 We are to establish by the influence and work of a united citizenship the power of 
 law necessary for Chicago's advancement commensurate with her greatness. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 It requires only sufficient community patriotism to substitute order for disorder, and 
 reason, common sense, and action for negligence, indifference, and inertia. 
 
 In this work of citizen building and city planning, our children must play their part, 
 ■which is an important one, as set forth in the introduction to this study. 
 
 Having answered the questions — ^What is the Plan of Chicago? What is its object? 
 and What does it mean ? — just here it is appropriate to ask two other questions, namely, 
 
 How and where was the Plan of Chicago originated? Who is handling the Plan of 
 Chicago ? 
 
 While in the text the history of Chicago's social and industrial progress, and also 
 the value, needs, and desirability of the plan has been emphasized, the author has adhered 
 strictly to the plan of excluding all reference to persons and incidents that cannot prop- 
 erly be made a part of this text book; but it should be recognized somewhere in this book 
 that one of the finest achievements in the history of civic advance must be accredited to 
 the very few men who, by reason of their worthy suggestions, many sacrifices, indomitable 
 energy, and never faltering spirit in preparing and giving to their city the Plan of Chi- 
 cago, are deserving of lasting renown and the gratitude of every citizen. 
 
 The Plan of Chicago was inspired in the minds of a small number of men, leaders in 
 the business life of the city, and members of two of Chicago 's most prominent social or- 
 ganizations — the Commercial Club and the Merchants' Club. This was in the period im- 
 mediately following the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. 
 
 After the great World's Fair was closed some of the men who had worked to make 
 it a great success for Chicago met together at their clubs. They had learned during the 
 Fair that orderly arrangement of buildings and streets gave a most pleasing effect. 
 They clearly saw that to create a broad plan to that end, and to carry it out throughout 
 all Chicago, would be to make their home city famous all over the world. Therefore 
 they set about working out a plan to do this great thing, and the plan they developed by 
 years of study is today known as the Plan of Chicago. 
 
 Credit for first voicing a city-wide plan for the Chicago of the future is given to 
 Mr. Franklin MacVeagh, who, in 1901, at a meeting of the Commercial Club, suggested 
 the appointment of a committee of that organization to consider the advisability of pre- 
 paring such a plan. 
 
 While the Commercial Club Committee was working, an independent movement to 
 the same end was started by the Merchants ' Club. In this work Mr. Charles D. Norton 
 and Mr. Frederic A. Delano were prominent. The plans thus advanced were entirely 
 formulated by 1906, when the Merchants ' Club formally undertook the work. In 1907 
 the two clubs united under the name of the Commercial Club, which in 1908 gave the 
 world the completed Plan of Chicago. 
 
 In producing the Plan of Chicago the Commercial Club spared neither time, money 
 nor effort. Mr. Daniel H. Burnham, world renowned architect and resident of Chicago, 
 a man whose services in city planning have been in demand all over America for years, 
 took charge of the details of the plan. He gave his genius to the task without charge. 
 Assisted by Mr. Edward H. Bennett, he produced all the charts, maps, and drawings 
 necessary for carrying out the remodeling and development of the city. In 1908 these, 
 together with an explanatory narrative written by Mr. Charles Moore, corresponding 
 
WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 member American Institute of Architects, were arranged in a magnificent volume pub- 
 lished by the Commercial Club. 
 
 In 1907 the first Plan Committee of the Commercial Club was organized with Mr. 
 Charles D. Norton as Chairman and Mr. Charles H. Wacker as Vice- Chairman. These 
 plan leaders retained their respective offices with each succeeding plan committee until 
 the year 1909, when Mr. Norton resigned to take up his residence in Washington. Mr. 
 Charles H. Wacker succeeded him as Chairman, which office he in turn vacated when he 
 received his appointment from the Mayor of Chicago as permanent chairman of the Chi- 
 cago Plan Commission. Mr. Edward B. Butler succeeded him as Chairman of the club's 
 Plan Committee. 
 
 Thus, after years of study and of hard work by the Commercial Club members, the 
 plan was completed and ready for submission to the citizens in the early Fall of 1909. 
 The completion of the Plan of Chicago was the most important civic event in the history 
 of our city. Then it was evident to the leaders of the movement that the time had come 
 to engage the interests of the public and to put the plan into the hands of the representa- 
 tives of the people. After conferring with the city authorities, it was decided to create a 
 permanent organization to be known as the Chicago Plan Commission. This body, it 
 was decided, should be composed of a large number of men of influence, to be representa- 
 tive of the business and social interests of the city. 
 
 July 6, 1909, the Hon. Fred A. Busse, Mayor of Chicago, sent a message to the City 
 Council requesting authority to appoint this commission, which was immediately granted. 
 
 November 1, 1909, the Mayor sent to the City Council a second message containing 
 the names of the 328 leading men of Chicago who were to make up the membership of 
 the first Chicago Plan Commission. 
 
 To secure at all times adequate representation on this Commission of the City Gov- 
 ernment and of all other locally interested governmental agencies, it was provided that 
 the heads of all city departments and other local public powers [whose memberships 
 would cease when they retired from office and which would be resumed by their suc- 
 cessors], should be appointed as members. 
 
 At the first meeting of the Commission, held in the City Council Chambers, Novem- 
 ber 4, 1909, in recognition of his long and faithful public service to Chicago, Mr. Frank I. 
 Bennett was elected Vice- Chairman. Mr. Henry Barrett Chamberlin was elected Secre- 
 tary pro tern, which office he resigned late in 1910. 
 
 January 13, 1911, the Executive Committee appointed as the Commission's Manag- 
 ing Director Mr. Walter D. Moody, formerly General Manager of the Chicago Associa- 
 tion of Commerce. 
 
 The City Council, under the Busse administration, created the Plan Commission and 
 started the work in the passage of an ordinance for the widening and improvement of 
 Twelfth Street from Ashland to Michigan Avenue. 
 
 The Harrison administration, recognizing the city's great need for an improved 
 through east and west artery, between Harrison and Eighteentli streets, immediately 
 took over the proposed Twelfth Street improvement, upon which work had not been 
 started, with a determination to carry it through successfully and in a manner satisfac- 
 tory to all the people. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 Tlius has the work of the Chicago Plan Commission been established upon a non- 
 partisan and non-political foundation. 
 
 Mayor Harrison was the first to propose the Michigan Avenue "boulevard link" in 
 1905. Afterwards this contemplated improvement became an important part of the Plan 
 of Chicago as a whole. His re-election in 1911 again connected him with the project he 
 fathered and which is being promoted by the Chicago Plan Commission. 
 
 Thus the Plan of Chicago was originated, and thus it is being worked out. 
 
 Nature gave Chicago the location that under the touch of modern commerce pro- 
 duced the great city. It is not Chicago's growth that amazes. That growth naturally 
 accompanied industry. It is Chicago's spirit which grips the world's attention. 
 
 No city in America — perhaps none in the world — ^has the love and devotion of its 
 people that Chicago has. 
 
 No people of any city will labor so hard, or sacrifice so much for their city, as will 
 the people of Chicago. 
 
 It is this civic patriotism — almost as strong as our love of country — that will deter- 
 mine the successful future of our city, in the realization of the Plan of Chicago. 
 
 It is desirable that the instructors of our schools organize the mighty forces at their 
 
 <?ommand and prepare the minds of our children to grasp and lay fast hold upon the 
 
 science of city planning, as related to the future glory of Chicago, and the prosperity 
 
 .and happiness of all her people. 
 
 W. D. M. 
 
 Chicago, November 28, 1911. 
 
TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE 
 CHICAGO PLAN COMMISSION 
 
 i 
 
 THE TIRELESS, SACRIFICIAL EF- 
 FORT OF CHARLES H. WACKER 
 IN ADVANCING THE PLAN OF 
 ^^^ CHICAGO FROM ITS VETRT IN- 
 =^ CEPTION WAS THE CHIEF 
 SOURCE OF INSPIRATION TO THE 
 AUTHOR IN CONCEIVING AND PREPAR- 
 ING THIS STUDY FOR THE SCHOOLS 
 OF CHICAGO. 
 
 HIS UNSELFISH DEVOTION TO CHI- 
 CAGO'S COMMON GOOD SHOULD SHINE 
 FOR ALL TIME BEFORE HIS FELLOW 
 CITIZENS AS A BEACON LIGHT OP 
 USEFUL CITIZENSHIP. THIS BOOK IS 
 DEDICATED TO HIM, AND ENTITLED 
 "WACKBR'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF 
 CHICAGO" AS A DISTINCT MARK OF 
 RECOGNITION OF HIS MERITORIOUS 
 SERVICE TO THE CITY OF CHICAGO. 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
MUNICIPAL ECONOMY 
 
 11 
 
 CHAPTEE I 
 
 MUNICIPAL ECONOMY 
 
 All over tlie world there is, at this 
 period, an astonishing and unparalleled 
 movement of people toward cities. In 
 every country cities are larger today than 
 at any time in all history. Moreover, the 
 flow of all peoples cityward is growing 
 throughout the world. Every census shows 
 this to be true. 
 The tendency 
 of people to 
 gather in close 
 contact has al- 
 ways existed, 
 but today is 
 operating 
 more strongly 
 than ever in 
 the history of 
 man. 
 
 Nat urally, 
 this movement 
 of mankind to 
 congregate in 
 cities in every 
 part of the 
 world is creat- 
 ing new prob- 
 lems in government. It is bringing up new 
 tasks in social science, or the science of 
 maintaining health and good order among 
 people of different families and different 
 races when brought closely in contact. 
 From this contact are coming new needs. 
 It is necessary to promote happiness and 
 content among city people, and to interest 
 : them in the development of a proper moral 
 'and religious life in their communities. 
 \ Frqm this movement arise new and im- 
 portant questions of transporting city 
 
 dwellers from one part of a city to an- 
 other, of supplying them regularly and 
 properly with food and raiment, and of 
 arranging that they shall have employ- 
 ment in safe and sanitary buildings 
 and homes in convenient and healthful 
 houses. 
 
 Along with this growth of cities all 
 over the world, and particularly in Amer- 
 ica, has proceeded a movement in govern- 
 ment by which the people have been given 
 more and more power over public affairs, 
 
 PORT DEARBORN AS SEEN PROM THE NORTH, 1816. 
 [Original Owned by tlie Cliicag-o Historical Society.] 
 
 that is, over the conduct of public prop- 
 erty in behalf of the people's welfare. 
 This enlarged power has increased the op- 
 portunity for happiness and enjoyment of 
 life for all of us, but at the same time it has 
 also constantly increased the responsibil- 
 ity of each of us. It has made it the duty 
 of every child, of every young man and 
 young woman, to prepare to see to it that 
 public affairs are conducted in the best 
 possible way. 
 
 While this increased power has been 
 
12 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 given to all the people, in the country as 
 well as in the cities, the responsibility and 
 duty in government falls more upon the 
 city dweller than upon the countryman. 
 
 CHICAGO IN 1832— Population About 100. 
 [Original Owned by the Chicag-d Historical Society.] 
 
 This is because there are more and greater 
 problems to solve in the safe conduct of 
 cities than in the government of sparsely 
 settled territory. The larger the city, too, 
 the greater the re- 
 sponsibility of each 
 of us living there, for 
 in the large cities the 
 problems affect more 
 people and more 
 important matters, 
 and thus bee m e 
 more intricate and 
 harder to rightly 
 solve. 
 
 Thus we of Chi- . 
 cago, the fourth city 
 in the world in popu- 
 lation, have each a 
 greater responsibility and a graver duty in 
 citizenship than have the people of almost 
 any other city. Besides this mere matter 
 of size, there are other conditions in con- 
 nection with the growth of our city which 
 
 add to our personal responsibilities. It 
 is not too much to say, probably, that, 
 under the laws and the conditions of life 
 in Chicago today, each of us owes a greater 
 
 duty of devo- 
 t i o n to his 
 splendid city 
 than does the 
 citizen of any 
 other city in 
 the world. 
 
 Henry 
 Drummond, a 
 very wise man 
 and great 
 s c h o lar, has 
 said s m e - 
 thing to be 
 carefully con- 
 sidered by 
 every young person in Chicago, for it 
 shows us how, as people of a city, our in- 
 fluence guides the destiny of the nation. 
 "The city is strategic," he says. "It makes 
 
 CHICAGO, SOUTH WATER STREET, 1S34 
 [Original Owned by the Chicago Historical Society.] 
 
 the towns ; the towns make the villages ; the. 
 villages make the country. He who makes 
 the city makes the world. After all, though; 
 men make cities, it is cities which make 
 men. ^VTiether our national life is great or 
 
MUNICIPAL ECONOMY 
 
 13 
 
 mean, whether our social virtues are ma- 
 ture or stunted, whether our sons are moral 
 or vicious, whether religion is possible or 
 impossible, depends upon the city." 
 
 That was another way of stating that 
 our cities are 
 coming to 
 
 have the most 
 powerful in- 
 fluence in our 
 n a t i onal af- 
 fairs. For a 
 long time our 
 government at 
 Washin g t o n 
 was controlled 
 mostly by men from the country, from 
 small towns or villages or from the farms. 
 In recent years there has been a change. 
 Our Presidents of late have been city men, 
 
 which means greater and. greater need for 
 the people of our cities to be well informed, 
 watchful and diligent in effort for the 
 public good. 
 Elimination of Waste is the World's 
 
 CHICAGO IN 1845, 
 [Original Owned 
 
 CHICAGO IN 1846— Population 14,169. 
 [Original Owned by the Chicago Historical Society.] 
 
 and they are calling into their cabinets for 
 advisors more and more men from our 
 great cities. The cities, with their large 
 populations, are becoming more powerful 
 forces in our government every year, 
 
 FROM THE WEST— Population 12,088. 
 by the Chicago Historical Society.] 
 
 Greatest Scientific Problem. "A penny 
 saved is a penny earned," is a saying we 
 have all heard. "We know it is a true saying. 
 But few of us know or realize how neces- 
 sary it is, 
 with the 
 growth of 
 cities, to 
 prevent 
 waste. Few 
 of us have 
 thought 
 how import- 
 ant it is that 
 saving 
 methods of 
 government 
 be adopted. 
 Not many 
 of us think 
 of the truth 
 that the 
 more people 
 there are in cities in proportion to the 
 population of our country the fewer there 
 are in the country to produce the grain, 
 vegetables and meats so necessary to our 
 well-being. 
 
14 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 FLOOD IN THE CHICAGO RIVER, 1S49. 
 Population 23,047. 
 
 As the cities have grown, however, we 
 have been forced to realize that wasteful- 
 ness of food 
 p r d n c ts 
 must cease. 
 We must 
 realize that 
 food can 
 never be so 
 p 1 e n t i f ul 
 and cheap 
 as it was 
 when fewer 
 people were living in the cities and more 
 upon the farms. That is one simple illus- 
 tration of the present necessity of saving 
 and stopping wastefulness. 
 
 This movement for saving things to get 
 the most out of everything is a world-wide 
 movement. Old rags, scraps of paper, old 
 iron and many other materials formerly 
 discarded as useless are now made into 
 useful products. Great fortunes are yearly 
 made from new' economies. In our cities 
 great public works have been undertaken 
 to save lives. The public health officer 
 does not allow people to waste their 
 health. Millions of dollars are spent 
 in build- 
 ing great 
 canals and 
 in cut- 
 ting new 
 streets, 
 and all of 
 these 
 things are 
 to elim- 
 inate ex- 
 pense, t o 
 save mate- 
 rial and to 
 
 Thus, before the growth of cities the 
 best efforts of mankind were devoted to 
 means of increasing the pro- 
 duction of useful things and 
 to the improvement of ma- 
 chinery and other aids of civ- 
 
 Robert De LaSalle, who in 1681-2 
 made the first "Lakes to the Gulf" 
 trip, making- a portage from the Chi- 
 cago River to the Desplaines River. 
 
 [Original Owned by Chi. His. Soc] 
 
 CHICAGO, 
 
 save the very valuable time of millions of 
 people. 
 
 i 1 i z a tion. 
 
 Today the 
 
 best minds 
 
 and great- 
 
 e s t efforts 
 
 are bent to 
 
 the task of 
 
 p r eventing 
 
 waste. 
 Most of 
 
 us know 
 
 that in the 
 
 last ten 
 
 years there has grown up in the United 
 
 States a widespread agitation for conser- 
 vation f 
 our nat- 
 ural re- 
 sources. 
 That 
 means sim- 
 ply the sav- 
 ing, for the 
 use of all 
 the peojjle, 
 of the for- 
 ests stand- 
 ing upon 
 our pub- 
 existing in 
 the mineral 
 
 MICHIGAN AVENUE imOM PARK ROW, 1S64. 
 Population 169,353. 
 [Original Owned by the Chicago Historical Society.] 
 
 lie lands, the 
 our mountain 
 
 water powers 
 streams, and 
 
MUNICIPAL ECONOMY 
 
 15 
 
 wealth underlying tlie lands owned by tlie 
 nation. These vast, valuable resources of 
 wealth were given away and wasted in 
 times of plenty, and during the settlement 
 and development of 
 our country. Our 
 cities also are de- 
 m a n d i ng conserva- 
 tion of the resources 
 which are their 
 wealth — the health of 
 their people, the 
 streets by which they 
 conveniently go from 
 place to place, the 
 parks within which 
 they find recreation, 
 and the spacious pub- 
 lic centers wherein 
 they build great 
 structures expressive 
 of the will and spirit 
 of their peoples. 
 
 Our government, in 
 the building of the 
 great Panama canal, 
 is engaged in a work of eliminating waste. 
 The canal, destined to shorten the steam- 
 
 Father Jacques Marquette, and Louis Joliet were 
 the first white men to cross the Chicago River. 
 [Original Owned by Chicago Historical Society.] 
 
 time in the lives of coming generations 
 and of people who will benefit by quick 
 transit of property between the Atlantic 
 and Pacific oceans. Chicago, in the con- 
 struction of its 
 great drainage canal 
 from Lake Michigan, 
 engaged in a great 
 task of preventing 
 waste. The building 
 of the canal was to 
 prevent waste of 
 health and lives of 
 the people of Chicago 
 by stopping sickness 
 and death from mal- 
 adies that could be 
 prevented by provid- 
 ing pure water and 
 the quick disposal of 
 disease-causing sew- 
 age. 
 
 All about us in Chi- 
 cago we see, every 
 day, if we observe 
 closely, some new and 
 important steps being taken to further this 
 world-wide movement to prevent waste. 
 
 Immediately After Great Chicago Fire of 1871 — Population 334,270. 
 
 ship route around the world, is to be an in- 
 strument in the saving of immeasurable 
 millions of money in the expense of carry- 
 ing ocean freights, besides saving years of 
 
 In our homes, on the streets, in our great 
 stores and factories, we see this wonderful 
 movement for economy and saving being 
 developed. Will a new cleaning process 
 
16 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 save work or money in our homes f If so, 
 we adopt it. Will a new pavement or sys- 
 tem of cleaning in a street be better and 
 cheaper than the old? If so, we have it 
 done. Can shavings or wood formerly 
 thrown away at a factory be profitably 
 made over for use? If so, waste of such 
 material is stopped. Elimination of waste 
 has become the greatest work in the world. 
 Mankind is saving. Economy has become 
 the watchword. 
 
 City Problems in Saving. Almost every 
 boy and girl today knows something of how 
 
 CHICAGO. Tremont House, Corner Lake and Dearborn Streets, 1875— Population 500,000. 
 
 cities are maintained; how they are kept 
 clean, with lighted streets making it easier 
 and safer to go about ; with policemen and 
 firemen working to keep order and protect 
 our homes from fire; with a great health 
 department busy preventing the spread of 
 disease ; and with our schools kept open and 
 the teachers and janitors paid by the peo- 
 ple, that the children may be educated and 
 prepared for their work in life. The boys 
 and girls know that these things are pur- 
 
 chased by use of money paid by all the peo- 
 ple, as taxes. 
 
 To almost every girl and boy, then, it is 
 clear why the people ask and require that 
 tax money shall be economically spent. It 
 is clear to all that the more carefully money 
 is spent for street cleaning the more clean 
 streets we will have ; that the cheaper lights 
 can be obtained for the streets the better 
 will the streets be lighted for the money 
 spent ; that, in short, the more waste of tax 
 money is prevented the better it will be for 
 everybody, and the better our city's affairs 
 
 will be con- 
 ducted. It be- 
 comes quite 
 clear, there- 
 fore, why the 
 movement for 
 economy and 
 saving is be- 
 ing applied to 
 city affairs. 
 ' When boys 
 and girls real- 
 ize this, then, 
 is it not nat- 
 ural for them 
 to take it to be 
 their duty to 
 11 n d e r stand 
 these things 
 of the pres- 
 themselves in 
 The more such 
 
 ent day and interest 
 this work of saving? 
 waste is prevented the less money will 
 be needed for taxes, which means that 
 more will be left in each home every 
 day or year to buy things which give com- 
 fort and pleasure to each family. This 
 thought is naturally followed in our minds 
 by another. We ask ourselves : If there is 
 waste today, what can we do to prevent 
 waste tomorrow and in the vears to come 
 
MUNICIPAL ECONOMY 
 
 17 
 
 when those who are children now will be 
 grown up and have to earn the money spent 
 in taxes ? 
 
 That question again brings to all our 
 minds the fact that we are living in Chi- 
 cago, fourth city of the world in population, 
 and that we therefore have a greater re- 
 sponsibility than the people who live in 
 little cities or towns. It makes us feel im- 
 portant, as we really are. It makes us feel 
 that we ought to look closely to preventing 
 waste in the future in this city. We are 
 not satisfied just to think of saving money 
 being spent this year in Chicago. We re- 
 member that our fathers thought of their 
 yearly needs and at the same time con- 
 structed and managed the great drainage 
 canal for Chicago and to benefit us. 
 
 A Great Task for Chicago. The young 
 people of Chicago, having thought of these 
 things, and thinking how much greater 
 Chicago is today than it was when their 
 fathers and mothers were young, want to 
 join hands in doing work to be proud about, 
 and so make for themselves in days to come 
 as much fame as their fathers gained by 
 digging the greatest drainage canal in the 
 world. They want to do a work that will 
 be a blessing to their children and to all the 
 people of Chicago in all the years to come — 
 some such work as the drainage canal, 
 which was built by their fathers and is a 
 blessing to them today. 
 
 We start out in this idea for a great work 
 for Chicago with two things decided. The 
 work must be big enough to attract the at- 
 tention of the whole world and make peo- 
 ple everywhere admire us for doing it ; and 
 it must be a work of economy, of saving 
 time and money, of increasing health 
 and happiness, and of bringing increased 
 wealth and prosperity to the Chicago of 
 the future. 
 
 As our city is only our larger home, to 
 
 decide what is the great thing we are to 
 do for Chicago we can take a lesson from 
 facts familiar to us in our homes. Each of 
 us knows that at home the first step to 
 economy is good order. We know, from 
 observation, that the wasteful household is 
 the one in which the furniture is always 
 disarranged and in which the rooms are 
 untidy. We know that waste and extrava- 
 gance in the home goes hand in hand with 
 disorder. Imagine how time and effort 
 would be wasted in our homes if things 
 constantly used about the stove in the 
 kitchen should be stored ia the front hall, 
 if pianos should be permitted to obstruct 
 narrow hallways, if our iceboxes should be 
 kept in attics and our dining tables in the 
 sleeping apartments. Yet we all know that 
 some or all of these absurd conditions re- 
 sult upon hurriedly moving into a house, 
 with consequent waste, turmoil, and bother 
 until we manage to put the house in order. 
 
 Now Chicago, our larger household, is 
 today in this state of turmoil from moving. 
 One of the youngest cities in the world, we 
 have moved into it so hurriedly wfe have 
 not had time, as yet, to set about arrang- 
 ing it. Let us see if this work of arrange- 
 ment, of bringing good order and conve- 
 nience into our city household, and of thus 
 rivaling all the cities in the world in time- 
 saving, convenience, and attractiveness, is 
 the task to which we should bend our ener- 
 gies. 
 
 We can readily see that if this work of 
 creating good order, cleanliness and beaut}^ 
 will result in saving time, doing away with 
 the smoke evil, banishing iinnecessary noise 
 and dirt, promoting good health, assuring 
 happiness and prosperity to the millions 
 upon millions of people yet to live in and 
 visit Chicago, it will be a greater work than 
 ever has been done by any American city. 
 Moreover, as it will be work done for all 
 
18 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 time to come, it is much more important 
 than any work directed only to effecting a 
 saving in the present expenditures of Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 We of today are forced, by their bravery 
 and steadfast purpose, to admire the works 
 of the men and women who as pioneers 
 entered and settled our country. Also we 
 admire the great scientists of the world 
 Avhose toil and careful thought led to crea- 
 tion of the great things of modern civiliza- 
 tion. Here is a chance, though, for us to 
 be both pioneers and scientists — leaders 
 and workers in the new and fascinating 
 science of city building on a plan sure to 
 result in tremendous economy to millions 
 of people and tremendous fame for Chicago 
 and for the men and women who share in 
 the work of making Chicago a truly great, 
 convenient, healthful and beautiful city by 
 encouraging and developing the "Plan of 
 Chicago. ' ' 
 
 1. What is happening all over the world at this 
 
 period? 
 
 2. What is operating more strongly today than 
 
 ever before in the history of man? 
 
 3. Name three things created hy the movement 
 
 of mankind to congregate in cities. 
 
 4. By what has the growth of cities been pre- 
 
 ceded? 
 
 5. What has come to the people with increased 
 
 power in cities? 
 
 6. Where does Chicago stand with the world's 
 
 large cities in point of population? 
 
 7. State two things Henry Drummond said 
 
 about cities. 
 
 8. What is the old saying about a penny? 
 
 9. What have we been forced to realize in the 
 
 growth of cities? 
 10. Why must ive be saving of food products in 
 
 11. What has been undertaken in cities to save 
 
 lives? 
 
 12. To what were the best efforts of mankind de- 
 
 voted before the growth of cities? 
 
 13. What is it that the best minds and greatest 
 
 efforts are bent on today? 
 
 14. State the first three things of which our cities 
 
 are demanding the conservation. 
 
 15. What is the first thing the Panam.a Canal 
 
 is destined to do? 
 
 16. What saving will the Panama Canal effect? 
 
 17. What was intended by the construction of 
 
 Chicago's drainage canal? 
 
 18. What did the building of the drainage canal 
 
 do for the people of Chicago? 
 
 19. What two things are decided in starting now 
 
 a great work for Chicago ? 
 
 20. What is the first step to good order in the 
 
 home ? 
 
 21. What is it that goes hand in hand with dis- 
 
 order in the home ? 
 
 22. What is it that is our larger home? 
 
 23. How have we moved into Chicago, our larger 
 
 household? 
 
 24. Name a science that is new and fascinating. 
 
 25. How can we make Chicago a truly great, 
 
 convenient, healthful and beautiful city? 
 
THE BASIS FOR CITY PLANNING 
 
 19 
 
 CHAPTEE II 
 
 THE BASIS FOR CITY 
 PLANNING 
 
 Before undertaking any important task 
 all careful persons first review in their 
 minds the facts that make the task neces- 
 sary, the reasons it should be done at once 
 
 founding of Chicago as an outpost of our 
 nation with the building of Fort Dearborn 
 in 1804, and the incorporation of the city 
 in 1837, adding that the city's growth has 
 been the wonder of the world, there is little 
 in history as usuallj' written to show Chi- 
 cago's real importance as a center of activ 
 ity from earliest times. It is a fact of im- 
 portance that Chicago, as far back as the 
 most earnest research has been able to dis- 
 
 I I M I I I 
 
 CHICAGO. Michigan Avenue looking- towards the South. Proposed double roadway running to a plaza 
 at its intersection with Twelfth Street and a suggestion for buildings to surround the place, including 
 re-arrangement of the Twelfth Street railway station. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 if promptness of action is needed for best 
 results, and all important elements affect- 
 ing the plan for the work at hand. Let us, 
 then, turn our minds to that preliminary 
 study as related to the future of Chicago. 
 That makes necessary, of course, brief no- 
 tice of Chicago 's past, thoughtful consider- 
 ation of Chicago's present, and deep effort 
 to foresee Chicago's future. 
 
 Wliile modern history relates to us the 
 
 close, has been a center of trade and com- 
 merce. 
 
 Every Indian tribe in the entire plains 
 country, living at the headwaters of the 
 Mississippi and Missouri rivers, far up in 
 the Canadian northwest, in Ontario at the 
 northeast, and throughout "Wisconsin, 
 Michigan, Ohio, Kentucl^, Indiana, Mis- 
 souri, and all the Mississippi Valley states 
 knew of Chicago as a gathering and trading 
 
20 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 place of all the tribes. Frequent meetings 
 of the varions tribes were held here. Broad, 
 well-traveled trails led into the country 
 
 The First Locomotive in Chicago, 1848. 
 
 roundabout in ever}' direction from Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 Some of these Indian trails, running in 
 straight lines from the mouth 
 of Chicago river, became 
 farmers' roadways upon the 
 settlement of the territory 
 roundabout Chicago, and 
 with the growth of the city 
 were developed into some of 
 our most important streets. 
 Thus it is seen that even the 
 savage peoples inhabiting the country for 
 centuries before the advent of the white 
 man recognized in Chicago 's location a nat- 
 ural center for the activities of man. 
 
 domain controlled for commerce and trade 
 by Chicago is larger than Germany or 
 France. Part of this territory is bounded 
 by three thousand miles of navi- 
 gable waters. It is pierced by 
 rivers flowing into the Great 
 Lakes, the Mississippi and the 
 Ohio. The land in the territory 
 is practically all arable, and able 
 to support an enormous popula- 
 tion. The land is level, making 
 
 the building of railroads and 
 
 canals easy. Earth and forest 
 throughout this vast domain yield an 
 abundant and great variety of products 
 upon which traffic thrives and trade grows 
 
 ■ wealthy. 
 
 These 
 con ditions 
 go far to re- 
 m V e any 
 wonder that 
 develop- 
 ment of this 
 t e r r i t ory 
 or that a 
 at this far 
 
 Cliicago's First Passenger Coacli. 
 
 has been marvelously rapid, 
 powerful city has been built 
 inland point where land and water trans 
 portation meet. It was by these condi 
 
 Modern Steel Railroad Train, IDll. 
 
 No section of our country, except New 
 England, has so clear and distinct a history 
 as the territory centering at Chicago. The 
 
 tions that Chicago grew in the last fifty 
 years of the past century from a city of 
 thirty thousand to one of two million peo- 
 
THE BASIS FOR CITY PLANNING 
 
 21 
 
 pie, and that despite a fire wliicli in 1871 
 destroyed most of the city with a money 
 loss of $190,000,000. 
 
 Today all indications point to continued 
 gains in population for Chicago. The 
 facts are, 
 that with a 
 p o pulation 
 of 2,250,000, 
 Chicago is 
 g a i ning at 
 the rate in 
 excess of 
 65,000 per- 
 sons yearly. 
 
 The ele- 
 ments mak- Chicago's First Railroad Depot. 
 
 ing for greatness of the city are tried past 
 all doubt, are assuredly permanent, and 
 men know they may now build confidently 
 for a future secured to Chicago by 
 the combined forces of nature and 
 humanity. No city in the world can 
 build houses for its people so cheaply 
 or find employment for them so well as 
 Chicago. 
 
 The inflow of people to Chicago has been 
 sorapid,the 
 growth of the city 
 so marvelous, that 
 no time has been 
 had to plan for 
 proper and e c o - 
 nomical disposition 
 of the population. 
 It has been a mat- 
 ter of hard and 
 fast work to erect 
 
 shelters for the people and buildings in 
 which to employ them. But now, with the 
 growth of the sentiment for saving and 
 good order in cities, Chicago's people are 
 taking hold of new problems to be solved 
 if the city is to continue safe, prosperous. 
 
 and mighty among her sister munici- 
 palities. 
 
 Thoughtful people, studying even the 
 one phase of congestion in Chicago's 
 streets, are appalled at the waste of time, 
 
 strength and money 
 involved. They 
 stagger at the toll . 
 of lives taken by 
 disease when san- 
 itary precautions 
 are neglected. We 
 are all distressed at 
 the outbreaks 
 against law and 
 order which scien- 
 tists assure us re- 
 sult solely from narrow and pleasureless 
 lives of our people. 
 
 And so, today, we are no longer first 
 interested in the growth and size of Chi- 
 cago. How are we living? we ask. Are 
 we making right use of our opportunities ? 
 Is Chicago a convenient place for business ? 
 Are its people comfortably housed? Will 
 our future people be able to stand the ner- 
 vous strain of city life? If we acquire 
 
 -,.,.„;«, ,, wealth, will 
 
 we have to 
 go else- 
 where to 
 enjoy the 
 fruits of 
 indepen- 
 dence ? 
 Ought not 
 our city to 
 grow better 
 What can we do to 
 
 $20,000,000 Northwestern Passenger Station, Opened 1911 
 
 as it grows bigger 1 
 make it better? 
 
 We of Chicago are today face to face 
 with the fact that fifty years from now, 
 when the children of today are at the 
 height of their power, our city will be larger 
 
22 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 than London, having more people than any 
 city on earth today. It has heen estimated 
 by a street car transportation expert of 
 Chicago, that if conditions here and in the 
 country about us continue in the future as 
 in the past Chicago will have 13,500,000 
 people in 1952. 
 
 Most school children know that a large 
 area of land in the northwest and in Can- 
 ada not previously cultivated is at this time 
 being made into homesteads by hundreds 
 of thousands of farmers. This means that 
 Chicago is to be the great market place 
 for these people, the great center whence 
 will go the machinerj'-, clothing, foodstuffs, 
 and other supplies for this extending civili- 
 zation. 
 
 Most school children know, too, that by 
 building irrigation works and canals our 
 government is opening to settlement mil- 
 lions of acres of rich land which farmers 
 have not been able to settle upon in the 
 past because of its dry and arid condition. 
 This, too, means growth for Chicago in 
 trade, manufacturing, and wealth. 
 
 Another factor promising to build up 
 Chicago is the opening of the Panama 
 canal, which is to be completed and opened 
 to the world's commerce in 1915. This 
 event will certainly be followed by an inten- 
 sive development of the Mississippi Valley, 
 by the addition of millions to the popula- 
 tion there, and by consequent increase in 
 the population and business of Chicago. 
 
 This world commerce is to be a heritage 
 to the school children of Chicago today. It 
 will be left to them to develop by the men 
 and women who have that task in hand in 
 the present years. To them, also, must be 
 left the solution of all the problems of city 
 building, and they must answer all the 
 questions on the future condition of their 
 city. These facts show how important it is 
 that all the children who now are old enough 
 
 to understand their responsibility shall 
 
 carefully study conditions today and make 
 up their minds to faithfully carry out their 
 duties to themselves, to the children of 
 the future, and to our well-loved city, Chi- 
 cago. 
 It is certain that Chicago is to continue 
 
 remain one of the greatest cities on earth. 
 
 t is probable that Chicago will become the 
 world's metropolis. It is the duty of her 
 children to look ahead and plan for this 
 future of Chicago, watchfully guarding 
 Chicago's rights, hopefully working to 
 build Chicago on a plan that will make cer- 
 tain their city's development into the most 
 convenient, beautiful, healthful, and at- 
 tractive city in the history of the world. 
 By doing this the children of Chicago today 
 can in future years gain for their city and 
 themselves a fame as wide as the world 
 itself and as undying as the gratitude of 
 their children of a hundred generations. 
 
 1. What do careful persons do before under- 
 
 taking any important task? 
 
 2. What preliminary study is necessary as re- 
 
 lated to t\e future of Chicago ? 
 
 3. In what year was Fort Deariorn built? 
 
 4. In what year was Chicago incorporated as 
 
 a city? 
 
 5. What has Chicago always been as disclosed 
 
 by the ablest research? 
 
 6. Name the states and territories from which 
 
 early Indian tribes knew of Chicago as a 
 trading place of all the tribes. 
 
 7. What did the savage peoples inhabiting the 
 
 coimtry for centuries recognize in Chi- 
 cago's location? 
 
 8. The domain controlled for commerce and 
 
 trade by Chicago is larger than what two 
 foreign countries? 
 
 9. How many miles of navigable waters bound 
 
 this territory? 
 
 10. Why is it easy to build railroads and canals 
 
 through the territory surrounding Chi- 
 cago ? 
 
 11. What caused Chicago to grow in fifty years 
 
 from a city of thirty thousand to one of 
 more than two million people? 
 
THE BASIS FOR CITY PLANNING 
 
 23 
 
 12. What ivas the loss of the Chicago fire in 
 
 1871 ? 
 
 13. What is Chicago gaining yearly in popula- 
 
 tion? 
 
 14. Why has no time been had to plan for 
 
 proper and economical disposition of the 
 population of Chicago? 
 
 15. Why is Chicago now taking hold of new 
 
 problems for saving and good order? 
 
 16. At what are thoughtful people appalled 
 
 when studying one phase of congestion 
 in Chicago's streets? 
 
 17. What do the scientists tell us are the results 
 
 of narrow and pleasureless lives of our 
 people ? 
 
 18. What are the questions Chicagoans are now 
 
 asking themselves to replace the no longer 
 first interest in growth and size? 
 
 19. What is it estimated that the population of 
 
 Chicago will be in 1952? 
 
 20. State three reasons for the future growth of 
 
 Chicago. 
 
 21. State two reasons why it is important that 
 
 children who are old enough should care- 
 fully study Chicago conditions today. 
 
 22. Give three reasons why it is the duty of 
 
 children to look ahead and plan for the 
 future of Chicago. 
 
 23. What will the children of Chicago today 
 
 gain for their future and themselves by 
 watchfully guarding Chicago's rights? 
 
24 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 POSSIBILITIES OF EXPAN- 
 SION 
 
 Three great factors may be said to con- 
 trol the destinies of our modern cities, so 
 far as growth in population is concerned. 
 
 easily and cheaply handled. In all these 
 three elements Chicago is equaled by no 
 other city in existence. 
 
 Passenger Steamer Entering Chicago Biver. 
 
 The first is the extent of rich and populous 
 
 territory into 
 
 which their 
 
 trade and 
 
 commerce can 
 
 be extended. 
 
 The second is 
 
 the supply of 
 
 raw materials 
 
 near at hand 
 
 for feeding 
 
 and housing 
 
 their people 
 
 and for use in 
 
 m a n u f actur- 
 
 i n g products 
 
 to be sold in 
 
 the tributary 
 
 territory. The 
 
 third is the 
 
 The richness and resources of the vast 
 territory lying about Chicago is known to 
 every school child. The wide prairies to 
 the south, west, and northwest produce 
 corn, wheat, and oats. We have the cheap 
 and abundant coal from the mines of In- 
 
 Shipping in CJhicago River. 
 
 extent of the railway and water transporta- 
 tion facilities by which commerce mav be 
 
 diana and Illinois ; the copper and iron from 
 and Minnesota; the zinc from 
 
 Michigan 
 
POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANSION 
 
 25 
 
 Missouri and Wisconsin; the fruits and 
 vegetables from Michigan; food prodiicts 
 of every sort 
 come to us from 
 every direction 
 round about. 
 
 At the western 
 edge of Chicago, 
 almost within 
 the present city, 
 we have unlim- 
 ited supplies of 
 stone, which, 
 crushed and 
 mixed with the 
 cement produced 
 by mills within 
 the city itself 
 gives us cheap 
 houses of enduring concrete. Brick we 
 make from the clay underlying our city on 
 every side. Lumber comes to us by lake 
 
 Logging in Minnesota. 
 
 from the forests of the north. Steel for our 
 buildings we produce from the iron borne 
 
 to us by water 
 from the north- 
 ern mines. 
 
 Finally, turn- 
 ing to transpor- 
 tation, we find 
 Chicago already 
 the greatest rail- 
 way center in the 
 world. Double- 
 tracked steel 
 highways stretch 
 in every direc- 
 t i o n possible, 
 running to the 
 Pacific on one 
 hand and the At- 
 lantic on the other, skirting the Mis- 
 sissippi to the Gulf of Mexico. These 
 railways draw to Chicago an ever increas- 
 
 Grand Crossing, Chicago, Showing a Section of Chicago as a Great Railway Center. 
 [Note: Since this photograph was taken, these various trades have been elevated at great cost In order to 
 eliminate dangerous grade crossings.] 
 
26 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 ing trade. Magnificent steamships enter 
 and pass out of our river, and from our 
 harbors carry their great burdens through 
 hundreds of miles of lake and river -water- 
 
 Thrilling, indeed, is the story of man in 
 his building of cities, but no more striking 
 chapter in the story can ever be told than 
 that of the upbuilding of mighty Chicago, 
 
 Reaping Wheat in Nortli Dakota. 
 
 courses. And now we are on the verge of 
 a new development of water traffic. People 
 of Illinois have voted to expend $20,000,000 
 
 reaching out through times of peace and 
 war in the commercial domination of the 
 wide empire surrounding her. 
 
 
 
 ■;»-i--- 
 
 Cattle Range in Nebraska. 
 
 in beginning the development of water com- 
 merce across the state by way of the drain- 
 age canal and the Illinois river, intending 
 
 In ancient times, when tribes and nations 
 were constantly at war, city growth was 
 limited by the possibilities of defense. 
 
 Farming Country, in Illinois. 
 
 to connect the traffic of the lakes with that 
 of the Mississippi river and the Gulf of 
 Mexico. 
 
 Cities then were built upon islands, where 
 the surrounding water would impede the 
 approach and operations of any attacking 
 
POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANSION 
 
 27 
 
 or besieging force, or -upon higli places 
 abounding in stones, of which walls could 
 be built to protect the city from attack and 
 enable its people to repel invaders. It was 
 only when a 
 nation be- 
 came very 
 strong in 
 numbers that 
 its people 
 dared build 
 their cities 
 upon open 
 plains or in a 
 position easy 
 of attack by 
 opposing 
 armies. 
 
 Later, 
 when by co- 
 operative ef- 
 fort various tribes in different parts of the 
 old world were drawn together in one 
 government, and the building of larger 
 cities was attempted, mankind learned that 
 
 Coal Mine in Illinois. 
 
 as water transportation was the only means 
 of conveying merchandise in quantities, the 
 great cities were all built as ports upon the 
 water. The most extensive business being 
 
 upon the 
 seas, the 
 larger num- 
 ber of domi- 
 nant cities 
 were s e a - 
 ports. 
 
 As the sea- 
 ports attract- 
 ed commerce 
 and grew in 
 p o p u lation 
 and wealth, 
 they became, 
 n a t u r a lly, 
 the seats of 
 g o vernment 
 of the various nations. Kings and emper- 
 ors were attracted there, and established 
 their courts in these cities, whence they 
 could easily send out their armies by water 
 
 Flour Mills and Elevators in Wisconsin. 
 
 cities were peculiarly the creatures of 
 transportation. To grow great it was 
 necessary that they be accessible for travel 
 and trade from long distances. Naturally, 
 
 and also most easily rule their peoples 
 under their various codes of civil law. 
 
 As growth of the nations brought greater 
 security to them, the seaports waned in 
 
28 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 Peach Orchard in Michigan. 
 
 importance. New centers of government 
 and trade were established upon the great 
 rivers, that 
 the r n 1 e r s 
 and m e r - 
 chants might 
 be in closer 
 contact with 
 larger num- 
 bers of peo- 
 ple. Some of 
 these new 
 cities, and 
 the ones which today remain the most 
 populous and powerful, were open to com- 
 merce from the sea 
 for all the craft of 
 those days. The peo- 
 ple ■ sought the ad 
 vantages of inland 
 location, but could 
 not relinquish their 
 needed water trans- 
 portation. 
 
 Examples of world 
 renowned' cities thus 
 constructed by early peoples include Rome, 
 built fifteen miles up from the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea upon the Tiber 
 river; Paris, built upon the 
 Seine river near its juncture 
 with the Marne, ninety miles 
 in a straight line from the Eng- 
 lish channel ; and London, built 
 upon the Tliames river, about 
 fifty miles from its moutli. 
 These cities, owing to their 
 position inland being joined 
 with their water transporta- 
 tion, have always been centers 
 of government and held leader- 
 ship in commerce, and so are 
 today the capitals of Italy, France, and 
 England. 
 
 South Water Street, Chicago. 
 
 As nations grew and developed the inte- 
 rior of their countries the growth of popu- 
 - lation has ever been inland. Com- 
 merce, an instrument of the people 
 in civilization, followed this inland 
 movement. The greatest force in 
 this development has been the rail- 
 road, which in the last seventy years 
 has changed the course of trade and 
 commerce in all countries and de- 
 veloped the interior lands every- 
 where to a degree impossible before 
 the era of steam power. 
 Paris and London have become great| 
 railway centers. The railway, too, has de- 
 veloped that other 
 magnificent E u r o - 
 pean city, Berlin, to 
 proportions beyond 
 the dreams of peo- 
 ple of a hundred| 
 years ago. Berlin 
 has grown, under 
 the magic of rail 
 transportation, with 
 a rapidity as great ^ 
 as Chicago. The two cities are today al- 
 most equal in population. The greatest 
 
 growth n 
 earth has 
 been in th6 i 
 interior of 
 our country| 
 because we 
 adopted the 
 railway ear- 
 liest and de- 
 veloped it 
 quickest to 
 its highest ; 
 effi c i e n c y. 
 The railway! 
 instrument in the j 
 city in this coun-^ 
 
 Apple Orchard in Michigan. 
 
 has been the chief 
 upbuilding of every 
 
POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANSION 
 
 29 
 
 try, for even in our seaports modern trade 
 would languish and die were it not for the 
 constant flow of commerce through them 
 by means of the railway systems. 
 
 Until the advent of the railroad, with its 
 power of quickly moving large quantities 
 of freight and large numbers of people, 
 time had much to do with the buUding of 
 cities. Commerce moved slowly. Trade 
 increased only as slow moving sailing ships 
 were able to traverse wide bodies of water 
 and develop friendly relations between dis- 
 tant nations. Merchants, even in times of 
 peace, were able to extend their business 
 only after much time had been consumed 
 in inquiries as to trade conditions and the 
 moving of merchandise. 
 
 But with the railroad all business was 
 stimulated and quickened into activity. 
 The mails carried letters in a few hours 
 that couriers or ships formerly required 
 days to deliver. A few years of this awak- 
 ening, and another boon to commerce came 
 in the invention of the telegraph, quickly 
 followed by the telephone. Deep sea cables 
 then came to link all nations together, and 
 in a few short years the foundations of our 
 present world commerce were deeply laid. 
 Eecently the wireless telegraph was added 
 to the agencies of commerce. Later still 
 came the aeroplane. What tomorrow may 
 bring to aid man in his development of na- 
 tions and the expansion of cities no man 
 can tell. 
 
 It is the dominance of the railroad over 
 the affairs of mankind that enabled Chi- 
 cago, in seventy-five years, to gain a popu- 
 lation exceeding two millions, while Greater 
 New York made up of several cities in ex- 
 istence nearly three hundred years, and the 
 central city of a territory having populous 
 cities for the same period, has about four 
 and one-half millions. Our leading cities, 
 of course, are all monsters in population, 
 
 power, and wealth, as compared with old- 
 world cities in point of age. 
 
 London is probably more than 2,500 
 years old. It was an ancient city of Britain 
 when the Romans resettled it in 43 A. D. 
 Paris is more than 2,000 years old, and was 
 an ancient capital when conquered by the 
 Eomans in 292 A. D. Rome is nearly 2,650 
 years old. As near as can be determined it 
 was founded 753 B. C. St. Petersburg and 
 Berlin are the youngest capital cities of the 
 leading European nations. The former 
 was established in 1703, and the latter was 
 settled in the 13th century. Both are in- 
 land cities, and have grown tremendously 
 since the advent of the railroad to the 
 forces of civilization. 
 
 "Westward the star of empire takes its 
 way," is a quotation familiar to all of us. 
 It expresses in a few words the history of 
 the world and its great nations. In times 
 of antiquity the centers of civilization, of 
 commerce, trade, and population were in 
 Asia and Africa to the east and south of 
 the Mediterranean sea. Tyre, Sidon, Baby- 
 lon, and Nineveh were the Asian cities hold- 
 ing primacy over their myriads of people, 
 while Memphis and Thebes were the popu- 
 lous centers of Egyptian life in the era pre- 
 ceding the birth of Christ by thousands of 
 years. Westward to Greece went the scep- 
 ter of dominion, and still westward to 
 Rome. Finally, ever westward, the sway of 
 the world-power was bestowed upon the 
 countries of western Europe, and during 
 the last half century the world has been 
 startled and amazed at the growth in popu- 
 lation, wealth, and power of our own 
 American nation. 
 
 The westward trend of population and 
 power in the world during centuries has 
 been equally true in our country itself 
 throughout its history under the dominion 
 of civilized man. Every ten years a cen- 
 
30 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 sus is taken in the United States, and at 
 every census the center of population has 
 appeared to be farther westward. The 
 center now is in Indiana, which makes Chi- 
 cago truly the great central city of the 
 country. 
 
 Within the last few years a great change 
 has come in the methods of settling and 
 cultivating our agricultural areas which is 
 operating to retard the westward move- 
 ment of the American center of popula- 
 tion, and which assures that Chicago will 
 remain for many years the central city of 
 the nation. It was formerly the custom 
 to operate large farms, sowing and harvest- 
 ing grain crops. This has proven a waste- 
 ful system, as it weakens the soil by taking 
 from it elements of fertility. We are chang- 
 ing, therefore, to a system of smaller farms 
 upon which we are producing a variety of 
 crops. This system is fast multiplying in 
 the middle west the number of people work- 
 ing upon farms, and so increasing the num- 
 bers having trade and commercial relations 
 with Chicago. 
 
 We have, then, to assure the expansion 
 of Chicago in trade and power, a city set 
 in the center of the largest and richest cen- 
 tralized territory on earth. We have a city 
 where commerce flows to and fro by water 
 and rail with an ease and economy un- 
 matched by any city in the world. We 
 have unlimited room for growth of this 
 city, and unlimited supplies of cheap build- 
 ing material. We have all forces known 
 working to promote Chicago's interests, 
 to increase Chicago's commerce and to 
 extend the trade of her merchants and 
 manufacturers. We can well see, there- 
 fore, that Chicago will go forward, and 
 how her two millions of today may be mul- 
 tiplied many times in from thirty to fifty 
 years. 
 
 Seeing this, and understanding the condi- 
 
 tions that are giving Chicago this oppor- 
 tunity to become probably the largest city 
 of the world, we can all clearly see that it 
 is our duty to aid in this city building work, 
 and to arrange, if we can, that as Chicago 
 grows into the largest it shall also grow to 
 be the best-ordered, most convenient, and 
 most attractive city ever governed by man- 
 kind. 
 
 1. In what three elements is Chicago equalled 
 
 by no other city in existence? 
 
 2. What is it that is known to every school '• 
 
 child? 
 
 3. Name the resources near Chicago and state 
 
 where they come from. 
 
 4. Of what is Chicago the greatest center in 
 
 the world? 
 
 3. Describe transportation of Chicago river and 
 harbors. 
 
 6. What is the striking chapter in the story of 
 
 man in his building of cities? 
 
 7. Why in early times were great cities built 
 
 as ports upon the water? 
 
 8. When the building of large cities was at- 
 
 tempted, what did mankind learn? 
 
 9. As seaports attracted commerce and grew 
 
 in population, what did they become? 
 
 10. As growth of the nations brought greater 
 
 security to the seaports what happened to 
 them? 
 
 11. Why were new centers of government and 
 - trade established upon the great rivers? 
 
 12. Name and locate three large cities built in- 
 
 land on rivers. 
 
 13. What has the railroad done in the past sev- 
 
 enty years? 
 
 14. Why has the growth of the interior of our 
 
 country been greater than anywhere in 
 the world? 
 
 15. Why has the railway been the chief instru- 
 
 ment in the upbuilding of every city in 
 this country? 
 
 16. Name the four inventions which with the 
 
 railroad aided man in the development 
 of nations and the expansion of cities. 
 
POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANSION 
 
 31 
 
 17. What enabled Chicago to gain a population 
 
 exceeding two millions in seventy-five 
 years, while New York, made up from sev- 
 eral cities, gained hut four and a half 
 millions in population in three hundred 
 years? 
 
 18. How old are London, Paris, Rome and 
 
 Berlin f State in order. 
 
 19. What quotation expresses in a few words 
 
 the history of the world and its great 
 nations? 
 
 20. Where were the centers of civilization and. 
 
 commerce in times of antiquity? 
 
 21. What has ieen the course of commerce and 
 
 trade westward? 
 
 22. What has startled and amazed the world in 
 
 the last half century? 
 
 23. What has ieen shown every ten years when 
 
 the United States Census is taken? 
 
 24. What makes Chicago actually the great cen- 
 
 tral city of the country? 
 
 25. Why may we ho assured that Chicago mil 
 
 remain for many years the central city 
 of the nation? 
 
 26. Why may we assure the expansion of Chi- 
 
 cago in trade and power? 
 
 27. What enables us to see that Chicago will go 
 
 forward and how her two millions of to- 
 day may he multiplied many times in 
 thirty to fifty years? 
 
 28. What obligation does Chicago 's opportunity 
 
 to become the largest city in the world 
 involve upon us? 
 
WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 CHAPTEE IV 
 
 CITY BUILDING IN ANCIENT 
 TIMES 
 
 In the early history of all nations two 
 conditions governed the location of cities. 
 First, they selected sites offering natural 
 means of defense. Later, when by the 
 
 These conditions requiring defense from,: 
 enemies without had much to do with the 
 early cities of America. The natural forti- 
 fications around the site of Quebec made 
 that city an early center of western civiliza- 
 tion. New York was an early example of 
 an American fortified town. Chicago it- 
 self, in its infancy, was protected against 
 attacks by Indians by the high wooden ram- 
 parts about Fort Dearborn. 
 
 CHICAGO. View looking West over the City Showing tlie Proposed Civic Center, tl'ie Grand 
 Axis, Grant Parlt and the Harbor. 
 
 [Copyrighte.d by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 power of their armies they were able to 
 maintain peace over a broad area, and 
 when commerce was developed, men gath- 
 ered together at particular points favor- 
 able to trade and industry, and built for- 
 tifications around them. It was these lat- 
 ter points which gave the world the great 
 cities of ancient times, built at the time 
 of the highest development of peace and 
 civilization within the nations. 
 
 So it has always been that only after a 
 nation became powerful could its cities ex- 
 tend their borders freely, and disregard 
 the necessity of being guarded from at- 
 tacking foes. The greatest of these an- 
 cient cities, and those whose works live in 
 history as known to all mankind today, 
 were laid out and built according to per- 
 fect and complete plans, drawn by the great- 
 est architects of ancient times, and adopted 
 
CITY BUILDING IN ANCIENT TIMES 
 
 33 
 
 and carried out by city dwellers inspired 
 by pride and love for the cities in which, 
 "they lived. 
 
 yt>' ■ .-a 
 
 -^^"~ 
 
 T^S?-; 
 
 
 The ear- 
 liest known 
 example of 
 a city built 
 i n accord- 
 ance with a 
 definite 
 J) 1 a n was 
 B a b y 1 on, 
 S ingularly, 
 perhaps, it 
 was a wom- 
 a n , Queen 
 S e m i r a 
 mis, who de- 
 cided upon 
 the work of 
 
 Athens During Siege of the Venetians. 
 Original drawing made in 1687. 
 
 
 
 
 
 •t 4jCaa^3 
 
 ^^M 
 
 
 H^Bj 
 
 
 
 
 WM 
 
 91 ^B^^MHi^^^S^^^^B^Br-'=^ 
 
 ^3 
 
 
 Wm 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 ll^lH^MBI. 
 
 ^H^S 
 
 Upon plans produced by the architects she 
 commanded, the work of building Babylon 
 was begun. Vast armies of men were em- 
 ployed, and before the end of 
 her reign a city so magnifi- 
 cent and glorious was built 
 that its fame has survived 
 thousands of years, although 
 the city itself has disap- 
 peared, its ruins being cov- 
 ered for scores of centuries 
 by sands and shifting earth. 
 
 When ancient cities are 
 mentioned we unconsciously 
 think of the famous city of 
 Athens. 
 Here, also, 
 was a city 
 built by a 
 nation 
 grown rich, 
 and enjoy- 
 ing the 
 highest civ- 
 ilization 
 ever a t - 
 tained be- 
 fore 
 own. 
 
 Greeks, 
 having con- 
 quered and 
 
 our 
 The 
 
 Ancient City of Babylon. 
 
 Panorama of Modern Athens. 
 
 constructing upon the banks of the Euphra- 
 tes river the greatest city in the world. 
 
 being in control of almost the whole world 
 as then known to man, set about building 
 
34 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 Athens as their great capital city. Five 
 miles from the sea, and upon high ground 
 where the city could 
 be seen for miles 
 from every direction, 
 they built Athens, 
 surrounding it with 
 high walls for pro- 
 t e c t i n , and also 
 building high walls 
 about the broad way 
 connecting the capital 
 with its port, Piraeus. 
 Having built the city 
 to plans by their 
 greatest architects, 
 the Greeks called up- 
 on their great artists 
 and sculptors to dec- 
 orate it, and their 
 skilled landscape 
 gardeners to save for 
 it the beauties of na- 
 ture. The result was 
 
 Pericles, who planned ancient Athens. From a Marble 
 Bust in the Vatican, Rome. 
 
 Athens and the Acropolis. 
 
 not only to make Athens the world's most 
 famous city of its day, but to establish for 
 
 a nation shattered and destroyed thousands 
 of years ago a place in history today as 
 high and proud as 
 ever was attained by 
 any people. 
 
 The Greeks in the 
 building of Athens 
 had in mind princi- 
 pally the creation of 
 beauty. Their aim, 
 in which they so well 
 succeeded, was to pro- 
 duce from stone and 
 mortar a work of art 
 which would enthrall 
 the world, and gain 
 for the people of Ath- 
 ens the world's trib- 
 ute to beauty in archi- 
 tecture. Their suc- 
 cess is known to all of 
 us today, for we all 
 know that when the 
 peoples of northern 
 Europe 
 emerged from 
 the period of 
 warfare and 
 disrupt! on 
 known in his- 
 tory as the 
 Dark Ages, 
 and began the 
 building of 
 cities, the 
 world's archi- 
 tects turned 
 to fallen Ath- 
 ens for in- 
 spiration, and 
 we know that 
 our most 
 beautiful buildings today are constructed 
 along lines created by the Greeks. 
 
CITY BUILDING IN ANCIENT TIMES 
 
 35 
 
 The ideals 
 city planning 
 great de- 
 g r e e when 
 the Eomans 
 came to a 
 decision t o 
 improve 
 and beau- 
 tify their 
 great city. 
 Eome, in its 
 early days, 
 was squalid, 
 unkempt,ill- 
 drained and 
 foul. It was 
 little more 
 than the 
 head quar- 
 t e r s of a 
 
 rough, ambitious, ever- 
 moving army. E o m a n 
 warriors, accustomed to 
 hardships in the field, ex- 
 pected little luxury at 
 home. But as conquest 
 brought wealth, national 
 pride was born to the Eo- 
 mans. They wanted their 
 city, from which the world 
 was governed, to stand 
 before the world as the 
 embodiment of power and 
 magnificence. 
 
 Mistress of the world, 
 levying tribute of wealth 
 upon every nation sur- 
 rounding her, enslaving 
 conquered peoples by 
 thousands as her victori- 
 ous armies spread over the 
 globe, Eome undertook to 
 make use of the world's 
 
 governing the Greeks in 
 were departed from in 
 
 Rome in the XlVth Century. 
 
 riches in aggrandizing herself. Eoman 
 emperors, one after another, took up great 
 piiblic works. The world's 
 ablest architects were called 
 upon for plans for buildings. 
 There was no lack of wealth 
 to carry out the great works 
 undertaken. There was no 
 limit to the supply of labor 
 to fulfill the broadest plans 
 architects could conceive. If 
 men or material were want- 
 ed all would be supplied by 
 the power of the Eoman ar- 
 mies over the inhabitants of 
 every part of Europe. 
 ' The Eomans began their 
 great city building work 
 in the very heart of 
 their capi- 
 tal. Out of the 
 wide public 
 market place 
 they evolvedthe 
 Forum. Tem- 
 ples, treasure 
 houses, senate 
 and court build- 
 ings were erect- 
 ed. Wide arches 
 and vast monu- 
 ment s were 
 built about this 
 civic center by 
 succeeding emi- 
 perors to com- 
 memorate for 
 the people- of 
 Eome the tri- 
 umphs of suc- 
 cessive reigns. 
 As these great 
 m n u m e ntal 
 works were 
 
 Augustus CsesELT, the Roman Emperor and City Builder. 
 
36 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 done the emperors, to improve health con- 
 ditions in the crowded city and to open 
 the great buildings to view, began the 
 development of a system of wide 
 streets. 
 
 Thousands of buildings, which 
 had housed the people in the days 
 of Eome's early growth, were torn 
 down. The city was opened to the 
 light and air. Parks and open 
 spaces were created and beautified. 
 The hills and valleys round about 
 the city, formerly dumping places 
 for the city 's refuse, were made into 
 magnificent gardens. Eomans of 
 wealth, upon their death, bequeathed 
 to the city land for parks and gar- 
 dens or for public buildings. Eo- 
 man youths were taught that all they 
 enjoyed in life they owed to their 
 city, and that true patriotism meant 
 personal sacrifice for the good of Eome. 
 
 It is not, ia fact, until we come to con- 
 
 make up the convenient and beautiful city 
 of today. Eome was' the first great city: 
 built under realization of the fact that for 
 
 ROME. Baths of Caraoalla. 
 
 sider the building of Eome, that we meet 
 the chief elements of city planning that 
 
 Panorama of the Roman Forum. 
 
 a city to thrive and survive provision must 
 be made for good health and convenience 
 
 of the people. 
 It is impossi- 
 ble to say how 
 great Eome's 
 p p u 1 a tion 
 was at its 
 greatest pe- 
 riod. It has 
 been closely 
 figured at 1,- 
 630,000 about 
 15 B. C, while 
 there has been 
 e n u merated, 
 as existing to- 
 ward the close 
 of the city's 
 great career, 
 and about 
 three centuries after Christ, eight great 
 open spaces set apart for games and gym- 
 
CITY BUILDING IN ANCIENT TIMES 
 
 37 
 
 nastic exercises, eighteen public squares, 
 and about thirty parks and gardens. Many 
 
 An Ancient Roman Circus, Near the Appian "Way. 
 
 of the parks had been laid out by private 
 citizens for their personal comfort, but 
 afterwards became city property 
 by bequest, purchase or confisca- 
 tion. Besides these, there were the 
 many great temples, with their col- 
 onnades and fountains, the spa- 
 cious cemeteries, open to the public, 
 the broad avenues and long shaded 
 porticos expressly built that citi- 
 zens might move about pleasantly 
 in hot or stormy weather. And 
 finally there were the city's ex- 
 tensive baths, which at the height 
 of the city's magnificence had ac- 
 commodations for 62,800 citizens 
 at a single time. 
 
 It was the devotion of the Ro- 
 mans to Rome's welfare, coupled 
 with their recognition that it was each 
 citizen's duty to help build up a great. 
 
 healthful, convenient and beautiful city, 
 that made Rome the most wonderful city 
 
 of all ages. It 
 was because 
 its people were 
 devoted to 
 their city that 
 Rome came to 
 be known as 
 the "Eternal 
 City," estab- 
 lished in his- 
 tory with a 
 fame so great 
 and enduring 
 that it cannot 
 b e forgotten 
 or blotted 
 out so long as 
 man shall in- 
 habit the 
 earth. 
 So may it be 
 with Chicago if her people will it. Chicago 
 has no conquering armies, as Rome had. 
 
 The Arch of Constantine, Rome. 
 
 Her forces are made up of the regiments of 
 toilers, enlisted in the army of industry. 
 
38 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 Chicago levies no tribute upon her prov- 
 inces by force of arms, as Eome did. Her 
 tribute is the more secure and lasting one 
 that is paid will- 
 ingly by the mil- 
 lions in the broad 
 zone over which 
 Chicago holds 
 commercial dom- 
 inance, her reign 
 assured to her 
 forever under 
 c n d i t i ons of 
 peace. Chicago's 
 opportunity i s 
 not one of build- 
 ing a powerful 
 and magnificent 
 city for men of 
 
 future ages to Pantheon, Rome. 
 
 marvel at as a 
 
 thing wonderful even in death and 
 decay, as was Eome's opportunity. The 
 way is open for 
 the people o f 
 Chicago to build 
 a city as much 
 more magnifi- 
 cent than an- 
 cient Eome as 
 the modern 
 steamship is 
 more commodi- 
 ous and power- 
 ful than the 
 oared galley of 
 the ancient Eo- 
 man conqueror, 
 and as enduring 
 as the life of a 
 
 nation whose Forum, Rome. 
 
 policy of peace 
 
 is as fixed as the very course of the earth 
 
 about the sun. 
 
 1. What two conditions governed the location 
 of cities in the early history of all na- 
 tions? 
 
 2. In what respects were certain early Amer- 
 ican cities 
 like an- 
 cient cities? 
 
 3. What made 
 Quebec an 
 early center 
 of West- 
 ern civiliza^ 
 tion? 
 
 4. Of what was 
 New York 
 an early 
 example? 
 
 5. By what was 
 Chicago, in 
 its infancy, 
 prote cted 
 against at- 
 tacks by In- 
 dians? 
 
 6. What enabled 
 nations t o 
 
 freely extend the borders of their cities? 
 
 How were the ancient cities whose works live 
 
 i n history 
 laid out? 
 
 8. N ame the 
 earliest 
 known city 
 built in ac- 
 cor dance 
 with a defi- 
 nite plan. 
 
 9. Who deddeii. 
 to build 
 Babylon ac- 
 cording to 
 a plan? 
 
 10. What is known 
 of the citlj 
 of Babylon 
 as having 
 been built 
 by a plan? 
 
 11. Name the an- 
 •fiient city 
 which was 
 built by a 
 nation hav- 
 ing conquered almost the whole world 
 then known to man. 
 
CITY BUILDING IN ANCIENT TIMES 
 
 39 
 
 12. How was the ancient city of Athens 'built? 
 
 13. After building Athens to plans by their 
 
 greatest architects, what did the Greeks 
 do? 
 
 14. What was the result of planning and beau- 
 
 tifying Athens? 
 
 15. What was the aim of the Greeks in building 
 
 Athens ? 
 
 16. How well did the builders of Athens suc- 
 
 ceed in their cherished desire? 
 
 17. Describe Rome in its early days. 
 
 18. What did conquest bring to Rome? 
 
 19. What did the Romans want when they had 
 
 attained power? 
 
 20. Where did the Romans begin their great 
 
 city building work? 
 
 21. Describe the Roman Forum. 
 
 22. What other improvements did the Romans 
 
 make when the Forum was finished? 
 
 23. What did the Romans of wealth do upon 
 
 their death? 
 
 24. What were Roman youths taught? 
 
 25. What was Rome the first to realize of any 
 
 great city? 
 
 26. What was Rome 's population closely figured 
 
 at its greatest period? 
 
 27. What was the extent of the provision of 
 
 Rome for the comfort, health and happi- 
 ness of her people toward the close of the 
 city's great career? 
 
 28. What made Rome the most wonderfid city 
 
 of all ages? 
 
 29. By what other name is Rome known? 
 
 30. What is Rome's place in history? 
 
 31. What are Chicago's advantages in contrast 
 
 to Rome's. 
 
 32. What is Chicago's opportunity? 
 
40 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 CITY BUILDING IN EUROPE 
 
 The wisdom of city building upon prop- 
 erly drawn plans is proven even more 
 clearly in the experience of modern cities 
 than in the cities of the past. The neces- 
 sity for such work is more grave under 
 
 gressive and forceful nation then on earth. 
 Within a lifetime, on the other hand, Chi- 
 cago became a city of over two millions. 
 Thus, where the Romans had centuries to 
 see the need of city planning and to begin 
 work upon it, we of today must see at once 
 and act immediately. 
 
 The right building of modern cities was 
 first undertaken in France. The French- 
 capital, Paris, is the best example of suc- 
 cessful city planning and building on earth 
 
 . )ff^T^'^"^S?5 
 
 
 CHICAGO. Proposed boulevard on Michigan Avenue, view looking Nortli from a, Point Bast of the 
 Public Library. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 modern conditions of life, too, with the 
 rapid growth of cities, than in the days of 
 ancient nations. In those days, when men 
 and materials were moved from one place 
 to another slowly, city growth was natu- 
 rally much slower than today. To give 
 Eome a population of a million people, and 
 to create the system of feeding and sus- 
 taining such a population, required hun- 
 dreds of years in the life of the most pro- 
 
 today, and because it was well planned and 
 well built it is one of the largest and 
 wealthiest cities of the world. 
 
 Paris has reached the highest develop- 
 ment of all the world's great cities, and be- 
 cause the conditions making for the growth 
 of Paris are strikingly like those surround- 
 ing_ Chicago, the French metropolis pre- 
 sents an interesting subject of study for the 
 people of Chicago. 
 
CITY BUILDING IN EUROPE 
 
 41 
 
 To begin a comparison of the two cities, 
 Paris liad its origin in a marsh. In the 
 century before the Christian era, Paris 
 
 PARIS: 
 
 Avenue des Champs Blysees Looking Towards 
 Arc de Triomphe. 
 
 Tvas a little village on a low island in the 
 Seine. Chicago, also, was built upon 
 marshy land. The cities are alike, too, in 
 that each adjoins a vast level plain upon 
 which houses may be built indefinitely, and 
 each had at its doors a limitless supply of 
 building material. Fertile lands afford a 
 bountiful supply of provisions for each 
 city, while numerous watercourses radiat- 
 ing from each provided at the beginning 
 the ways of commerce so necessary to up- 
 building a city. 
 
 About the year 1700, and during the 
 reign of the great king, Louis XIV, the 
 plans of the Paris of today were laid. The 
 king called upon the leading architects of 
 his country to plan the city, and they sur- 
 veyed the territory adjoining the then 
 crowded, dirty and ill-smelling city as the 
 site for the Paris of the future. During 
 the next century these plans were con- 
 tinued, and some of them put in effect. 
 From that time until today, through times 
 of war and of peace, the people of Paris 
 have worked on the plan prepared for 
 
 Louis XIV, with result that they have a 
 city that amazes the world by its beauty 
 and attracts to itself a tremendous wealth 
 _ and trade from all quarters of the 
 world. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, the great general 
 who led the invincible French armies in 
 the early part of the nineteenth century, 
 and became emperor, is honored in the 
 memory of the French people today quite 
 as much for what he did for their be- 
 loved Paris as he is admired in their 
 memory because of his military genius. 
 Napoleon realized that the city, then of 
 seven hundred thousand people, would 
 become the home of two or more mil- 
 lions. He realized, too, the danger to 
 the city and its people from its then 
 crowded condition. He proposed to give 
 Paris, the center under his reign of the 
 
 the 
 
 Louis XIV of France the Original City Builder 
 of Paris. 
 
 widest government since Eoman times, a 
 splendor eclipsing that of any existing city. 
 
42 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 Napoleon began a great work of open- 
 ing up the city. He made almost forgot- 
 ten plans effective by cutting new streets. 
 Under bis direction superb new bridges 
 were constructed across tbe Seine, and he 
 transformed the banks of the river by 
 building new quays. He built the first side- 
 walks in Paris, and lighted the streets at 
 night. Napoleon began, too, the erection 
 of great monuments to commemorate 
 the valor and the victories of his 
 armies. Arches and columns which today 
 are famous 
 the world 
 around are 
 among his 
 works. 
 
 The succes- 
 sors of Napo- 
 1 e n con- 
 tinued the 
 works he had 
 started, and 
 for fifty 
 years, as the 
 city grew, the 
 public proj- 
 e c t s contin- 
 ued. In 1853, 
 Baron 
 Gfeorges Bu- 
 
 of access to them, and particularly he 
 created new diagonal thoroughfares to 
 shorten distances in the city. 
 
 The work of Baron Haussmann in Paris 
 is like the task which must be accomplished 
 in Chicago that we may put our rap- 
 idly growing city in order so it mayi 
 continue its development with increasing 
 good order and beauty. The population of 
 Paris when Haussmann began his work was 
 half a million less than the number of Chi- 
 cago 's people today. The work cost $265,- 
 
 PARIS. Court of the Louvre. 
 
 gene Haussmann, who lives in history as 
 the greatest city builder of all time, 
 took charge of the completion of the im- 
 provement and beautification of Paris. 
 Still working on the broad lines laid down 
 by the architects, of 1700, Haussmann 
 opened up all of the old city of Paris to 
 light and air. He cut new streets here, 
 widened old ones there, tore down hundreds 
 of old structures that beautiful buildings 
 could be brought to view. He placed the 
 railroad stations in a circle about the old 
 center of the city, and opened up fine ways 
 
 000,000. Owing to Paris being the capital/ 
 of the French nation, a large part of the 
 cost was paid from the national treasury. 
 The people supported the men advancing 
 the improvements because they believed 
 that an improved city meant greater 
 wealth for its people. This theory has been 
 proven correct, as people from all parts^ 
 of the world visit Paris in great numbers 
 each year, and there spend large sums 
 among the merchants and tradespeople. 
 
 That it will not be possible to gain the,; 
 financial support of our nation in improv: 
 
CITY BUILDING IN EUROPE 
 
 43 
 
 ing Chicago need not cause the people any 
 concern, or give rise to any misgivings in 
 
 1780. 
 
 beginning the 
 work. Chicago, by 
 its great and in- 
 creasing trade and 
 niannfactnring ac- 
 tivity, has a much 
 greater earning 
 power as a city 
 than Paris. While 
 the commerce of 
 Paris has, it is be- 
 lieved, reached its 
 greatest point, that 
 of Chicago is 
 
 growing greater and greater each year, 
 and the city is thus earning more and 
 more money for its people. Besides this, 
 Chicago has the advantage given by the 
 half-million greater population than 
 Paris had when it commenced its im- 
 provements under Haussmann. Also, 
 because its people are paid much higher 
 wages than the workers of Paris, the city 
 can easily pay sums for improvements 
 which would be a great burden upon the 
 people of the French capital city. 
 
 There is another great advantage that 
 the people of Chicago enjoy in undertak- 
 
 1830. 
 
 ing the task of orderly city building. The 
 city can much easier pay for the work than 
 can the people in any great European 
 city for the reason that our nation, gen- 
 erally speaking, has had a career of 
 peace. Old world nations are all bur- 
 dened with debts growing out of great 
 wars, while we of America are almost 
 free from such burdens. We are 
 favored, also, in that we are not com- 
 pelled, by fear of wars, to maintain 
 large armies and navies at the tremen- 
 dous cost borne by European peoples. 
 All conditions, within the city and the 
 nation, are favorable to Chicago un- 
 dertaking and eas- 
 ily comple ting 
 much greater and 
 more expensive 
 public works than 
 any city of Europe. 
 It is interesting 
 to note, in viewing 
 the results of city 
 building and plan- 
 ning in modern 
 times, that all the 
 great cities of Eu- 
 rope, since the 
 
 1880. 
 
 Transformation of the Banks of the' Seine in Paris. 
 
 Chronological Views of the Petit Pont and Petit Chatelet 
 
 Showing the Evolution of the Boulevards. 
 
44 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 close of the Franco-Prussian war in 
 1870, have undertaken costly works of 
 improvement. The people's attention 
 freed from war, . they everywhere 
 turned at once to vast works of peace, 
 determined to make their cities proper 
 places for their well-being, comfort 
 .and luxury. 
 
 This era of peace opened with most 
 of the cities in Europe as great walled 
 towns, little changed from the condi- 
 tions of the Middle Ages except in the 
 crowding together of their inhabitants. 
 "With peace came 
 the progress of in- 
 vention, the exten- 
 sion of the use of 
 steam power, the 
 birth of the electric 
 railway, general 
 use of the telegraph 
 and telephone and 
 the development of 
 all the agencies of 
 transportation, in- 
 telligence and com- 
 merce which work 
 
 1841. 
 
 1878. 
 
 Chronological Views of Place de la Bastile, Paris. The Evolu- 
 tion of the Castle and Moat to its Present Form of 
 Plaza and Boulevard is Shown. 
 
 1740. 
 
 together to build 
 up cities. 
 
 The success of 
 the French people 
 in improving Paris 
 led to imitation of 
 the methods of 
 Baron Haussmann 
 i n all countries. 
 The old city walls 
 and b a 1 1 le ments 
 were either torn 
 down or trans- 
 formed as the cities 
 spread out beyond their ancient boun- 
 daries. In some cases the walls, hav- 
 ing great sentimental interest for the 
 people, were made into gardens,? 
 topped with flower beds and decorated^ 
 with hanging vines. In other cities 
 boulevards were made to encircle the 
 center of the town where the walls had 
 been. 
 
 The German people entered into a 
 great organization for city planning! 
 Within the last thirty years a school 
 of city planning has grown to be a 
 great institution among the Germans, 
 with leading architects and gardeners; 
 as its masters. Literally, hundreds of 
 
CITY BUILDING IN EUROPE 
 
 45 
 
 Oerman cities are at work on systematic 
 extension and development. It is so, too, 
 in France, Italy, Ans- 
 t r i a and Hungary. 
 Every important city, 
 and hundreds of small 
 towns, are engaged in 
 city planning and pre- 
 paring for orderly 
 growtli. 
 
 Dusseldorf is one of 
 the most progressive 
 of all European cities. 
 The eminent writer, 
 Frederick C. Howe, 
 after a careful study 
 of Dusseldorf, says : 
 
 "I have often 
 dreamed of a city 
 whose ideals rose 
 above mere business, 
 a city that was built 
 like a home, that had a 
 communal bigness of 
 
 vision, that , 
 
 was planned 
 by city buil- 
 ers, and that 
 served its peo- 
 ple as a father 
 might serve 
 his children, 
 and I have 
 seen such cit- 
 ies in Ger- 
 many, the iia- 
 t i n which 
 alone has rec- 
 ognized the 
 portentiou s 
 significance of 
 the change 
 which has tak- 
 en place in the 
 
 Baron Georgres Eugene Haussmann, the Greatest 
 City Builder of AH Time. 
 
 distribution of population. Of all German 
 cities, I think Dusseldorf is easily the first. 
 It is not an old resi- 
 dence city like Dres- 
 den or Munich. It is 
 a comparatively new 
 city like Cleveland, 
 Milwaukee, Indianapo- 
 lis or Kansas City. Its 
 population was about 
 69,000 people in 1871. 
 In 1910 it was 300,000. 
 Dusseldorf, too, is an 
 industrial city of miUs, 
 factories and work- 
 shops. It is one of the 
 best governed cities in 
 the world. It has 
 dreamed dreams and 
 dared to carry them 
 into execution. It is 
 almost as beautiful as 
 "Washington, as full of 
 joy of living as Paris 
 
 i^-gjis^'i^e^^^^^^ 
 
 PARIS. The Place de la Concorde, Looking Over the Seine Towards the Madeleme^ This 
 Squart is one of the Great Circulatory Centers Placed on the Grand Axis of the City (the Champs 
 Blysees), and the Circuit of the Grand Boulevard. 
 
46 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 and is managed with more scrnpnlons lion- 
 esty, more scientific efficiency and more de- 
 voted pride tlian almost any American 
 business corporation. The city is built for 
 the comfort and convenience of its people. 
 It is designed as master architects might 
 design a world 's fair to which all mankind 
 was invited for education, recreation and 
 art. But the thing that most distinguishes 
 Dusseldorf is this — her people and her 
 officials seem to appreciate that congestion 
 of population has made it necessaLrv for the 
 
 Rue de Rivoli, Paris. 
 
 city to own many things and do many 
 things. Dusseldorf was not a natural har- 
 bor. The waterfront, which extends for 
 miles along the Ehine, was low-lying land. 
 The bank opposite the city was covered 
 with shacks and huts,' which were torn 
 down and the land developed into a beauti- 
 ful parkway several miles in extent. The 
 city side was reclaimed from the river and 
 confined with stone embankments. A wide 
 esplanade was constructed upon which sev- 
 eral great public buildings as well as a 
 splendid exhibition building have been 
 
 erected. In the latter annual exhibits of 
 art are held. Further up the river a sys- 
 tem of docks was constructed with power- 
 ful cranes and devices which handle all 
 kinds of freight at an insignificant cost. 
 Crossing the river is a beautiful bridge 
 upon which hundreds of thousands of dol- 
 lars were spent merely to make it beautiful. 
 The remarkable thing about this undertak- 
 ing is the way business is made to harmo- 
 nize with art and beauty. The use of the 
 river front for recreation is not impaired 
 
 by the " docks 
 and railroad 
 tracks. Dus- 
 seldorf is laid 
 out like a 
 great park. 
 Everywh ere 
 are parks and 
 playgroun d s 
 as artistic and 
 varied as the 
 landscape 
 architect can 
 make them. 
 The entire riv- 
 er bank is a 
 promenade 
 and driveway. 
 The parks run 
 into the heart of the business districf 
 Through the center of the town is a broad 
 mall with the moat of the old city in the 
 center. It is lined with banks, publish- 
 ing houses, department stores and office 
 buildings, many of them as splendid as 
 palaces. The public schools of America 
 are among the best in the world, but edu- 
 cation in America seems unrelated to life, : 
 In Germany the aim is to make efficient 
 people. 'The glory of the Fatherland' is 
 the motive and the making of strong, 
 healthy and competent citizens is the need. 
 
CITY BUILDING IN EUROPE 
 
 47 
 
 The German city hates the ugly. Dussel- 
 dorf has been planned by expert architects 
 and landscape gardeners who make a 
 profession of city planning. Nothing 
 lias been left to chance. The individual 
 property owner is no more permitted to 
 spoil the harmony of the whole than an 
 incompetent workman would be per- 
 mitted to wreck an expensive machine. 
 Streets, squares, parks, gardens, play- 
 grounds, all have their place in the 
 scheme of the city architecture, while in 
 the designing of private and public 
 works, open spaces and street corners, 
 lamp posts and street signs, the skill of 
 "the artist has been joined with that of 
 .the builder and the engineer. Every- 
 thing is orderly, systematic and beauti- 
 ful. Dusseldorf is planned in detail for 
 50 years to come. Upon the maps in 
 the city hall one can see the location 
 ■of future streets, boulevards, parks, open 
 
 of the city's growth. Strange as it may 
 seem to our American business men, these 
 
 Dusseldorf, Germany, showing a broad promenade on the Rhine embankment, 
 combining a center for recreation and industrial utility. 
 
 spaces, sites for public buildings and 
 schoolhouses, all located in anticipation 
 
 Dusseldorf; Germany. The Municipal Art- Gallery. 
 
 municipal activities in Dusseldorf have 
 been promoted by business men — by the 
 same sort of business 
 men who in America 
 sacrifice the city to 
 their business advan- 
 tage. In America we 
 have had city builders 
 of great ideals whose 
 hearts were broken 
 by the obstacles which 
 the laws, the consti- 
 tutions and the courts 
 threw in their path. ' ' 
 Buenos Aires, 
 sometimes called the 
 " second Paris, " has 
 been wise in retaining 
 the municipal archi- 
 tect of Paris, so that 
 the beautiful and rap- 
 idly growing metrop- 
 olis of the Argentine in South America 
 could have the benefit of his expert advice. 
 
48 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 Dusseldorf, Germany. Municipal Theatre. 
 
 In 1900 Buenos Aires decided to increase 
 its docks. The people wanted to look 
 ahead for future demands. They took ex- 
 pert advice and built docks to accommodate 
 all the traf- 
 fic for the 
 next fifty 
 ■y e a r s. 
 These docks 
 are the 
 models o f 
 the world. 
 Monster 
 ships are 
 docked, 
 huge cranes 
 hoist the 
 cargoes out 
 of the ves- 
 sels' holds 
 
 and place them in great warehouses 
 alongside, and immediately on the other 
 side of the warehouses is the railroad 
 train. Buenos Aires is spending mil- 
 lions of dollars in creating new and larger 
 parks, wider streets and beautiful boule- 
 vards and other 
 public improve- 
 ments. 
 
 The British 
 people are in- 
 dustriously en- 
 gaged, too, in 
 city planning 
 work, made more 
 n e ce s s ary in 
 their islands, be- 
 cause of the 
 
 dense masses of Dusseldorf, Germany. Bridge Across ^ , 
 
 people in a small Thousand Dollars were Spent to"Make°it BeauUtul 
 
 territory, than upon the continent. Broad 
 projects for the housing of the working 
 classes are being caried out in numerous 
 British cities. Official boards are " 
 
 power by law to supervise town planning 
 and building work all through the British 
 isles. These official bodies have power, 
 even in case the people of towns and 
 cities do not realize the 
 need of building by an offi- 
 cial plan, to order schemes 
 of town-planning to be pre- 
 pared and carried out. There 
 is also a Public Works 
 Loan Commission, which au- 
 thorizes loans to provide 
 money for carrying out pro- 
 posed works. 
 
 These extensive powers in 
 city planning, created by the 
 British government, have come 
 as result of hundreds of years 
 of sad experience to the British 
 in their own city of London, 
 which has over 7,000,000 people, and is, as 
 we all know, the world's greatest city. It 
 has been seen how Paris, the world's. most 
 perfect city, was developed by systematic 
 work and planning as it grew. Very inter- 
 esting and instructive to us is the conti^d 
 
 Rhine. On this Structure Several Hundred 
 
 given 
 
 ing history of the British capital, to which 
 we will now give attention. 
 
 In 1666 a great fire almost entirely de- 
 stroyed London, which was, like other cit- 
 
CITY BUILDING IN EUROPE 
 
 49 
 
 ies of its time, a very crowded and un- 
 wholesome city, with narrow and crooked 
 -streets. The city had grown slowly, and 
 without kny definite plan of development. 
 As the population in- 
 creased new territory 
 had been added, but 
 it was a planless city 
 and inconvenient as 
 to its thoroughfares 
 even at that date. 
 After the fire Sir 
 Christopher Wren, 
 one of the world's 
 greatest architects, 
 prepared a plan for 
 the rebuilding of the 
 city. Had that plan 
 been adopted London would have had a 
 start of more than thirty years of all the 
 world's cities in orderly constructive work, 
 
 adopted for the French capital. They pro- 
 vided for a city with streets radiating from 
 central points, and for locating palaces and 
 public buildings at the end of long vistas. 
 
 Vienna, Kae rntneering. 
 
 as it was not until 1700 that the first plans 
 for Paris were drawn. 
 
 The principles of the Wren plan for 
 London were exactly the same as were 
 
 Stephanie Bridge, Vienna. 
 
 SO as to present a pleasing appearance. 
 The then leading citizens of London, 
 guided by their selfish interest, disregarded 
 
 . , the Wren 
 
 plans. That 
 mistake has 
 cost London 
 already m i 1- 
 lions upon mil- 
 lions in rdoney, 
 besides retard- 
 ing the devel- 
 opment of the 
 city and pro- 
 d u c i n g the 
 most degrad- 
 ing and social- 
 ly dangerous 
 congestion of 
 population up- 
 on earth. 
 In 1855 the 
 people of London came to realize that if 
 their city was to continue in existence and 
 to progress with their nation great changes 
 would have to be made. Since then they 
 
50 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OE CHICAGO 
 
 have worked steadily and desperately, as 
 the population of the city grew, to repair 
 the errors of hapless and careless growth. 
 One project after another has heen carried 
 through, at a cost exceeding one hundred 
 
 fame as a beautiful and attractive city at 
 the expenditure of almost nothing except 
 foresight. London, after centuries of in- 
 
 convenience, 
 and squalor, 
 
 Franzen Bridge, Vienna. 
 
 million dollars. Despite these great works 
 and tremendous expenditures, the city has 
 failed to get relief. Now, that the conges- 
 tion of street traffic may be in a measure 
 done away with, the London Traffic Com- 
 mission has decided that two new streets 
 must be cut through 
 the city at an esti- 
 mated cost of $125,- 
 000,000 for land dam- 
 ages alone, to say 
 nothing of the mil- 
 lions that must be 
 spent upon the labor 
 of tearing down miles 
 and miles of build- 
 ings. 
 
 The experiences of 
 these two great cities 
 of London and Paris 
 
 should combine to teach Chicago an effect- 
 ive lesson. Paris enjoys her miles of 
 boulevards, her extensive parks, her op- 
 portunities for enjoyment of life and un- 
 limited development, and her world-wide 
 
 waste, unwholesomeness 
 is struggling to preserve 
 her very existence and is 
 facing expenditures of 
 hundreds of millions that 
 she may merely provide 
 makeshift means of caring 
 for the movement of her 
 people through her 
 streets. 
 
 There is no longer any 
 hope of making London a 
 city of parks, of giving the 
 city attractiveness and 
 beauty, but only, at the 
 best, of providing sufficient 
 light and air for her people to maintaii; 
 existence and enough room in the streets 
 for them to go about their city with com- 
 parative freedom. These facts mean, ab- 
 solutely, that Chicago, if she is to avoid the 
 perils to her people that now assail the 
 
 Karelin Bridge, Vienna. 
 
 people of London, must adopt at once a 
 policy of orderly building, with a prop|| 
 street plan and broad provision for park 
 areas. We must look to the future days| 
 when Chicago's citizens will honor us for 
 
CITY BUILDING IN EUROPE 
 
 51 
 
 the foresight and devotion to our city which 
 will give them the benefits and blessings 
 growing from our development of the Plan 
 of Chicago. 
 
 1. What is it that is proven even more 
 
 clearly in the experience of mod- 
 ern cities than in the cities of 
 the past? 
 
 2. Why is the necessity for city build- 
 
 ing more grave under modern 
 conditions of life? 
 
 3. Mow long and under what condi- 
 
 tions was Rome acquiring a pop- 
 ulation of a million people ? 
 
 4. Why must Chicago see at once the 
 
 need of city planning and act im- 
 mediately? 
 
 5. What modern city was first to undertake 
 
 right city building? 
 
 6. Why is Paris one of the largest and 
 
 wealthiest cities of the world? 
 
 7. What has Paris reached? 
 
 8. In what respect does the French metropolis 
 
 present an interesting subject of study 
 for the people of Chicago? 
 
 9. Where did Paris have its origin and in what 
 
 year? 
 
 10. Describe conditions which make Paris and 
 
 Chicago alike. 
 
 11. In what year, and under what king, were 
 
 the plans of the Paris of today laid? 
 
 Nancy France View of the Place Stanislas, the- Principal Avenues Lead Into Tt, 
 a Typical Arrangement of Public Squares in Small Surrounding Towns. 
 
 Kronprinz Rudolf Bridge, Vienna.- 
 
 12. What is the result to Paris of the plans 
 
 prepared for Louis XIV? 
 
 13. What Emperor is honored in the memory 
 
 of the French people' for whdt-'he did for 
 their beloved Paris? 
 
 14. What two things did Napoleon realize con- 
 
 cerning the interests of Paris? 
 
 15. What did Napoleon propose to do for 
 
 Paris? 
 
 16. What city building work was accomplished 
 in Paris during 
 
 Napoleon's reign? 
 
 17. Who continued the 
 city building work 
 of Napoleon and 
 in what year? 
 
 18. H ow is Baron 
 Haussmann known 
 in history? 
 
 19. What did Hauss- 
 mann accomplish 
 for Paris? 
 
 20. What is the work of 
 H aus s m ann in 
 Paris like? 
 
 21. What was the popu- 
 lation of Paris 
 when Haussmann 
 began his work? 
 State its cost. 
 
 22. What did the people 
 of Paris believe 
 that an improved 
 city meant? Were 
 they correct in 
 their belief? 
 
 23. State five advan- 
 tages Chicago has 
 
 over Paris in carry- 
 ing out a city plan. 
 
52 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 24. What has happened in Europe since the 
 
 close of the Franco-Prussian war? 
 
 25. What was the condition of European cities 
 
 when the era of peace opened? 
 
 39. 
 
 40. 
 
 street Scene in Vienna. 
 
 5ff, 
 
 57. 
 5S, 
 
 29 
 
 What followed the opening of the peace era 
 in European cities? 
 
 To what did the success of Haussmann lead? 
 
 What is it that has grown to be a great insti- 
 tution among the Germans within the last 
 thirty years? 
 
 What is tailing place in Germany and other 
 European countries regarding city de- 
 velopment? 
 
 30. Name the most progressive city on city plan- 
 
 n ing in 
 Germany. 
 
 31. Hoiv do the 
 
 German 
 cities serve 
 their peo- 
 ple and 
 what has 
 the Ger- 
 man na- 
 tion alone 
 r e c g 
 nized? 
 
 32. How is Dus- 
 
 seldorf to 
 i e com- 
 pared with 
 certain 
 other Ger- 
 man and 
 certain 
 A merican 
 cities ? 
 
 33. What was the population of Busseldorf in 
 
 1871? In 1910? 
 
 34. What is the business life of Busseldorf? 
 
 35. How has Busseldorf dreamed? 
 
 36. How does Busseldorf compare with Wash- 
 
 ington, B. C., and Paris, France ? 
 
 37. How is Busseldorf managed? 
 
 38. What thing most distinguishes Bus- 
 seldorf? 
 
 What was done with the Rhine ex- 
 tending for miles along Bussel-: 
 dorf's frchitf 
 
 What is it that was remarJcaile 
 about the treatment of the river?: 
 
 41. Bescribe the parks of Busseldorf. 
 
 42. Contrast the schools of America 
 with those of Germany. 
 
 43. What is the individual property 
 owner in Busseldorf not per- 
 mitted to do? 
 
 44. Bescribe the order of the arrange- 
 
 ment of Busseldorf. 
 
 45. What is Busseldorf contemplating for the 
 
 future growth of the city? 
 
 46. By whom have the activities in city building 
 
 in Busseldorf been promoted? 
 
 47. What city in South America is sometimes 
 
 called "The Second Paris?" 
 
 48. What means has Buenos Aires employed to 
 
 beautify that city, and why? 
 
 49. What in Buenos Aires are the models of the 
 
 world? 
 
 Tlie Sieges Allee, Berlin. 
 
 50. What is Buenos Aires doing 
 building? 
 
 city 
 
CITY BUILDING IN EUROPE 
 
 53 
 
 51. What power do the people have in city plan- 
 
 ning in British cities f 
 
 52. What caused the British government to 
 
 create extensive powers in city plan- 
 ning? 
 
 53. 
 
 54. 
 
 55. 
 
 56. 
 
 57. 
 58. 
 59. 
 
 In what 
 year was 
 London 
 almost en- 
 tirely de- 
 stroyed by 
 fire? 
 
 What was 
 the condi- 
 tion of 
 Lond n 
 the time 
 of its great 
 firef 
 
 What great 
 arc hitect 
 prepa red 
 a plan for 
 the re, 
 building of 
 London 
 
 Public Garden and the Theseus Temple, Vienna. 
 
 after the fire? 
 What would have happened to the city of 
 London had the plan of Sir Christopher 
 Wren been adopted in 1666? 
 What were the principles of the Wren plan? 
 For what did the Wren plan provide? 
 What caused the downfall of the Wren plan? 
 
 60. What did London's mistake in disregarding 
 
 the Wren plan cost that city, and xvhat 
 followed? 
 
 61. In what year did London realize her mis- 
 
 take, and what followed? 
 
 62. What is the 
 result f 
 L ndon's 
 efforts t 
 repair the 
 mistake in 
 r e j ecting 
 the Wren 
 plan? 
 'rr, 63. What is it to 
 cost Lon- 
 don to cut 
 two new 
 streets 
 thro ugh 
 the city? 
 
 64. What should 
 com bine 
 to t each 
 Chicago an 
 effective 
 lesson ? 
 
 65. What must London always suffer as a re- 
 
 sult of her lack of foresight ? 
 
 66. What should the bitter lesson of London con- 
 
 vey to the people of Chicago? 
 
 67. If Chicago profits hy London's lesson, what 
 
 may be expected? 
 
 A Civic Center in Berlin. 
 
54 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 MiDERN CITIES IN 
 AMERICA 
 
 We have seen how in Europe, under con- 
 ditions of peace, and with the stimulus of 
 modern commercial conditions, the peopl^ 
 are planning and working for the proper 
 
 working for harmony and beauty in the 
 building of our cities. 
 
 Few busy Americans know that as a 
 people we can lay claim to being the only 
 nation on earth today having its seat of 
 government in a city specially planned, sur- 
 veyed and laid out as the capital city of a 
 great nation. It is a matter to stir our pa- 
 triotism, too, to know and remember that 
 the father of our country, the immortal 
 „George Washington, was a city planner, 
 
 CHICAGO. Bird's-eye View of Grant Parlt, tiie 
 Lagoons of ttie Proposed Parlt on the Soutli Siiore. 
 
 [Copyriglited by the 
 
 development of their cities. Greater con- 
 venience, better sanitation, more light and 
 air, and increased beauty are demanded 
 not only in cities throughout Europe, but 
 in America increased knowledge and ar- 
 tistic taste of the people is being mani- 
 fested in city development. We of America, 
 starting in a new country, acting without 
 restraint of custom or ancient law, see our 
 own remarkable opportunities in city build- 
 ing, and, it may be generally stated, are 
 
 Facade of the City, the Proposed Harbor and the 
 Commercial Club.] 
 
 and the first man in our country's history 
 to gain a place in fame as an advocate of 
 convenience and good order in city build- 
 ing. It was George Washington who con- 
 ceived and directed the laying out of our 
 beautiful capital city, which is today the 
 most admired and inspiring city of our 
 country. 
 
 President Washington, as a surveyor 
 and civil engineer, recognized the value of 
 proper planning for a great work. Whena 
 
MODERN CITIES IN AMERICA 
 
 55 
 
 it was decided, therefore, to create a city 
 as our national capital in the District of 
 Columbia, he conferred with Thomas Jef- 
 ferson, then Secretary of State, and it was 
 decided to employ Peter 
 Charles L 'Enfant, a young 
 French engineer, to lay out the 
 s^te for the capital. This work 
 was done in 1791. L 'Enfant de- 
 liberately drew a plan on paper 
 for an entirely new city mod- 
 eled after the principle of the 
 plan of Paris, and designed to 
 accommodate a population one- 
 third greater than lived in 
 Paris at that date. ^ „r , ■. 
 
 George Washington „ ... 
 
 L 'Enfant carefully surveyed p'^^^'I the cuy of washing 
 the entire country along the 
 Potomac, where it was proposed to locate 
 the new city. He laid out broad streets 
 and avenues through the wide swamps and 
 over the wooded hills. He took cognizance 
 
 rr~^m2m 
 
 
 of existing spnngs 
 and watercourses 
 and planned accord- 
 ingly for fountains, 
 cascades and canals. 
 He set aside a place 
 for the Capitol and 
 for the White 
 House, and con- 
 nected them with a 
 spacious park. He 
 provided locations 
 for every building 
 necessary for na- 
 tional uses. He per- 
 fected a street plan, 
 with proper diag- 
 onal avenues ap- 
 proaching the civic 
 center, where he planned to put the govern- 
 ment buildings. 
 
 Not many people at the time could grasp 
 
 the necessity or understand the wisdom of 
 that planning. There were scarcely enough 
 people in the entire country at that time to 
 populate the city L 'Enfant had laid out. 
 The people, when they heard 
 the plan explained, greeted it 
 with derision. It was a subject 
 of laughter the country over 
 and of amusement in every 
 court in Europe. The world 
 could not believe that a suffi- 
 cient number of people would 
 ever live at Washington to 
 carry out a tenth of the L 'En- 
 fant plan. 
 
 It was fortunate that the 
 faith of the people in President 
 Washington was strong enough 
 to afford a deep foundation for his plan 
 for the capital city. Lands necessary for 
 the streets, avenues, parks and public 
 squares were donated, and although they 
 
 lay vacant and aban- 
 
 who 
 
 Original Plan of Washington Designed by Peter Charles 
 Li'Bnfant. 
 
 doned for three- 
 quarters of a cen- 
 tury, yet develop- 
 ment and growth 
 since the Civil War 
 has served to pro- 
 duce for us at 
 Washington one of 
 the most beautiful, 
 impressive and 
 stately cities in the 
 world. The city long 
 since outgrew the 
 original plans of 
 L 'Enfant, which 
 hajve in late years 
 been extended and 
 strengthened by im- 
 provements costing nearly $50,000,000. 
 
 American cities, in all their city planning 
 operations, have been inspired largely by 
 
56 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 tlie beauty of our national capital. An- 
 other great source of inspiration for tliem 
 was the World's Columbian Exposition in 
 Chicago in 1893, where was demonstrated 
 the attractive etfects of the proper group- 
 ing of well-designed buildings. American 
 cities have been most active in city plan- 
 ning since the Chicago exposition. It is, 
 therefore, a proper matter of pride for the 
 people of Chicago that they have provided 
 stiraulus for the artistic sense of the whole 
 nation, and that their work in building up 
 a commemorative exposition is having ef- 
 
 railway station nearby, costing $5,000,000. 
 Boston's city planning work has taken 
 the direction of park extensions, and it has 
 completed the most perfect system of pub- 
 lic parks in the country at a cost of $33,- 
 000,000, besides creating a tidal basin to 
 rival any in Europe. New York is also 
 conserving the city's park domain and ex- 
 tending it for many miles beyond her bor- 
 ders. Much land in recent years has been 
 taken for public purposes along the Hud- 
 son river, and converted into public parks. 
 Philadelphia is widening its streets, cutting 
 
 parkways and 
 buying more 
 land for 
 parks, besides 
 planning the 
 grouping o f 
 its city build- 
 
 The Washington Monument, Garden and Mall Looking 
 
 Commission Plan. 
 
 feet in arousing the pride and spirit of the 
 people of our sister cities. 
 
 One of the American cities which has 
 gained wide fame for its activity in city 
 planning is Cleveland, where the people 
 have had created a great civic center about 
 which the city is being built in an orderly 
 manner, and according to a definite plan. 
 The people of Cleveland, through a com- 
 mission, caused a new federal building, city 
 hall and public library to be built at the 
 new center at a cost of $14,000,000, and are 
 preserving proper architectural relations 
 between this group of buildings and a new 
 
 In the mid- 
 dle west Min- 
 neapolis and 
 St. Paul, rival 
 c i t ie s, are 
 working t o- 
 gether in the 
 
 Toward the Capitol; Senate Park TipbUllamg 01 
 
 a park sys- 
 tem, and in St. Paul agitation for street 
 widening work is under way. St. Louis has 
 a plan for spending millions of dollars in 
 grouping the city buildings, and creating 
 outer and inner park systems, including 
 small parks and playgrounds. 
 
 On the Pacific Coast our countrymen 
 are active in city planning work, too. San 
 Francisco, rebuilding from a disastrous 
 fire, is working in accordance with a plan 
 to give symmetry and beauty to her streets 
 and public buildings. Her people are 
 openly ambitious to make San Francisco 
 the most attractive city in America. To 
 
MODERN CITIES IN AMERICA 
 
 57 
 
 the northward of San Francisco, Portland 
 and Seattle are striving to preserve 
 good order and beauty during a period 
 of rapid growth. 
 
 We Americans, not content with 
 improving and beautifying our own 
 native cities, have begun a vast task 
 of remodeling our new capital city in 
 the Philippines, Manila, and we have 
 had entirely new plans prepared for a 
 city to be created as the summer capi- 
 tal of the Philippine archipelago upon 
 the hills of Baguio. 
 
 Thus it becomes apparent that the 
 demand for better civic conditions is 
 sweeping over the entire world. As 
 peace permits our cities to grow out- 
 ward regardless 
 of means of de- 
 f e n s e against 
 foes, and as their 
 people are being 
 enriched by com- 
 merce, popula- 
 tion increases by 
 thousands every 
 year. This 
 makes conven- 
 ience and order 
 a demand not to 
 be set aside as 
 the people be- 
 come more and 
 more accustomed 
 to improved con- 
 ditions of living. 
 The history of 
 city building, in 
 America and 
 abroad, both in 
 ancient and in 
 modern times, 
 shows Chicago, 
 that her way to 
 
 true greatness and to continued growth and 
 
 CLEVELAND GROUP PLAN— View Looking Towards tiio 
 Lake from the Proposed Civic Center. 
 
 Developed 
 Commission of 1901. 
 
 Wasliington 
 Senate Park 
 
 prosperity lies in making the city con- 
 venient and healthful for its constantly 
 growing population. To create civic 
 beauty is to compel people to travel 
 long distances to enjoy it. To arrange 
 fine buildings and streets in an orderly 
 manner means fame to a city. Chicago 
 is ambitious for this prestige and fame, 
 which her people are coming to know 
 will be gained for their city by faithful 
 devotion to the ideals and details of the 
 Plan of Chicago. 
 
 1. What is it that is being demanded in 
 
 American cities as well as throughout 
 Europe ? 
 
 2. What do we of America see, starting in 
 
 a new country, acting without re- 
 straint of custom or ancient law? 
 
 3. To what is it that as a nation only 
 
 America can lay claim? 
 
 4. What is it that should stir our patri- 
 
 otism? 
 
 5. Who conceived and directed the laying 
 
 out of our beautiful capital city? 
 
 6. What did George Washington, as a sur- 
 
 veyor and line engineer, recognize? 
 
 7. When it was decided to create a city as 
 
 our nation's capital, with whom did 
 George Washington confer? 
 
 8. What did George Washington and 
 
 Thomas Jefferson decide to do? 
 
58 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 9. In what year did Washington decide on ct 
 city plan for the city of Washington? 
 
 10. How did L'Enfant proceed with his work for 
 
 a plan for Washington ? 
 
 11. What was L'Enfant's second step in prepar- 
 
 ing a plan for Washington? 
 
 12. What was the attitude of the people toward 
 
 L'Enfant's plan when finished? 
 
 13. Why was L'Enfant's plan greeted with de- 
 
 rision? 
 
 14. What did the faith 
 
 of the people in 
 George Wash- 
 ington do for 
 the plan of 
 L'Enfant? 
 
 15. What followed the 
 
 faith the people 
 had in George 
 Was hington's 
 idea for a plan? 
 
 16. What has the de- 
 
 velopment and 
 growth of 
 Washing ton 
 since the Civil 
 War served to 
 produce for 
 that city? 
 
 17. AsWashi ngton 
 
 continued t o 
 grow, ivhat was 
 the effect o n 
 L'E nf ant ' s 
 plan? 
 
 18. What effect did 
 
 the World's Co- 
 lumbian Expo- 
 sition in Chica- 
 go in 1893 have 
 n American 
 cities in their 
 city planning 
 operations ? 
 
 19. W hy was the 
 
 World's Go- 
 
 1.? 
 
 mmaamxi 
 
 CLEVELAND GROUP PLAN— 
 Hallway Station and Gardens 
 
 lumiian Exposition a proper matter of 
 pride for the people of Chicago? 
 
 20. What American city has gained wide fame 
 
 for its activity in city planning ? 
 
 21. What have the people of the city of Cleve- 
 
 land created? 
 
 22. What direction has Boston's city planning 
 
 work taken? 
 
 23. What is Philadelphia doing to improve the 
 
 city ? 
 
 24. What Middle 
 West cities are 
 engaged on ex- 
 t ensiv e city 
 planning? 
 
 25. Name three cities 
 on the Pacific 
 Coast active in 
 city planning. 
 
 26. What are Ameri- 
 cans doing be- 
 sides improving 
 our oivn native 
 cities ? 
 
 27. What does the his- 
 tory of city 
 b uilding in 
 America and 
 abroad in both 
 ancient and 
 modern times 
 show to Chi- 
 cago ? 
 
 28. What does it mean 
 to create civic 
 beauty? 
 
 29. What is it that 
 brings fame to a 
 city? 
 
 30. What are Chicago 
 people coming 
 to know must 
 bring prestige 
 and fame to 
 their city? 
 
 ;;i;aBi2Hi;i 
 
 Proposed Civic Center, 
 Now Being Executed. 
 
WHY CHICAGO NEEDS A PLAN 
 
 59 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 WHY CHICAGO NEEDS 
 A PLAN 
 
 Thus far attention has been given to 
 many things in city building of interest to 
 us as living in one of the world's greatest 
 
 wide work by mankind for the improve- 
 ment of cities according to properly pre- 
 pared plans. 
 
 As we think of these things, and of how 
 other people in other cities are carrying 
 out these tremendous plans for improve- 
 ment of cities, we naturally ask ourselves 
 about Chicago. Perhaps we wonder why 
 Chicago was not built according to a cer- 
 
 -^' ,>yij^#*.fc' 
 
 *'|fewv*s^... 
 
 ,'«•. '%■ 
 
 
 
 *4" 
 
 '^. % 
 
 
 CHICAGO. View looking North on the South Branch of the Chicago River, Showing- the Suggested 
 Arrangement of Streets and Ways for Teaming and Reception of Freight by Boat at Different Levels. 
 Examples of the arrangement exist at Dusseldorf, Algiers, Budapest, Geneva and Paris. 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 cities. We understand, now, the chief el- 
 ements that enter into the growth of a city, 
 the reason great cities exist, and the means 
 by which they are sustained. We know 
 that mankind, in the building and conduct 
 of cities, is constantly working to improve 
 conditions of life in cities, and we under- 
 stand something of the growth of modern 
 cities, and the springing up of a world- 
 
 tain plan, and we are sure to ask what the 
 necessity is for Chicago to have a plan, and 
 what changes should be made, if any, so 
 that our city can be made orderly, attrac- 
 tive and famous. We are not satisfied to 
 know that people in other cities in our 
 country are at work improving their cities, 
 and doing better work of that kind than we 
 are. 
 
60 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 All of us in Chicago want our city to re- 
 main as large and powerful as it is, and 
 to see it grow larger and more powerful 
 as we grow older. We know that if it does 
 grow in size and power we will be given 
 credit for that growth, because the city is 
 ours. If it grows more orderly and beau- 
 tiful and famous, too, we know the people 
 of all the world will admire us, because 
 the people of a city always make the city 
 what it is. We want to know, then, what is 
 necessary for us to do that Chicago may 
 
 Plan of Athens in Roman Times. 
 
 become not only the greatest city in the 
 world, as it promises to be, but the best 
 arranged, most healthful and pleasant city 
 that the world has ever seen. We come 
 to realize, then, that the future of Chicago 
 is a most important thing for us, that it 
 affects us all, and will affect our children 
 who will live here after we are gone. 
 
 We know that Chicago is growing tre- 
 mendously fast, and as we have never 
 heard of any plan by which the city has 
 been built we must believe it is growing 
 haphazardly, without plan, as London grew. 
 
 This does not satisfy us, for we do not 
 want to see our city crowded, without suf- 
 ficient parks, unwholesome, ill-smelling and 
 disease-ridden, with dark and narrow 
 streets, which it will cost hundreds of mil- 
 lions of dollars to widen. We do not want 
 people of the future to consider that we, 
 well educated and enlightened people, were 
 as ignorant, selfish and careless as we can 
 see the people of London were in the days 
 of Sir Christopher Wren. 
 
 It is true that Chicago's growth has been 
 
 h a p h a z ard 
 and without 
 order or plan. 
 The principal 
 reason for 
 that fact is 
 the very good . 
 one that the 
 people who 
 first settled in 
 Chicago were 
 all very poor 
 people. Most 
 of them had 
 families to, 
 work for, and 
 as there was 
 in the early 
 days always 
 more work for every man than he could 
 possibly do the people had no time to con- 
 sider the future of the city. Besides that, 
 no one knew when Chicago was founded 
 that we were to have such a tremendous 
 city here, and it is doubtful if any one could 
 liave interested the people in a settled plan 
 for building the city then, even if a plan had 
 been drawn. 
 
 In the early days, then, it was the duty 
 of every man in Chicago to work hard to 
 acquire a solid foundation of wealth upon 
 which to build the fortunes of his family. 
 
WHY CHICAGO NEEDS A PLAN 
 
 61 
 
 There was the whole eountry to be sub- 
 dued that the people might live and wealth 
 be gained by agriculture. There were In- 
 dians to fight, at first, and later there were 
 trees to cut, the rough prairie land to be 
 broken by the plow, houses to be built 
 for shelter for the homeless pioneers, roads 
 to be constructed, railroads to be built. 
 
 First there was only Fort Dearborn at 
 Chicago, surrounded by its stockade. Then 
 a little straggling village. Eventually a 
 town of unpaved and unlighted streets. 
 Then a small city appeared^. a Streets were 
 
 in a series of squares, as the city spread 
 into the adjoining country. Only where the 
 old Indian trails had been developed into 
 country roads were diagonal streets pro- 
 vided in the expanding city. No man, when 
 cutting up a farm into city lots, could see 
 why he should sacrifice property he could 
 sell as lots to provide the people with di- 
 agonal streets. 
 
 The people of Chicago in those early 
 days were working to buUd, a solid founda- 
 tion for the city, relying upon us who have 
 followed them to complete the building of 
 
 Vienna in tlie ITtli Century. 
 
 extended, rough plank paving was put in, 
 little cars drawn by horses appeared, gas 
 lamps came to flicker in the streets at night, 
 brick buildings supplanted frame struc- 
 tures, a railroad entered the city, and so, 
 with gradual improvements, Chicago be- 
 came a big city of busy, hard-working peo- 
 ple. 
 
 As the town grew into the city, and the 
 city added thousands to its population, out- 
 lying farms were cut up into city lots. The 
 farms were laid out in squares, and as the 
 fences were torn down to make room for 
 houses, the streets followed the square 
 lines of the farms, and were thus extended, 
 
 the city and fix the details of good order, 
 cleanliness, ease of travel and traffic, park 
 areas and playgrounds for the children. 
 The men of early Chicago were in fierce 
 competition with other cities for the trade 
 of the great west. They believed if that 
 trade could be secured for Chicago the 
 people coming after they had gone would 
 look to beautifying the city, and making 
 life pleasant within its borders. It is that 
 great duty which faces the young people of 
 Chicago now — the building of a convenient 
 and beautiful city upon the foundations of 
 commerce laid by the men of Chicago in 
 early days. 
 
62 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL Ol' THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 The men of early Chicago did well for 
 the future of the city in providing it with 
 a wide trade, and with means of maintain- 
 ing and extending this trade. They did 
 well for the future by providing Chicago 
 with wealth, which it has in abundance, and 
 which is needed in great works of improve- 
 ment in all cities. In leaving this trade and 
 wealth to us, the early builders of the city 
 thrust a great responsibility upon the 
 young people of Chicago of the present, 
 b e c a u se 
 they p r 0- 
 vided a n 
 inevitab 1 y 
 great f u - 
 ture d e s - 
 t iny f o r 
 the city. 
 
 As has 
 been said, 
 C h i c a go 
 has* grown 
 during the 
 last forty 
 years at a 
 rate ex- 
 ce edin g 
 65,000 peo- 
 ple a year. 
 No one in 
 C h i c a go 
 has asked 
 these people to come here, but the natural 
 advantages of Chicago have bidden them 
 come. Those advantages will continue to 
 exist, and the people will continue to come 
 here by tens of thousands each year. 
 Whether we want them or not, they will 
 come, and it is important for us to recog- 
 nize that fact and see to it that Chicago 
 shall no longer grow by chance, but be de- 
 veloped in an orderly manner that all its 
 people can live healthfully and happily. 
 
 THE TRANSPORMATION OF PARIS UNDER HAUSSMANN 
 Plan showing the portion executed from 1854 to 18SD. The new boulevards 
 and streets are shown in heavy black lines. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 and that Chicago shall gain increased fame 
 not only as one of the greatest cities of 
 history, but as the best planned and most 
 convenient community that ever existed. 
 
 To accomplish this and so carry out the 
 destiny that its great men of early days 
 set for Chicago, we must first determine 
 that Chicago must no longer be a creature 
 of chance. There must no longer be plan- 
 less building, haphazard running of streets, 
 insufficient light and air in our public ways, 
 
 cram ped 
 and r e- 
 s t r i c t ed 
 park areas, 
 badly a r - 
 ranged 
 t r anspor- 
 tation sys- 
 tems, dirty 
 and con- 
 gested 
 streets. 
 We must 
 work to a 
 plan that 
 stops 
 waste of 
 time, ef- 
 fort, mon- 
 ey and la- 
 bor in car- 
 
 rymg o n 
 the work of our city and its industries. We 
 must work to a plan that provides streets 
 direct enough and commodious enough to 
 care for all traffic quickly and economically. 
 We must work to a plan protecting the 
 public health in every possible way and 
 promoting healthful and comfortable lives 
 for all the future citizens of Chicago. 
 
 In taking up this plan for future Chi- 
 cago we must avail ourselves of all the in- 
 formation science can afford us. We recog- 
 
WHY CHICAGO NEEDS A PLAN 
 
 63 
 
 nize, for one thing, that city life is more 
 intense and nerve-straining than life in the 
 country. This means that our plan must 
 aim to do away with unnecessary noises, 
 smoke, dust, dirt, confusion and danger of 
 accident on the one hand, and on the other 
 hand provide an increased means of out of 
 doors life for the people, larger park areas, 
 more playgrounds and greater opportuni- 
 ties of recreation and refreshment for the 
 dweller in the Chicago of the future. 
 
 Science tells 
 u s , further, 
 that recrea- 
 tion is a ne- 
 cessity for the 
 people. If 
 proper and 
 moral means 
 f recreation 
 are not pro- 
 vided in our 
 plan, there- 
 fore, we may 
 be certain that 
 in the future 
 Chicago, as in 
 the London of 
 the present, 
 the people will 
 become in- 
 ferior in morals, mind and even in phy- 
 sical size and strength to the people of 
 the present Chicago. 
 
 As many improvements can be completed 
 within a few years, there is much of prom- 
 ise in the Plan of Chicago for the young 
 people of the city, who within a few years 
 will be managing its affairs, and giving 
 active direction to the work of carrying 
 out this plan of betterments. The people 
 are coming to recognize, more and more 
 each year, the necessity of getting to work 
 upon public improvements under an or- 
 
 derly plan, and of deciding at once upon 
 what improvements are necessary and what 
 changes must be made in our system of car- 
 rying on the commercial and civic business 
 of Chicago. We may well give some atten- 
 tion, then, to considering the main elements 
 of our city's various departments of com- 
 mercial, social and economic activity, and 
 so determine the first and most necessary 
 things to be done in relation to the Plan of 
 Chicago. 
 
 Panorama of Part of Modern Rome. 
 
 1. What do we understand thus far hy studij 
 
 of Wacker's Manual of the Plan of Chi- 
 cago ? , 
 
 2. What have we learned from our study of the 
 
 building and conduct of cities? 
 
 3. What are our thoughts when we realize how 
 
 people in other cities are carrying out 
 tremendous plans for improvement of 
 cities? 
 
 4. What is our feeling when we ask ivhat the 
 
 necessity is for Chicago to have a plan? 
 
 5. What do all of us in Chicago want? 
 
 6. If Chicago groivs more orderly, beautiful 
 
 and famous, why will the people of all the 
 world admire us? 
 
 7. Why is it necessary that we_ should know 
 
 what to do for our future city? 
 
64 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 8. Knowing what to do, what do we then come 
 
 to realize? 
 
 9. Why is it that we must believe Chicago is 
 
 growing haphazardly, as London grew? 
 
 10. Why does it not satisfy us to know that Chi- 
 cago has been built without a plan? 
 
 11. What is it that we do not want people of the 
 
 future to consider us? 
 
 12. What is the principal reason for the growth 
 
 of Chicago without order or plan? 
 
 13. What was the duty of every man in the 
 
 early days of Chicago? 
 
 14. How did Chicago grow at first? 
 
 15. What happened as the town grew into a 
 
 city ? 
 
 16. What did the people of Chicago in early 
 
 days rely upon us for, and why? 
 
 17. What did the people of early Chicago be-, 
 
 lieve? 
 
 18. What is the great duty that faces the young 
 
 people of Chicago now? 
 
 19. How did the men of early Chicago thrust 
 
 a great responsibility upon the young peo- 
 ple of Chicago of the present? 
 
 20. At ivhat rate has Chicago grown in popula- 
 
 tion during the last forty years? 
 
 21. What important fact should we recognize 
 
 in Chicago's continued growth? 
 
 22. What m,ust we do first to carry out the des- 
 
 tiny that Chicago's great men of early 
 days set for it? 
 
 23. Toward what sort of a plan must we ivorh? 
 
 24. In taking up this plan for future Chicago, 
 
 of what must we avail ourselves? 
 
 25. What does scientific information teach that 
 
 our plan must aim to do away with on 
 one hand and provide for on the other? 
 
 26. What further thing does science tell us? 
 
 27. What of much promise is there in the Plan 
 
 of Chicago for the young people? 
 
 28. What are Chicago people coming to recog- 
 
 nize more and more each year? 
 
 29. What should we determine in- giving con- 
 
 sideration to ' the main elements of our 
 city's various departments of commercial, 
 social and economic activity? 
 
VALUE OF PERMANENCY IN CITY BUILDING 
 
 65 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 VALUE OF PERMANENCY 
 IN CITY BUILDING 
 
 "We have seen, in our study so far, that 
 the peoples of ancient times not only built 
 up vast and attractive cities, but con- 
 structed them so marvelously and so solidly 
 that their principal buildings and temples 
 have survived. Time and the elements of 
 nature have not been able to destroy the 
 works of the G-reeks and the Eomans. 
 Though decay has caused ruin to buildings 
 and temples, yet they have lost little of their 
 
 trace in detail the histories of the Greeks, 
 Eomans, Egyptians, Persians and other 
 peoples of the past had it not been that they 
 constructed their chief buildings of the 
 must enduring materials, sculpturing upon 
 the walls of these structures stories of the 
 principal happenings in the reigns of their 
 kings and emperors. It is likely that no 
 manuscripts or other writings of the an- 
 cients would be in existence for us today if 
 the libraries of past ages had not been built 
 so enduringly as to hold their contents in- 
 tact for hundreds or thousands of years. 
 When we consider that these ancient peo- 
 
 Indian Camp, located on Wolf's Point at the fork of the Chicago River. 
 toward the lake.] [Copyrighted by Edgar S. Cameron.] 
 
 [Looking 
 
 grandeur. They remain, in form and out- 
 line, to inspire our architects and builders 
 of today. Permanency was as much an 
 ideal of the world's renowned builders as 
 beauty of design and perfection of setting. 
 If these ancient builders, whom we all ad- 
 mire so much today, had not made perma- 
 nency one of their great aims, it is doubtful 
 whether we of the present era would ever 
 have known much of ancient civilization. 
 We would probably have been unable to 
 
 pies were compelled to build their magnifi- 
 cent buildings almost by main strength, 
 and without the aid of effective machinery, 
 we are forced the more to admire the build- 
 ings, and to marvel at the energy and char- 
 acter of the peoples who erected them. We 
 can understand that the old-time nations 
 must have been united in a tremendous civic 
 spirit to have accomplished such works as 
 they left to tell us of the existence of proud 
 and powerful nations. 
 
66 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 cient peoples had no mechanical contriv- 
 ances to use in their work except wooden 
 levers, rollers and low wheeled vehicles to 
 be pushed or pulled by men or horses. We 
 have steam hoists capable of handling hun- 
 dreds of tons of stone or steel every day. 
 We have powerful derricks, operated by 
 steam and electricity. Where the ancients 
 were compelled to shape their stone by hand, 
 slowly and laboriously, we have thousands 
 of steam driven and electrical machines to 
 use in cutting, carving and fashioning our 
 building materials. Where the ancients 
 were under necessity of cutting stone from 
 their quarries by hand and conveying it long 
 
 One reason which impelled the ancients to 
 build solidly and permanently is doubtless 
 that they were not wasteful and extrava- 
 gant. They realized that a building prop- 
 erly and substantially built will stand for 
 centuries, and so be cheaper than an ill con- 
 structed structure. They were not con- 
 structing vast public works for themselves 
 alone, but for all generations to come after 
 them. 
 
 We have seen, as we studied further, that 
 the people of Europe, also true economists, 
 have built for permanency in their cities. 
 Palaces, cathedrals, castles and bridges are 
 still in existence and used in all parts of 
 Europe, a 1 - 
 though c e n - 
 turies have 
 passed since 
 they were 
 erected. Trav- 
 elers in Eng- 
 land, France, 
 Germany and 
 other coun- 
 tries are priv- 
 ileged to visit 
 the homes of 
 famous men 
 of other cen- 
 turies, which 
 houses are in 
 
 almost as r,^ Marquette and Joliet, 1673. Father Marquette, S. J., and Louis Joliet of New France 
 T T ■EP^S^'^^^ T?,''® *'^®»,i'';?\, ""S3,*® explorers of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and Lake 
 
 good COndl- Michigan. [Copyuighted by Edgar S. Cameron.] 
 
 dition, apparently, as when those men were 
 living. Thus permanency in building has 
 saved to us structures of most vital inter- 
 est, linking our civilization with that of our 
 forefathers across the sea. 
 
 We must not forget, in looking back over 
 the work of builders of ancient cities, that 
 our opportunities are actually hundreds of 
 times as great for permanent building as 
 were those of any people of past ages. An- 
 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^H^^9i|r^ ~* 
 
 
 ^^^^^^HB^ 
 
 *-%^ .^"'^^^II^^^^^^^H 
 
 distances by use of rollers or boats, we are 
 able to do our quarrying by powerful- ma- 
 chinery and explosives, and carry the prod- 
 uct away on steam railways. We are even 
 able to manufacture stone itself from ce- 
 ment, gravel and water, and to mold it as we 
 please as our buildings are being erected. 
 From all these things, it is plain that we 
 have duties to fulfill in permanent building 
 that were not imposed upon the peoples of 
 
VALUE OF PERMANENCY IN CITY BUILDING 
 
 67 
 
 on the site of Chicago two thoiisand years 
 hence to tell of our existence? If a great 
 fire came almost every building would be 
 
 ancient cities. How mnch more magnificent 
 would ancient Eome have been if its build- 
 ers could have commanded the use of mod- 
 e r n building 
 imp lements ! 
 How much 
 higher, how 
 much better, 
 would have 
 been the Pyra- 
 mids of Egypt, 
 built stone by 
 stone fromma- 
 terial said to 
 have been car- 
 ried hundreds 
 of miles under 
 the severest 
 conditions, i f 
 the ancient 
 Egyptians 
 
 f> r> ni 1 rl Innvp French fort at Chicago, 1685. ' This French fort was the first establishment of any 
 
 u u.u 1 u ij-dvc government on the site of Chicago. [Copyrighted by Edgar S. Cameron.] 
 
 used railways 
 
 and steam derricks ! If our civilization were destroyed at once. The few walls left 
 to be blotted out today, what would be here standing would be open to rain and snow 
 
 from all sides 
 and in a few 
 years wouldbe 
 fallen in ruins. 
 Stone and 
 brick would 
 d i s i ntegrate 
 and become 
 dust and earth. 
 If fire did not 
 come, and Chi- 
 cago were left 
 to decay, the 
 elements 
 would at once 
 begin their 
 work f d e - 
 struction. 
 
 Commerce on the Chicago-Portage, about 1765. French "Voyageurs" taking bales of ■"" W^ndPTI stmC- 
 furs over the portage. [Copyrighted by Edgar S. Cameron.] VVUUuenHUiui. 
 
68 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 tures would first become weather-beaten, 
 then boards would loosen and blow to the 
 ground, and within less than a century 
 every wooden building would become a 
 mound of musty ruin mingled with the soil 
 of the earth. The massive steel beams of 
 our high buildings would rust, and, break- 
 ing, cast down their burdens? of stone, brick 
 and tiling to earth, all gradually disappear- 
 ing under the influence of air and water. 
 Men visiting the site of Chicago in two 
 thousand years would find to indicate hu- 
 man presence in the past only the long 
 mounds of raised earth which mark the 
 courses of our railways where they are ele- 
 vated within the city. If our visitors then 
 should excavate they would find the foun- 
 dations of some of our buildings and pave- 
 ments and probably some bits of marble 
 and pieces of glass which had defied the de- 
 stroying work of air and moisture. Every 
 
 Fort Dearborn and Kinzle House, 1803-4. This fort was the first outpost of Ameriran 
 government on the site of Chicago. [Copyrighted by Edgar S. Cameron.] American 
 
 other work of man in Chicago would have 
 disappeared. We would have left nothing 
 to testify to the world that here existed a 
 progressive and enlightened people. 
 
 If we, as the people of one of the most 
 populous cities the world has ever known, 
 care to take the view that ancient peoples 
 were over vain in looking to the good opin- 
 ion of nations to follow them upon the 
 earth, we certainly cannot afford to disre- 
 gard, in considering permanency in build- 
 ing, the question of the present day econ- 
 omy. Buildings which are erected today 
 for our use must be paid for, and ours is 
 the money that must be used for that pur- 
 pose. Let us look, then, at that subject as 
 it affects the past and promises to affect 
 the future in Chicago. 
 
 Because of the rapid growth of our city, 
 as we have noted, it was impossible in the 
 early days to look far ahead in building. 
 Our early habit thus was to build only for 
 the day at hand, without taking any long 
 look into the future. From the beginning 
 until the very present, we have not made 
 
 any attempt to 
 build for per- 
 m a n e n c y . 
 When we need- 
 ed a city hall 
 or a court 
 house we al- 
 ways figured 
 how cheaply 
 we could build 
 it, without con- 
 sidering close- 
 ly how long it 
 would serve 
 its purpose 
 after it was 
 ready for oc- 
 cupancy. We 
 did not look to 
 creating, in any public building, an institu- 
 tion which would represent to us anything 
 of the history or the spirit of our city, as 
 the people of European cities do. Our 
 
VALUE OF PERMANENCY IN CITY BUILDING 
 
 69 
 
 ideas have always been to make all our 
 buildings serve present needs, and let tbe 
 future look to itself. 
 
 At first glance, this policy, though selfish 
 and narrow, seems at least to be the cheap- 
 est way of doing. Only when we think 
 about it do we see how foolish it really has 
 been. We have spent millions upon mil- 
 lions of dollars 
 in building up, 
 tearing down 
 and then 
 building up 
 again. Chi- 
 cago once de- 
 s tr oyed a 
 court house, 
 erected at 
 great cost only 
 a f e w years 
 earlier and re- 
 placed it with 
 another costly 
 structure. For 
 a sum much 
 smaller than 
 the cost of 
 both buildings 
 we could in the first place have put up one 
 building more commodious than the present 
 one, besides bestowing a permanent monu- 
 ment upon our city, around which monu- 
 ment would center much of the sentiment 
 of the people touching the history and de- 
 velopment of Chicago. 
 
 Our failure to build for permanency in 
 Chicago has been not only a public weak- 
 ness, but also one from which almost all 
 individual builders have suffered. There 
 are many sites within Chicago that, within 
 a space of seventy years, have been occu- 
 pied by three, four or five different build- 
 ings. Their owners have been unable or 
 unwilling to look ahead far enough to an- 
 
 ticipate and prepare for the future, with re- 
 sult that great amounts of time, labor, ma- 
 terials and money have been wasted. More- 
 over, the city has been kept in a condition 
 of chaos by such methods, the constant and 
 shifting operations of builders keeping the 
 entire city always in a state of disrepair 
 and disorder. 
 
 Fort Dearborn Massacre, 
 the foot of Eighteenth Street, 
 Edgar S. Cameron.] 
 
 1812, which occurred on the shore of Lake Michigan near 
 following the evacuation of Fort Dearborn. [Copyrighted by 
 
 Another reason why we should adopt the 
 idea of permanency in building is that such 
 construction is the principal element of at- 
 tractiveness. Under prevailing conditions 
 of planless growth, no property owner of 
 Cbicago can be sure of the future character 
 of buildings adjoining his property. He is 
 not safe in making a large investment in a 
 structiire of a permanent nature, because 
 his neighbors may be permitted to change 
 the character and use of their property, and 
 so depreciate the value of his improvement. 
 Proper planning and permanency in build- 
 .ing go hand in hand. Europe's chief cities 
 owe much of their beauty to permanent 
 building, and to the development of streets 
 
70 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 and avenues having buildings of uniform 
 height, color, material and general design. 
 Owners of property there are not permitted 
 to build as they please, but are required, for 
 the good of all in the city, to follow certain 
 general architectural lines in construction. 
 Lack of this permanency in construction 
 and design of buildings is what causes the 
 broken and unsightly appearance of many 
 of Chicago's streets. 
 
 The destruction of existing buildings, 
 done to replace them with other structures, 
 
 One railway company of Chicago, after 
 outgrowing one terminal station in a few 
 years, has spent $20,000,000 to build an- 
 other, yet finds that new station only com- 
 modious enough for the present day needs, 
 and sure to be too small within another dec- 
 ade. This failure to look ahead and so pro- 
 vide for the future by permanent buildings, 
 is not so apparent in New York City, where 
 one railway terminal was built at a cost of 
 $200,000,000, while another one cost $137,- 
 000,000. In oth^r words. New York spent 
 
 Hubbard's Tram, 1S27. He was the first to transport goods between trading posts 
 by pack ponies instead of by boat as was the usual custom in those days. [CopvriEhted bv 
 Edgar S. Cameron.] 
 
 is a work seen in all parts of Chicago by all 
 boys and girls. Wlierever it is done, one 
 may be sure the wasteful work of destruc- 
 tion results from careless planning. It 
 would seem to us that experience would have 
 taught Chicago years ago to look ahead and 
 make better and more secure plans for per- 
 manent building. Yet it seems this lesson 
 has not been learned by the people. Hardly 
 any building in Chicago is today, in fact, 
 adequate even for present needs, not to 
 mention the failure to provide for the fu- 
 ture. 
 
 nearly forty times as much money provid- 
 ing railway terminals at one period as was 
 expended in Chicago, although Chicago is 
 much the more important railway center. 
 
 Experience of other cities throughout the 
 history of the world goes to show that we 
 ought to begin at once in Chicago to plan 
 and build for permanency. Eeasons of am- 
 bition, civic spirit, economy and attractive- 
 ness all urge us to determine and strive to 
 create public and private buildings of great 
 solidity and durability. 
 
 To do only the things that are necessary 
 
VALUE OF PERMANENCY IN CITY BUILDING 
 
 71 
 
 from day to day, without careful thought 
 and planning, is the mark of carelessness. 
 No one admires the shiftless, careless and 
 untidy boy or girl, and every city must show 
 that it is not 
 wasteful and 
 shiftless • b e- 
 f ore it can ex- 
 pect to be ad- 
 mired by other 
 cities. The time 
 has come for an 
 end of make- 
 shift methods 
 in building 
 Chicago, -b e- 
 cause We who 
 are building 
 and own this 
 great city are 
 no longer poor 
 and s t r u g- 
 
 gling, but make up a rich and prosperous 
 people. We have come to a time that we 
 can cease hurrying in trying to build our 
 city and begin building in a correct, sane 
 
 Illinois and Michigan Canal, 1848. [Copyrighted by Edgar S. Cameron.] , 
 
 and well plan- 
 n e d manner. 
 We can 
 do away 
 with squalid 
 streets and 
 ugly buildings, 
 and by perma- 
 nent construc- 
 tion gradually 
 develop our 
 home city in 
 good order 
 and attractive- 
 ness, as pro- 
 vided f r i n 
 all details of 
 t h e P 1 a n of 
 
 Canro Douglas, 1862. This was situated along the lake shore from Thirty-first Street 
 to Thirty-fifth Street, Cottage Grove Avenue and west to Rhodes Avenue. [Copyrighted by njiicaffO 
 Edgar S. Cameron.] ° 
 
72 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 
 
 Great Fire of 1871. This shows the burning of the City Hall and County Building. 
 [Copyrighted by Edgar S. Cameron.] 
 
 1. Why have the great public works of ancient 
 
 cities survived through centuries? 
 
 2. How has the permanent iuilding of ancient 
 
 cities benefited us f 
 
 3. What has been the effect of permanent con- 
 
 struction work in ancient cities? 
 
 4. How has the permanent character of ancient 
 
 temples and libraries served their build- 
 ers ?■ 
 
 5. What do the magnificent ruins of ancient 
 
 cities signify to us, and .why ? 
 
 6. State one important reason impelling the 
 
 ancients to build for permanency. 
 
 i«fi|iii^ 
 
 World's Fair, 1893, showing the Court of Honor as seen from an upper floor of the 
 Administration Building. [Copyrighted by Edgar S. Cameron.] 
 
VALUE OP PERMANENCY IN CITY BUILDING 
 
 73 
 
 7. In tvhat way have permanent building 
 
 methods in Europe benefited us? 
 
 8. How do our opportunities for permanent 
 
 building compare with those of the 
 ancients, and whyf 
 
 9. What do our opportunities for such build- 
 
 ing mean for us? 
 
 10. What would be one result of abandoning 
 
 Chicago today? 
 
 11. Has Chicago any permanent monumental 
 
 works such as the Romans constructed? 
 
 12. What important motive should impel us to 
 
 build for permanency? 
 
 13. What has been Chicago's policy in erecting 
 
 public buildings? 
 
 14. Is this a good or bad policy, and why? 
 
 15. What effect would planning for permanency 
 
 in building have, on the attractiveness of 
 Chicago, and why? 
 
 16. What causes the irregular and unsightly ap- 
 
 pearance of some Chicago streets? 
 
 17. What reasons can be urged for beginning 
 
 now to build permanently? 
 
 s^^^:^A'^s^^AiSs^.^^^i^Jfi^'i^^.t^i-^.'/. 
 
 Memorial cross at Junction of Chicago River and Drainage Canal, foot of Robey Street. 
 Erected in 1907 by the City of ■ Chicago in memory of Marquette and Joliet on the spot 
 where Father Marguette spent the winter of 1674-1675. [Copyrighted by Edgar S. 
 Cameron.] , ■ 
 
74 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE PLAN 
 OF CHICAGO 
 
 We have seen how, in times of the past, 
 the work of building cities by plans pre- 
 pared by great architects was done in large 
 part in obedience to the will of one man. 
 A powerful ruler would think to perpetuate 
 his fame by improving a city. One Em- 
 peror after another thus built up Eome. 
 
 and by their counsel leading the people to 
 adopt their ideas for the good of all. Thus 
 has the Plan of Chicago been originated and 
 thus will it be carried out. ^ 
 
 The Plan of Chicago was inspired in the 
 minds of a small number of men, leaders in 
 the business life of the city, and members of 
 two of Chicago's most prominent social or- 
 ganizations — the Commercial Club and the 
 Merchant's Club. This was in the period 
 immediately following the World's Colum- 
 bian exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. 
 
 After the great World's Fair was closed 
 
 / 
 
 :«!-V 
 
 r^' 
 
 \Xa»^ 
 
 m:- 
 
 ... I»^- 
 
 1 ■« 
 
 r-A 
 
 „^ CHICAGO- ^'^.H'-^'^y, stations Scheme West of the River between Canal and Clinton Streets 
 fl^To"A^e%'lre^t%ft^ i?at?o1.s^itov?.^"*^'"- ^"^^ ^'^" ^™^"^^^ '"^ "^ ^^'^^^^ -' a'Ve"vel"HeTj^- 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 It was no doubt the wish of Louis XIV to 
 make his name famous for all time that 
 moved him to have the plans of Paris pre- 
 pared. In modern times, and in our country, 
 this imperial way of city building is impos- 
 sible. No one man has the power to order 
 vast changes. It can be done only by wise 
 leaders, thinking out plans for betterments 
 
 some of the men who had worked to make it 
 a great success for Chicago met together at 
 their clubs. Tliey had learned during the 
 Fair that orderly arrangement of buildings 
 and streets gave a most pleasing effect. 
 They clearly saw that to create a wide plan 
 to that end and to carry it out throughout/ 
 all Chicago would be to make their home 
 
ORIGIN OF THE PLAK OF CHICAGO 
 
 75 
 
 city famous all over tlie world. Therefore 
 they set about working out a plan to do this 
 great thing, and the plan they developed by 
 years of study is today known as the Plan 
 of Chicago. 
 
 While the Commercial Club Committee 
 was working, an independent movement to 
 the same end was started by the Merchants ' 
 Club. The plans thus advanced were en- 
 tirely formulated by 1906, when the Mer- 
 chants ' Club formally undertook the work. 
 In 1907 the two clubs united under the name 
 of the Commercial Club, which, in 1908, 
 gave the world the completed Plan of Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 In producing the Plan of Chicago, the 
 Commercial Club spared neither time, 
 money nor effort in preparing all the charts, 
 maps and drawings by famous architects 
 necessary to carrying out the remodeling 
 and developing of the city. 
 
 Thus, after years of study and hard work 
 by the Commercial Club members, the Plan 
 of Chicago was completed and ready for 
 submission to the citizens in the early Fall 
 of 1909. Then it was evident to the leaders 
 of the agitation that the time had come to 
 engage the public's interest and put the 
 plan into the hands of the people's repre- 
 sentatives. Conferences were held to deter- 
 mine the course to be followed. Counsel was 
 taken of the city authorities, and, as a re- 
 sult, it was decided to create a permanent 
 organization to be known as the Chicago 
 Plan Commission. This body, it was de- 
 cided, should be made up of a large num- 
 ber of men of influence composed so as to 
 represent all the business and social inter- 
 ests of the city. 
 
 In accordance with the decision of the 
 Commercial Club members to have the Plan 
 of Chicago put in the hands of the people 's 
 representatives, the Mayor of Chicago on 
 July 6, 1909, sent a message to the City 
 
 Council in which he said, "Your attention 
 is called to the Plan of Chicago, with a view 
 to future action for the development and 
 improvement of our city, with which plan 
 you have all doubtless been made acquaint- 
 ed by newspaper publication and otherwise, 
 and which has been or soon will be laid be- 
 fore you in detail. 
 
 ' ' The Commercial Club of Chicago, which 
 has fathered this project, has done a most 
 important work for Chicago and its citizens. 
 It has labored unselfishly, giving freely of 
 its time, energy and money for a number 
 of years to produce a clear, concrete and 
 comprehensive plan of municipal develop- 
 ment calculated to utilize the natural ad- 
 vantages of Chicago in the direction of 
 making it a beautiful and attractive city as 
 well as a commercial metropolis. The Com- 
 mercial Club has asked to have presented 
 to you the result of their work, with a view 
 to securing your co-operation. In present- 
 ing it, it is desirable to make clear certain 
 points as follows : 
 
 ' ' First, the central idea out of which the 
 Chicago Plan has grown is this : 
 
 ' ' If Chicago is to become, as we all be- 
 lieve, the greatest and most attractive city 
 of this continent, its development should 
 be guided along certain definite and pre- 
 arranged lines, to the end that the necessary 
 expenditures for public improvements from 
 year to year may serve not only the purpose 
 of the moment, but also the needs of the 
 futiire; and from time to time and piece- 
 meal as necessity calls for them may, in the 
 long run, fit into and become parts of a well 
 considered, consistent, practical, organized 
 scheme of municipal development. 
 
 ' ' Second, the Chicago Plan has beenf orm- 
 ulated as a basis and starting point, as it 
 were, from which to work in the develop- 
 ment of an official municipal plan that shall 
 embrace the making of public improvement^ 
 
76 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 and the development of public utilities in 
 coming years. It is not presented to us as 
 a hard and fast plan to be accepted or re- 
 jected as it stands. It is presented more as 
 a suggestion of the possibilities of our situ- 
 ation, to be utilized in whole or in part in the 
 development of an official plan as the best 
 judgment of this community may determine. 
 "Third, the Chicago Plan is not presented 
 as a scheme' 
 for spending 
 untold m i 1- 
 lions of dol- 
 lars now or 
 in the future; 
 on the c on- 
 trary, it is 
 a comprehen- 
 sive.- sugges- 
 tion of what 
 may b e ac- 
 complishedin 
 the course of 
 years, it may 
 b e fifty, i t 
 may be a 
 hundred, by 
 spending i n 
 conform- 
 ity with a 
 well defined 
 plan the 
 money which 
 we must 
 
 spend anyhow from time to time on perma- 
 nent public improvements. Paris has been 
 made the world's most beautiful city be- 
 cause she has followed for more than fifty 
 years the policy of making public improve- 
 ments in conformity with a clearly defined 
 plan. If the Chicago Plan were adopted 
 now a good start toward its realization 
 could be made at once, and without a dol- 
 lar of cost to the people, by having the ref- 
 
 use and excavated materials, disposition of 
 which is becoming a burden, dumped in the 
 lake at specific localities for the making of 
 islands, outer parks, etc. 
 
 "Fourth, the Chicago Plan is in conflict 
 with no other plan or project for the indus- 
 trial or commercial development of Chica- 
 go. It fits in with the recommendation of the 
 Harbor Commission, it' takes into account 
 
 CHICAGO. Plan of the Street and Boulevard System Present and Proposed. The 
 Proposed Diagonal Arteries Are In Every Instance Extensions of Tliose Already Existing, and 
 Around tlie Center .of the City they Serve to Create in Conjunction with Rectangular Streets, 
 the Proposed Circuit Boulevards. [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 and provides for the city's growing trans- 
 portation needs, both in relation to steam 
 roads and in relation to transportation 
 within the city limits and communication 
 between the different divisions of the city. 
 . ^ " Fifth, this plan is not to be considered 
 as the embodiment of an artist's dream or 
 the project of theoretical city beautifiers, 
 who have lost sight of every-day affairs and 
 who have forgotten the needs and interests 
 
ORIGIN OP THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 77 
 
 of the most of the- people. On the contrary, 
 experience and observation have taught tis 
 that development and beautification, if yon 
 please, making Chicago attractive to visit- 
 ors from all parts of the world, will add to 
 Chicago's resources a very great commer- 
 cial asset, the value of which will be reflect- 
 ed in every piece of real estate within our 
 limits. In producing this plan the main 
 thought has been relief from the neglect 
 from which the great West Side has suf- 
 fered and for the congestion at the city's 
 commer- 
 cial center, 
 which has so 
 impeded 
 healthy 
 growth of 
 the e nt i r e 
 business dis- 
 t r i c t. In 
 short, there 
 has been kept 
 in mind at 
 every step in 
 the produc- 
 tion of the 
 Chicago 
 Plan not on- 
 ly the art- 
 istic but 
 the commercial and industrial development 
 of the City of Chicago, along lines that 
 promise the best results at the least ex- 
 penditure of time, effort and money. 
 
 " Sixth, the Chicago Plan does not con- 
 template the remodeling of Chicago in a 
 year or a decade. It is the suggestion of a 
 plan for the far future — a suggestion of 
 something to grow to. It is offered now be- 
 cause the sooner comprehensive planning 
 and building are undertaken the more 
 quickly will results be accomplished and 
 the less they will cost. 
 
 ' ' The appointment of a commission has 
 been asked for to take up this question and 
 study further the problems involved in the 
 Chicago Plan with a view to determining 
 whether it is feasible to adopt any part of 
 said plan now and if so where to begin. It 
 is therefore recommended that your honor- 
 able body authorize the Mayor to appoint 
 such a commission to be composed of mem- 
 bers of your honorable body and citizens 
 whose duty it shall be to take up this ques- 
 tion to the end that the whole city and all 
 
 Diocletian Baths, Rome. 
 
 elements in it may be fully informed as to 
 what is contemplated in this plan for the 
 future, so that an official plan of Chicago 
 may be produced that will have the en- 
 dorsement and support of the entire mu- 
 nicipality. " 
 
 At the same meeting the Mayor was 
 given power to appoint the commission as 
 asked for, and on November 1, 1909, he sent 
 the City Council another message contain- 
 ing the names of 328 leading men of Chi- 
 cago who were to make up the first member- 
 ship of the Chicago Plan Commission. In 
 
78 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 his second message the Mayor said: " By 
 virtue of authority conferred upon me by 
 your honorable body at the m:eeting held on 
 July 6, 1909, I have appointed and trans- 
 mit herewith the names of the members of 
 the Chicago Plan Commission, which Com- 
 mission is to take up, and study further the 
 problems involved in said Chicago Plan re- 
 lating to further improvements in the City 
 of Chicago, with a view to determining and 
 recommending to your honorable body 
 whether any or all parts of said Chicago 
 Plan should be adopted by the City of Chi- 
 cago as a line of policy to be followed in 
 making public improvements during the 
 coming years. 
 
 "The plan represents the best effort of 
 the best city planning talent in America, 
 supplemented by the concentrated judgment 
 of practical business men who, in looking 
 
 '^^^~~^'~^:'V7f:'?Tr'r^ 
 
 ^Si'~Xf,i-i :_z 
 
 JlMMM^^MfMlf.^ 
 
 The Viaduct at Auteull over the River Seine, 
 
 toward making Chicago a more attractive 
 city, have never lost sight of its further de- 
 velopment possibilities along commercial 
 and industrial lines. The membership of 
 the Chicago Plan Commission has been 
 made as representative as possible of every 
 section and every element in our population. 
 
 ' ' To secure at all times adequate repre- 
 sentation on this Commission of the city 
 government and of all other locally inter- 
 ested governmental agencies, it is respect- 
 fully recommended that the persons ap- 
 pointed because of their official positions 
 which they now hold, to wit, members of 
 the City Council, chairmen of Council Com- 
 mittees, the Corporation Counsel, Commis- 
 sioner of Public Works, City Engineer, 
 Health Commissioner, President of the 
 Board of Education and President of the 
 Piiblic Library Board of the City of Chi- 
 cago, the President of the County Board, 
 the Presidents of the Park Boards and the 
 President of the Sanitary District, shall be 
 held to be ex-officio members of said Com- 
 mission, whose membership on such Com- 
 mission will cease when they retire from the 
 offices which they now hold, and in this rec- 
 
 ommendation I 
 would respectfully 
 ask the concurrence 
 of your honorable 
 body. 
 
 "To secure stabil- 
 ity in the Chairman- 
 ship of the Commis- 
 sion and to keep 
 it unaffected by the 
 frequent changes 
 among holders of 
 public office, as well 
 as to recognize tire- 
 less and patriotic de- 
 votion to Chicago, I 
 Paris, France. have named as 
 
 Chairman a leader in the Plan movement, 
 who is a member of the Commercial Club. ' ' 
 Three days later, on November 4, 1909, 
 the first meeting of the Chicago Plan 
 Commission was held in the City Coun- 
 cil Chambers. The Chairman in his open- 
 ing address to the Commission outlined 
 
ORIGIN OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 79 
 
 the task of the organization hy saying: 
 
 " The- duty whieh has been. imposed upon 
 ns is: 
 
 " To take up this question to the end that 
 the whole city and all elements in it may be 
 fully informed as to what is contemplated 
 in this plan for the future, so that an offi- 
 cial plan of Chicago may be produced that 
 will have the endorsement and support of 
 the entire municipality. 
 
 ' ' These sentences announce the platform 
 upon which we stand and designate the task 
 which our fellow citizens will expect us to 
 accomplish. 
 
 ' ' The plan 
 to be adopted 
 by this Com- 
 mission must 
 b e a s much 
 for the bene- 
 fit of the 
 great West 
 \ Side as for 
 the North 
 Side or the 
 'South Side ; 
 it must com- 
 prehend the 
 needs of 
 
 s 
 
 .^^m>m^ 
 
 1 
 
 B|^HBBBIs^BBBtt^^<^— ''-'^"'^'' iS^^uBV^^^HKBl 
 
 every district and every locality from Jef- 
 ferson to West Pullman and from Heges- 
 Vwich to Rogers Park. 
 J "We have arrived at a stage in our city's 
 life which requires the formulation and 
 adoption of a plan for the orderly, system- 
 atic and beautiful development of our city 
 commercially, industrially and esthetically. 
 "With the growth of the country tribu- 
 tary to Chicago and with the enormous de- 
 velopment within the industrial zone of 
 Chicago, still almost in its infancy, the 
 ratio of increase in population should be 
 even greater in the future than in the past, 
 and with such an increase there will surely 
 
 arise an irresistible demand for increased 
 and better public utilities, for finer public 
 improvements, more comfort, better provi- 
 sions for rational recreation and enjoy- 
 ment and for more beautiful surroundings 
 generally. 
 
 ' ' If we, during the coming years, should 
 expend no more on civic improvements than 
 we have done in the past, we shall never- 
 theless accomplish vastly more if an offi- 
 cial plan of Chicago be adopted. In this 
 way we will make each year 's work fit into 
 the plan as part thereof, so that finally we 
 
 shall have a 
 city as fa- 
 mous for its 
 beauty as it 
 now is for its 
 grit and en- 
 ergy. 
 
 " If we shall 
 hope to have 
 the plan 
 adopted we 
 must take the 
 people fully 
 into our con- 
 fidence. We 
 must offer 
 We 
 
 Modern Athens and Mt. Lycabettus. 
 
 them a feasible .and practical plan, 
 must explain just what we propose doing 
 and how it can be done. We must prove to 
 our fellow citizens that a good plan, sys- 
 tematically and carefully carried out, will 
 be a commercial asset of great value and 
 will make our city more habitable, more 
 comfortable and healthier for ourselves and 
 for our children. As soon as the citizens 
 of Chicago realize the full importance of 
 these advantages we may safely leave it to 
 them to provide ways and means for carry- 
 ing out the plan in its full scope. 
 
 "This w^ork if accomplished will mark a 
 third epoch in the history of Chicago, the 
 
80 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 two other great epochs being the rebuilding 
 of our city after the fire of 1871 and the 
 creation of the World's Columbian Exposi- 
 tion in 1893, the grandest the world has 
 ever witnessed. 
 
 "Our task is indeed great and difficult, 
 yet not at all so seemingly hopeless as was 
 to our fathers the problem of rebuilding a 
 large city laid in ashes and of re-establish- 
 ing a home and a fortune swept away over 
 night by fire. 
 
 ' ' The people of the United States at the 
 time of the Fair of 1893 watched our efforts 
 with more or less benevolent doubts and 
 misgivings, but to- 
 day our greater as- 
 pirations and ef- 
 forts are looked 
 upon and followed 
 everywhere in an 
 entirely different 
 spirit. ' ' 
 
 Now we have 
 learned something 
 of how the Chicago 
 Plan Commission 
 was organized and 
 what its mission is. 
 We should know a 
 little about how it 
 carries on its work. The Chicago Plan Com- 
 mission as constituted is guided in many of 
 its activities by suggestions from its Ex- 
 ecutive Committee, which has twenty-nine 
 members, and of which the Chairman of the 
 Commission is the head. All the important 
 policies of the Commission are discussed at 
 the meetings of the Executive Committee, 
 and at its sessions are reached the decisions 
 which affect and guide the progress of the - 
 work of city planning. 
 
 It is the policy of the Commission in con- 
 sidering the various phases of its work in 
 relation to the completed plan of the future 
 
 Siena, Italy. 
 
 This Silliouette 
 Italian Towns in 
 
 city to have ample discussion at its sessions 
 of all subjects with which it deals. Its mem- 
 bers being drawn from all parts of the city 
 and representing all the great divisions of 
 trade, manufacturing, commerce and profes- 
 sional effort which encompass Chicago's 
 greatness, the Commission is proving a 
 great melting pot of ideas of civic advance. 
 It is a great deliberative body, whose poli- 
 cies once decided can be relied upon as the 
 right ones, because they represent the es- 
 sential of the vital elements which combine 
 to produce the all-conquering Chicago spirit. 
 A¥hen sufficient time had elapsed for the 
 Commission t o 
 thoroughly study 
 the plan and gain 
 i ntimate knowledge 
 of the great task of 
 actually promot-. 
 ing the work of the 
 plan, its officers 
 were confronted 
 with the need of a 
 director trained in 
 the work of organ- . 
 izing and promot- 
 ing large projects, 
 of Towers Is ciiaracteristic of and ou January 13, 
 
 tile Middle Ages. -</^-.-• ■ i i 
 
 1911, appomted a 
 Managing Director. Upon taking office the 
 Director said: "Naturally the plan must 
 be worked out piece by piece. Those who 
 have contemplated it as a whole have said 
 'Impossible,' forgetful of the all-important 
 fact that every great structure must first 
 have a plan before it can be reared stone 
 by stone. The idea as contained in the plan 
 for creating order out of chaos in Chicago, 
 should be taken up by the entire clergy of 
 ^e city, all school teachers in public, pa- 
 rochial and private schools, by the pro- 
 fessors in all departments of our colleges, 
 by clerks in stores and offices, by factory 
 
ORIGIN OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 81 
 
 employes and laborers of all classes. Every 
 CMcagoan, neighbor to neighbor, should 
 catch, the Chicago Plan spirit and talk about 
 it. It is the one Chicago issue that all Chi- 
 cago can and should unite on — a non-parti- 
 san, non-political business plan to harmo- 
 nize some of the loveliness and unloveliness 
 of physical Chicago, an idea to make a prac- 
 tical, beautiful piece of finished fabric out 
 
 we have made are natural and perhaps, 
 therefore, pardonable, for we have been a 
 busy city, building up a strong foundation 
 for commercial and industrial supremacy. 
 That accomplished, Chicago can no longer 
 find a reasonable excuse to ignore her 
 great obligation in the matter of adequate 
 public improvements. It is not only the 
 duty of every citizen to help make his city 
 
 CHICAGO. General Map Showing Topography, Waterways and Complete system of Streets, 
 Boulevards, Parkways and Parks. The Parkways and Parks Encircle the City. They are Placed 
 in Relation to the Radiating Arteries and Increase In Area in Proportion to Their Distance From 
 the Center (Green). Also Showing Railroads (Red), the Proposed Harbors at the Mouths of the 
 Chicago and Calumet Rivers and the Location of Outlying Townships. The Elevation of the Ground 
 is Shown by Increasing Depth in Color (Orange) Prom the Center of the City. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 of Chicago 's crazy quilt. Chicago in many 
 respects is the admiration of the world, and 
 likewise the world wonder of the past half 
 century. Notwithstanding our marvelous 
 business enterprise, unparalleled transpor- 
 tation facilities, unexcelled geographical 
 location, center of education, center of con- 
 structive art, center of music, center of sci- 
 ence—with all these advantages, physical 
 Chicago has been neglected. The mistakes 
 
 a clean and comfortable place in which to 
 live, while he is establishing his business 
 and making money, but incidentally it is a 
 splendid business investment to make his 
 city so attractive to every one, both resi- 
 dent and non-resident, that some of the mil 
 lions of money spent elsewhere each year 
 will remain at home. ' ' 
 
 There is another and deeper motive in 
 planning for the future greatness of the 
 
82 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 city than its splendid material upbuilding. 
 This is of significance only as it expresses 
 the actual social, intellectual and moral 
 upbuilding of the people, and, so far as, 
 in turn, it opens the way for further de- 
 velopment of this higher type. City build- 
 ing means man building. Wlio is there 
 among us who is not lifted above sordid in- 
 dustrial existence into the realm of the 
 beautiful and ennobling things in life by 
 attractive surroundings? Beautiful parks, 
 fine monuments, well laid out streets, prop- 
 erly lighted, paved and amply provided 
 with shade trees, relief from noise, dirt and 
 confusion — all these things and many others 
 contemplated in the Plan of Chicago are 
 agencies that make not only for the future 
 greatness of the city but the happiness and 
 prosperity of all the people within our gates. 
 The ideal of a city must rise above mere 
 commercial and industrial supremacy, tak- 
 ing the higher ground of becoming an at- 
 tractive, composite home for its residents 
 both of large and small means, as well as 
 for the stranger within its gates. Such a 
 city would not only attract a multitude of 
 people seeking a home, offering all the best 
 advantages of city life, but would also re- 
 tain that class of residents who go abroad 
 for such advantages, spending millions of 
 dollars in Paris, Berlin and London, and 
 other famously attractive foreign cities. 
 While the wealthier class of citizens in any 
 community can build up beautiful residence 
 
 sections on well laid out avenues and boule- 
 vards, what will become of those who have 
 neither organization nor money to aid them 
 in intelligently planning the most meagre 
 comforts of ordinary home surroundings? 
 The interests of the inhabitants of the most 
 unfortunate districts must be safeguarded 
 beyond anything else, for they and their 
 children form the backbone of the intelli- 
 gent American laboring class. No other 
 plan of any other city, foreign or otherwise, 
 so thoroughly provides for equal benefits 
 and comforts of all classes as does the Chi- 
 cago Plan. 
 
 The energy with which the Chicago Plan 
 Commission undertook its work for better- 
 ment is shown by the fact that on Novem- 
 ber 16, 1909, less than two weeks after it 
 was created, the Commission took up the 
 first great task of its career — the widening 
 of Twelfth Street, about which we will 
 learn in another chapter. This work, when 
 completed, will result in making a broad 
 thoroughfare from the lake front reaching 
 through the very center of Chicago 's popu- 
 lation. 
 
 1. What was the thought of a .powerful ruler 
 
 in improving a cityf 
 
 2. Give three reasons why the imperial way of 
 
 city building is impossible in modern 
 times. 
 
 3. How ivas the Plan of Chicago originated or 
 
 inspired f 
 
 4. In what period was the Plan of Chicago in- 
 
 spired? 
 
 
 ■^^i 
 
 ^^affca 
 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
 
ORIGIN OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 83 
 
 5. What did the men who originated the Plan 
 
 of Chicago learn and see during the 
 World's Fair? 
 
 6. What other club started an independent 
 
 movement for a plan while the Commer- 
 cial Club Committee was working? 
 
 7. In what year were the plans entirely formu- 
 
 lated? 
 
 8. In what year did the Commercial Club and 
 
 the Merchants' Club unite? 
 
 9. Under what name did the two clubs unite? 
 
 13. What was decided as a result of counsel with 
 
 the city authorities? 
 
 14. Of what was it decided the Chicago Plan 
 
 Commission should be composed? 
 
 15. On what date and in what year did the 
 
 Mayor of Chicago send a message to the 
 City Council seeking authority to appoint 
 the Chicago Plan Commission? 
 
 16. What did the Mayor say that necessary 
 
 expenditures for public improvements 
 should serve from year to year? 
 
 
 n 
 
 &M 
 
 u^^ 
 
 -^^ 
 
 i+(- 
 
 CHICAGO. Plan of a Complete System of Street Circulation and System of Parks and 
 Playgrounds, Presenting the City as an Organism in "Which all the Functions are Related One 
 to Another. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 10. In what year did the Commercial Club give 
 
 the completed Plan of Chicago 'to the 
 world? 
 
 11. How and when was the Plan of Chicago 
 
 ready for submission to the citizens ? 
 
 12. After years of study and hard work on the 
 
 Plan of Chicago by the Commercial Cluh 
 members, what was it that became evident 
 to the leaders of the agitation? 
 
 17. What did the Mayor say of the mariner in 
 
 which the Chicago Plan had been formu- 
 lated? 
 
 18. What did the Mayor say about the Plan of 
 
 Chicago not being presented as a scheme 
 for spending untold millions of dollars? 
 
 19. What did the Mayor say about the relation- 
 
 ship of the Plan of Chicago to other pro- 
 posed commercial or industrial projects? 
 
84 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 20. What did the Mayor say first about the Plan 
 
 of Chicago not being an artist's dream? 
 
 21. How- did the Mayor express- himself on the 
 
 Chicago Plan as not contemplating the 
 remodeling of Chicago in a year or a 
 decade F 
 
 22. In seeking authority to appoint the Chicago 
 
 Plan Commission, what did the Mayor say 
 its duty should be? 
 
 23. On what date and in what year was the Chi- 
 
 cago Plan Commission appointed? 
 
 24. How many leading men of Chicago made up 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 Arch of Septimus Severus, Rome. 
 
 the first membership of the Chi- 
 cago Plan Commission? 
 
 25. What did the Mayor say in his sec- 
 
 ond message to the City Council 
 concerning the duties of the Chi- 
 cago Plan Commission? 
 
 26. What did the Mayor say about the 
 
 membership of the Chicago Plan 
 Commission ? 
 
 27. What provision did the Mayor make 
 
 to secure at all times adequate 
 representation on the Chicago 
 Plan Commission of the city gov- 
 ernment and all other locally in- 
 terested governmental agencies? 
 
 28. On what date and where was the 
 
 first meeting of the Chicago Plan 
 Commission held? 
 
 29. What did the Chairman say in his 
 
 first address to the Chicago Plan 
 Commission about the plan to be 
 adopted by the Commission? 
 
 What did the Chairman say about our city's 
 life? 
 
 What did the Chairman say would follow the 
 enormous development within the indus- 
 trial zone of Chicago? 
 
 32. If an official Plan of Chicago be adopted, 
 
 what would be the result during the com- 
 ing years as compared with the past? 
 
 33. What were the two great epochs in the his- 
 
 tory of Chicago, besides the third one, 
 laying the foundation for the Plan of Chi- 
 cago ? 
 
 34. By what is the Chicago Plan Com- 
 mission guided in many of its ac- 
 tivities ? 
 
 35. What is discussed at meetings of the 
 Executive Committee and what 
 decisions are reached? 
 
 36. From where are the members of the 
 Commission drawn and what do 
 they represent? 
 
 37. What is the Commission proving to 
 be? 
 
 Why can the policies of the Chicago 
 Plan Commission be relied upon 
 as the right ones? 
 
 Of what have those been forgetful 
 who have said the plan was impos- 
 sible? 
 
 What is intended to be accomplished 
 through various means of public- 
 ity? 
 
 By whom shoxdd the idea for creat- 
 
 38. 
 
 39. 
 
 40. 
 
 41 
 
 Temple of Vesta, Rome. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 85 
 
 ing.. order out of chaos in Chicago be 
 taken upf 
 
 42. Having huilt up a strong foundation for 
 
 commercial and industrial supremacy, of 
 what can Chicago no longer find a rea- 
 sonable excuse? 
 
 43. What is another and deeper motive in city 
 
 planning than material upbuilding, and 
 what is its significance? 
 
 44. What does city building mean? 
 
 45. What is the effect upon us of attractive sur- 
 
 roundings? 
 
 46. What are the agencies that make for the fu- 
 
 ture greatness of the city and the happi- 
 ness and prosperity of all the people? 
 
 47. What must the ideal of a city rise above, and 
 
 what higher ground should it take? 
 
 48. Why should the interests of the inhabitants 
 
 of the most unfortunate districts be safe- 
 guarded beyond anything else? 
 
 49. Why is the Chicago Plan superior to that of 
 
 any other city, foreign or otherwise? 
 
 50. How is the energy with which the Chicago 
 
 Plan Commission undertook its work 
 shown? 
 
 51. What will this work result in when com- 
 
 pleted? 
 
86 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 CHAPTEE X 
 
 THE COMMERCIAL POSSI- 
 BILITIES OF A PLAN 
 FOR CHICAGO 
 
 An event of historical interest and im- 
 portance to the City of Chicago occurred 
 on the evening of January 8, 1910, of great 
 worth in promoting the work of the newly 
 appointed Plan Commission. On that date 
 the Commercial Club of Chicago tendered a 
 dinner to and in honor of the Commission. 
 The general subject of the meeting was 
 "The Presentation of the Plan of Chi- 
 cago. ' ' Speaking to this subject, the Presi- 
 dent of the Commercial Club, in his intro- 
 ductory remarks, said : 
 
 "This meeting is to commemorate the 
 presentation by the Commercial Club of the 
 Plan of Chicago to the citizens of Chicago. 
 The Plan is Chicago's message to the world 
 that the indomitable energy that builded 
 Chicago in a generation is still our energy ; 
 that the genius that created the unrivalled 
 beauty of the world's greatest fair is still 
 our genius, and, above all, that the spirit 
 that has made progress the symbol of our 
 commercial life, has stamped "I Will" 
 upon the progress of our civic life. City 
 planning is coming to be more and more 
 recognized as an important and national 
 factor in the betterment of civic conditions 
 
 and the Plan of Chicago has already com- 
 manded world wide attention. The plan is 
 a great constructive work. It is practical, 
 sane and efficient, and knows neither the 
 
 Sir Christopher Wren, the Famous English 
 Architect, Wlio Prepared a Plan for the Rebuilding 
 of the City of London After the Great Fire That 
 Destroyed It in 1666. 
 
 iintenantable heights of irrational fancy and 
 extravagance, nor the constricted depths 
 of parsimony and self-interest. It is a gos- 
 pel of common sense which sees loss in hap- 
 hazard building and economy in well or- 
 dered construction. To properly direct the 
 
 
 
 
 
 J'-feg^ 
 
 CHICAGO. Bird's Eye View Looking Northeast from the Corner of Jackson Boulevard and Dearborn Street. 
 
THE COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF A PLAN FOR CHICAGO 
 
 87 
 
 expenditures of the vast sums that are now 
 and will continue to be spent on Chicago's 
 improveinents is its primary aim." 
 
 The first speaker, responding to the sub- 
 ject, "The Broader Aspects of City Plan- 
 ning, ' ' said : , 
 
 "Chicago is far closer in spirit to the 
 great territory which it dominates than is 
 Paris or London or New York. Every con- 
 ceivable geographical area has its metrop- 
 olis or capital, and of that territory bound 
 on the East by the Appalachians and on the 
 West by the Eocky Mountains, Chicago is 
 more truly a capital than she has ever been. 
 What Chicago plans and executes will de- 
 termine to what extent the comfort, the 
 pleasure and the pride of our mighty in- 
 land empire shall be satisfied. A hundred 
 million of people will soon look to this city 
 as their capital, their center in which to 
 trade, to hear music, to see pictures, to en- 
 joy themselves. This places a high respon- 
 sibility upon the men who control public 
 and private business in Chicago. They 
 have instinctively recognized that responsi- 
 bility from the date of the first settlement 
 here. This dinner marks a great event in 
 our civic history, for the responsibility for 
 the development of the Plan of Chicago 
 passes tonight literally into the hands of the 
 City of Chicago. The Chicago Plan Com- 
 mission, in the truest and best sense, repre- 
 sents the people of this city. Public confi- 
 dence must be secured ward by ward, street 
 by street. The people must be shown what 
 the Plan of Chicago means to them, so that 
 there may be had an irresistible public 
 opinion behind this great movement. Upon 
 recognition of this great opportunity de- 
 pends to a large extent the respect and re- 
 gard not merely of the citizens of Chicago 
 but of the millions of the Mississippi Valley 
 who are thus being indirectly served. The 
 Commission should not be bound in its vi- 
 
 sion of what it may accomplish by anything 
 which has been accomplished in the past. 
 The Plan of Chicago offers a closely rea- 
 soned, carefully studied, well balanced 
 solution which provides generously alike 
 for all the community. This plan, or some 
 equally well reasoned, well studied plan, 
 should be adopted. Full development of 
 piiblic opinion will mean that the first giant 
 stride toward a proper civic development 
 will have been made. ' ' 
 
 Following this speaker, the Chairman of 
 the Commission, speaking on the topic, 
 "The Economical and Commercial Fea- 
 tures of the Chicago Plan, ' ' said : 
 
 "Aside from the aesthetic and hygienic 
 value an orderly, systematic and beautiful 
 development of our city will produce, the 
 commercial asset is of incalculable value. In 
 the sixty days between June 1 and July 31, 
 1909, 17,343 Americans registered at the 25 
 leading hotels in Paris. It is a low estimate 
 to assume that the hundreds of other hostel- 
 ries in the French capital lodged at least 10,- 
 000 more. At the moderate estimate of 300 
 francs ($60.00) a head, this makes 8,202,800 
 francs ($1,640,560.00) spent by Americans 
 in two months ' time, but this is for hotels 
 alone. If each visitor went twice to a 
 theatre, considered a moderate estimate, it 
 would amount to 250,000 francs ($50,000.00) 
 more. Five hundred thousand francs ($100,- 
 000.00) was probably spent in Paris restau- 
 rants, while calculating their cab fare at 10 
 francs ($2.00) a head, 273,430 francs ($54,- 
 686.00) was expended for locomotion. Here 
 we have a total of close to $2,000,000 ex- 
 pended by Americans for their daily sus- 
 tenance and a few of their daily amuse- 
 ments. No account at all is made of the 
 purchase of clothing, jewelry, objects of art 
 and other things which our countrymen 
 bring home in such abundance every year. 
 Would it not be a profitable investment for 
 
88 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 Chicago to be in a position to attract at least 
 a part of this travel from other parts of the 
 United States, even from other parts of the 
 world? Making a good investment by mak- 
 ing a city both convenient and attractive is 
 proved by the fact that the Paris Chamber 
 of Deputies on December 28, 1909, author- 
 ized the Paris municipality to contract for a 
 loan— mark a loan— of 900,000,000 francs 
 ($180,000,000.00) for an elaborate scheme of 
 improvements, including the demolition of 
 unsanitary quarters, the construction of new 
 
 at least $50.00 for accommodations, food, 
 entertainment and general shopping pur- 
 poses, which, figured on the basis of Novem- 
 ber figures, amounts to $100,000,000.00 a 
 month. The significance of these figures 
 should be realized ; also the material advan- 
 tage of catering to the millions of visitors 
 who consider Chicago their objective center. 
 As a people we have the reputation of being 
 practical in everything we undertake, and 
 this reputation we want to maintain. Too 
 often, however, "we make up our minds to 
 
 
 VIENNA. Bird's Bye 
 
 streets, gardens and schools and for other 
 changes in public works. 
 
 Eeliable statistics of the year 1909 stated 
 that the amount of money spent in New 
 York by out of town visitors every year has 
 now reached a sum where it surpasses the 
 estimated cost of the Panama Canal. During 
 the month of November of that year, Father 
 Knickerbocker entertained nearly 2,000,000 
 out of town visitors. As nearly as can be 
 computed, the average visitor there spends 
 
 View of the City.' 
 
 do things without giving them sufficient in- 
 vestigation. All propositions of impor- 
 tance, whether economical, financial or 
 otherwise, should first receive most careful 
 consideration and study by experts and men 
 of broad and practical experience, as was 
 done in the Plan of Chicago, and is the in- 
 variable rule in all progressive countries of 
 Europe. We should learn to profit by the 
 experience of others. We should emulate 
 the examples of Paris, Dusseldorf, Vienna, 
 
THE COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OP A PLAN FOR CHICAGO 
 
 89 
 
 and Berlin and not make the mistake Lon- 
 don made after the destructive fire in 1666, 
 when the ample and far-sighted plans of Sir 
 Christopher Wren were adopted but never 
 carried out. That opportunity will never 
 return to London, and whatever may be 
 done in the future will have to be done at 
 enormous expense. Chicago's golden op- 
 portunity is now at hand. Today all the im- 
 portant features of the plan can be carried 
 out at a comparatively small cost. The 
 longer we delay the riiore expensive it will 
 become and many things now practical will 
 be made impossible. Today the future of 
 Chicago rests upon a foundation so solid 
 that we may safely provide for its future in 
 a most adequate and comprehensive man- 
 ner. With the center of population of the 
 United States but a few miles beyond the 
 state line of Indiana to the south, Chicago is 
 today the greatest center and distributing 
 poiut of the United States. This, in connec- 
 tion with our location, will cause Chicago 's 
 growth in the future- to surprise the most 
 sanguine. The changing conditions of life 
 in this country as elsewhere, demand now 
 more than ever that intelligent action be 
 taken to improve the conditions of living in 
 our cities. The adoption of a plan along the 
 lines we have suggested will have a most im- 
 portant bearing upon the inauguration of 
 hygienic measures for the benefit of our cit- 
 izens. However, the consideration of this 
 side of the question must be left to experts, 
 whose duty it should be to ascertain the 
 causes of distress and illness, recommend 
 preventative measures, and suggest means 
 for disseminating knowledge of the results 
 so ascertained which, when thoroughly un- 
 derstood, will awaken a great demand for 
 the necessary legislation to remedy the ill 
 conditions shown to exist', and to provide 
 for more public aid. We must not overlook, 
 however, the fact that improvements indi- 
 
 cated in the plan creating more streets, 
 more parks and better surroundings gener- 
 ally will be a strong object lesson to all our 
 citizens to secure and maintain cleaner and 
 more beautiful surroundings in their own 
 home. ' ' 
 
 The closing speaker at this notable din- 
 ner of the Commercial Club of Chicago to 
 the Chicago Plan Commission, said : 
 
 ' ' Chicago stands without a parallel in the 
 history of the world ; second in population 
 on this continent and soon to be the first; 
 fourth in population of the cities of the 
 earth, and to be first within the lifetime of 
 men here tonight ; first in industrial activi- 
 ties and the financial and commercial cen- 
 ter of an area larger, more productive and 
 with greater potentialities of population 
 than nations that loom big in the world's 
 history — Chicago has reached her rank in 
 but little more than the three score ye.ars 
 and ten allotted to man. Here is the great 
 crucible into which has been poured people, 
 customs and traditions from a field that 
 covers the earth, and from which is emerg- 
 ing the final product of ten centuries of po- 
 litical struggle — American democracy. As 
 heir to the ages, Chicago is working out the 
 problems of self government and rights of 
 man that had their inception with the dawn 
 of history in the forests of Fi-iesland and 
 Jutland and came down to us step by step 
 through centuries of trouble, always tri- 
 umphant, never completed. 
 
 "The physical and moral deterioration 
 of the human race under bad conditions of 
 city life is one of the great problems of the 
 age. That city life is producing a phys- 
 ically and morally deficient life is apparent, 
 especially in old cities where the process 
 has gone on longer. Chicago's problem is 
 to check this tendency before it has a fixed 
 type of physical and moral inferiority. If 
 you will consult the deficient and delinquent 
 
90 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 records of Chicago, as well as the records of 
 premature mortality in connection with a 
 map of the city, you will find certain black 
 spots on the map representing districts in 
 which misery, vice and early death seem 
 congested. Go now actually to that section 
 of the city and you will find an unanswer- 
 able indictment of the conditions of life 
 under which we permit some of our people 
 to exist. Proper housing, proper sanita- 
 tion, air and sunlight are the first rights of 
 humanity, and when we permit them to be 
 denied, we must accept responsibility for 
 the inevitable result. 
 "■Chicago has become what she is through 
 \iiidividualism. Men as units, in striving 
 
 for their own personal advancement, have, 
 in the aggregate, produced that which we 
 call Chicago. Our growth and development 
 have been natural, but without any general 
 underlying plan tending to bring about an 
 harmonious and symmetrical whole, which 
 is essential to the perfect development of 
 any growth. 
 ''A Plan well thought out and perfectly 
 
 balanced is essential to the conduct of all 
 affairs. The tremendous success which 
 measures the achievement of the great in- 
 dustrial and commercial concerns of Chi- 
 cago is not the result of haphazard condi- 
 tions, but is brought about as the natural 
 and inevitable result of a thorough appre- 
 ciation before the industrial campaign is 
 begun, of exactly what it is desired to ac- 
 complish, and how it is to be accomplished. 
 In every well ordered affair of life there is 
 an underlying basic plan, and the success 
 or failure is in close proportion to the care 
 and skill with which that plan is laid out. 
 In making Chicago, however, evidence of 
 any intelligent foresight, evidence of any 
 
 apprecia- 
 tion of the 
 manifest des- 
 tiny of the 
 town, evi- . 
 dence of any 
 abiding and 
 well ground- 
 ed faith in 
 the future of 
 the commun- 
 ity is lacking 
 when we be- 
 gin to ana- 
 lyze the con- 
 ditions under 
 which we 
 the City. ^ave grown. 
 
 We can in 
 the future provide that new public buildings 
 and, so far as we may be able to control by 
 advice or argument, large private enter- 
 prises shall be builded and developed in ac- 
 cordance with a well digested scheme to be 
 worked to through the ages, but when it 
 comes to the laying out of broad avenues 
 through territory already developed, and 
 dedication of encircling streets for the re- 
 
THE COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OP A PLAN FOR CHICAGO 
 
 91 
 
 lief of traffic congestion, when it comes to 
 the planning of parks and playgrounds in 
 districts densely populated, it means the 
 direct expenditure of much money. Such 
 expenditure is justifiable ; such expenditure 
 will return many-fold in profit to the city 
 in the shape of better conditions in living,' 
 better physical opportunities for the devel- 
 opment of a strong and vigorous race of 
 man. 
 
 fully not through the co-operation between 
 the various governing bodies affected but 
 through the consolidation of such govern- 
 ing bodies and the placing of their forces 
 under the direction of a single intelligence. 
 "The Plan of Chicago means the City 
 Practical. Dirt, grime and sordid condi- 
 tions are not a part of industrial a,nd com- 
 mercial success. They are rather evidences 
 of failure to grasp the fundamental truth 
 
 NHW YORK. Bird's Eye View. Loolcing Nortli. 
 
 /* One of the clearest lessons taught in the 
 lagnificent Plan of Chicago is the absolute 
 'necessity for the consolidation of all forms 
 of government, not merely within Chicago, 
 but within the territory lying about and 
 naturally a part of the metropolitan terri- 
 tory of Chicago. If we are to develop a 
 metropolitan area around us, with an eye' 
 single to the coming years, when our popu- 
 lation has spread out over the surrounding 
 prairies, we must begin to lay out our plan 
 of roadways, boulevards and parks, even 
 as Haussmann laid them out in Paris, 
 through fields and gardens that are virgin 
 of population, and we can do that success- 
 
 that men who are happy, whose lives are 
 cast in pleasant places, who are clean of 
 body and clean of mitid, are the men who 
 best do things. 
 
 "The"' industrial and commercial ele- 
 ments of Chicago, iipon which its great suc- 
 c^ at this time rests, are interested in se- 
 curing the most efficient labor with which to 
 carry on their business and the largest pos- 
 sible home market of healthy and happy 
 customers. That which will improve the 
 economic efficiency of the laboring men and 
 women of our city will to the same extent 
 add to the industrial and commercial possi- 
 bilities of Chicago. A city built on rational 
 
92 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 and modern lines means more of comfort, 
 more of health, more of opportunity for 
 physical, mental and moral development 
 for its people. 
 
 "As Eome rested upon her citizenship, 
 so Chicago's commercial and industrial su- 
 premacy rests upon the character, capacity 
 and physique of her industrial workers, and 
 part of the wealth created by men who toil 
 through life means, in any well regulated 
 
 cS. What was the subject of the first speaker's 
 address? 
 
 9. Of what territory is Chicago truly the cap- 
 ital? . 
 
 10. What does Chicago determine when she 
 
 plans and executes? 
 
 11. How many people will soon look to this city 
 
 as their capital, and for what purpose ? 
 
 12. Why did this dinner mark a great event in 
 
 our civic history ? 
 
 13. What does the Chicago Plan Commission 
 
 represent in the truest and test sense? 
 
 PARIS. Bird's Eye View of tlie City, 
 Champs Elysees. 
 
 order of affairs, the bringing of joy and the 
 securing of more comfort and better oppor- 
 tunities to those who produce such wealth. ' ' 
 
 1. What event of historical interest and impor- 
 
 tance to the city of Chicago occurred on 
 the evening of January 8, 1910? 
 
 2. What was the general subject of the meet- 
 
 Sliowing the World Famous Thoroughfare, the 
 
 3. What was said at this meeting about the plan 
 
 in connection with indomitable energy, 
 genius and the "I Will" spirit? 
 
 4. What is city planning coming to be in the. 
 
 betterment of civic conditions? 
 
 5. Describe the manner in which the plan was 
 
 drawn. 
 
 6. What is the gospel of the Plan of Chicago? 
 
 7. What is the primary aim of the Plan of 
 
 Chicago ? 
 
 14. How must public confidence be secured and 
 why? 
 
 What depends upon the Chicago Plan Com- 
 mission's recognition of its great oppor- 
 tunity? 
 
 By what should the Commission not be 
 bound in its vision of what it may accom- 
 plish? 
 
 What does the Plan of Chicago offer? 
 18. What will full development of public opin- 
 ion mean? 
 
 What wa,s the topic of the second address? 
 
 Wha,t will the orderly, systematic and beau- 
 tiful development of our city produce? 
 
 How many Americans registered at the 25 
 leading hotels in Paris in the 60 days be- 
 tween June 1st and July 31st, 1909? 
 
 How many more were lodged at the hun- 
 dreds of other French hostelries? 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 17. 
 
 19 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
THE COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES OP A PLAN FOR CHICAGO 
 
 93 
 
 23. How much did Americans spend in two 
 
 months' time for hotels alone, and how is 
 this amount estimated? 
 
 24. How much additional was spent on theatres? 
 
 25. Mow much additional was spent in Paris res- 
 
 taurants?" 
 
 26. How much additional was spent for locomo- 
 
 tion in Paris by American visitors? 
 
 27. How much was the total amount expended 
 
 iy Americans for their daily sustenance 
 and a few of their daily amusements? 
 
 28. Of what is no account made? 
 
 36. Where does Chicago stand, according to the 
 
 closing speaker? 
 
 37. What is one of the great proMems of the 
 
 age, and what is Chicago's problem? 
 
 38. Through what has Chicago become tvhat she 
 
 has? Describe Chicago's growth. 
 
 39. What is it that measures the achievements 
 
 of the great industrial and commercial 
 concerns of Chicago, and of what are 
 these achievements the result? 
 
 40. What do we find lacJcing when we begin to 
 
 BERLIN. Bird's Bye View of the City. 
 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 31. 
 
 32. 
 
 33. 
 34. 
 35. 
 
 On December 28, 1909, what did the Paris 
 Chamber of Deputies authorize the Paris 
 municipality to do, and for what pur- 
 poses? 
 
 What surpasses the estimated cost of the 
 Panama Canal? 
 
 How many out of town visitors were enter- 
 tained by Father Knickerbocker in No- 
 vember, 1909? 
 
 How much does the average visitor spend in 
 New York for accommodations, food, en- 
 tertainment and general shopping pur- 
 poses, and how much does this total for a 
 month? 
 
 By whom, should all propositions of impor- 
 tance be studied? 
 
 What examples should we emulate, and what 
 one should we avoid? 
 
 Why is immediate action necessary in carry- 
 ing out the Plan of Chicago? 
 
 42. 
 
 43 
 
 analyze the conditions under which ive 
 have grown? 
 
 41. What is one of the clearest lessons taught 
 in the magnificent Plan of Chicago ? 
 How can the Chicago Plan be carried out 
 successfully in developing a metropoli- 
 tan area with an eye single to the com- 
 ing years, as Haussmann laid out Paris? 
 What does the Plan of Chicago mean? 
 
 --. Of what are dirt, grime and sordid condi- 
 tions not a part? Of what are they an 
 evidence ? 
 
 45. What does a city built along rational and 
 
 modern lines mean? 
 
 46. Upon what must Chicago's commercial and 
 
 industrial supremacy rest? 
 
 47. What should part of the wealth created by 
 
 men who toil through life mean, in any 
 well-regulated order of affairs? 
 
The World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago. 18S3. The Court of Honor, 
 Looking Towards the Peristyle. 
 
 94 
 
PURPOSE AND MEANING OP THE CHICAGO PLAN 
 
 95 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE PLAN OF CHICAGO; 
 ITS PURPOSE AND MEANING 
 
 The Plan of Chicago, as it has been 
 worked out, is a plan to direct the future 
 growth of Chicago in a systematic and or- 
 derly way. Its purpose is to make Chicago 
 a real, centralized city instead of a group 
 of overcrowded, overgrown villages. It 
 means, when it is carried out, that Chicago 
 will hold her position among the grea't cit- 
 ies of the world, that Chicago is to be given 
 opportunities for indefinite growth in 
 wealth and commerce, and that Chicago is 
 to become the most convenient, healthful 
 and attractive city on earth. History 
 shows that this work will give to us, the 
 owners and builders of Chicago, world- 
 wide fame that will be everlasting. 
 
 We have seen that in the history of the 
 cities of the past their building accord- 
 ing to a definite plan has had to do chiefly 
 with two elements, namely, congestion, 
 which means the crowding of large num- 
 bers of people into small areas ; and traffic, 
 which means the movement of merchandise 
 and people from one part of the city to an- 
 other. We modern people, owing to the ad- 
 vance in science diiring our times, recog- 
 nize another element as of great impor- 
 tance, namely, the creation and preserva- 
 tion of conditions promoting public health. 
 We know that if a city is to continue strong 
 and progressive, or even if it is to continue 
 to exist at all, its people must be healthy 
 and its children robust. 
 
 Above everything else, then, the Plan of 
 Chicago is concerned with our vital prob- 
 lems of congestion, traffic and public 
 health. The plan will do away with con- 
 gestion in the city and its streets, and so 
 promote the health and happiness of all. 
 It will make traffic easy and convenient, 
 
 and so make it easier and cheaper to carry 
 on business, thus increasing the wealth of 
 the city and its people faster than will be 
 possible otherwise. The plan will give Chi- 
 cago more and larger parks and play- 
 grounds, and better and wider streets, and 
 thus make the whole people more healthy 
 and better able to carry on the work of com- 
 merce and civilization in our great city. 
 
 All over the world today cities are grow- 
 ing as they never did before. Steam and 
 electric transportation have made it easy to 
 transport food for multitudes. Modern 
 manufacturing methods draw large num- 
 bers of men together in cities to cheaply 
 produce clothing, machinery and the varied 
 supplies men need in their daily lives 
 throughout the world. No country in the 
 world, however, has given rise so rapidly 
 to large cities as the United States, where 
 it was shown By the census of 1910 that 
 forty out of every one hundred people now 
 reside in cities, and, of these, twelve reside 
 in the three cities of New York, Philadel- 
 phia and Chicago. 
 
 Wise men who have made a study for 
 years of city growth tell us that this mov- 
 ing of mankind toward the cities is only 
 starting, and that it is sure to continue, 
 probably with a stronger and stronger tide, 
 for many years to come. At the same time 
 other men of science, devoting their lives 
 to a study of the effect of city life upon 
 humanity, declare to us that the physical 
 condition of people in the cities, as com- 
 pared with the people of the open country, 
 is deteriorating. City life, they say, saps 
 the energy of men, and makes them less 
 efficient in the work of life. The remedy 
 for this, they tell us, lies in providing in- 
 creased means of open-air recreation, bet- 
 ter sanitation in city houses, and more 
 light and air in city streets. The Plan of 
 Chicago provides for complying with this 
 
96 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 imperative demand. To preserve our- 
 selves and our city by meeting this call for 
 
 ness instinct of our people. To carry it out 
 means to attract to our city millions of dol- 
 
 
 I 
 
 Halsted St. 
 
 Michigan Ave. 
 
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 CJh^ L &~- — .^ t^-^. itU^.. 
 
 CHICAGO. Plan of the complete system of street circulation; railway sta- 
 tions; parks, boulevard circuits and radial arteries; public recreation piers; 
 yactit harbor and pleasure boat piers; treatment of Grant Park; the main axis 
 and the Civic Center, presenting the city as a complete organism in which all 
 its functions are related one to another in such a manner that it will become 
 a unit. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 Uilvaukee Ave. 
 
 Center Ave. 
 
 State St. 
 
 better health conditions is an aim of the 
 Plan of Chicago. 
 
 Another appeal for the adoption of the 
 Plan of Chicago is that made to the busi- 
 
 lars now being spent every year in otlier 
 cities. When we have created a great at- 
 tractive city here people will be drawn to 
 it from all over our country, as today peo- 
 
PURPOSE AND MEANING OF THE CHICAGO PLAN 
 
 97 
 
 pie are attracted to Paris. They will visit 
 Chicago with their families and friends 
 and remain indefinitely to enjoy the de- 
 lights of the city, with vast resultant benefit 
 to all our citizens. 
 
 In drawing the Plan of Chicago, the ar- 
 chitects constantly kept in mind the needs 
 of the future city in the three great ele- 
 ments of congestion, traffic and public 
 health. They took the city as it has grown 
 up and applied to it the needs of the future 
 in transportation, in recreation and in hy- 
 giene. 
 
 Because we are a commercial people, and 
 live in a great commercial city, first 
 thought was given to transportation. The 
 architects ' first care, therefore, was to cre- 
 ate a proper system of handling the busi- 
 ness of Chicago in its streets, and upon its 
 street railways, its steam railroads and its 
 water courses. The greatest part of the 
 plan, then, refers to improving the existing 
 streets, to cutting new ones where neces- 
 sary, to arranging the city's railway and 
 water terminals most effectively, and to 
 the quick and cheap handling of all the 
 business of Chicago. 
 
 This plan of transportation completed, 
 the architects set about a plan of making 
 Chicago more attractive, of providing 
 parks for the people in the places where 
 they should be provided, of giving the peo- 
 ple recreation grounds both within the city 
 and in the outer district nearby, of improv- 
 ing and beautifying the lake front of the 
 city, and so arranging all things that the 
 future people of Chicago may be strong 
 and healthy, and so ambitious to extend the 
 fame and the commerce of their city. 
 
 Finally, in their planning, the architects 
 recognized the need of giving the people of 
 Chicago a way to express in solid form 
 their progressive spirit. The people of 
 Chicago have always been proud of their 
 
 city, of its importance and its power. The 
 architects strove, therefore to provide a 
 means whereby the civic pride and glory of 
 Chicago could be shown to the world in im- 
 posing buildings of architectural grandeur. 
 Thus they provided a civic center upon a 
 vast scale, to be improved with towering 
 buildings serving as the seat of city gov- 
 ernment, uniting and giving life to the 
 whole plan of the metropolis, and standing 
 as a notice to the world of the tremendous 
 might and power of a city loved and re- 
 vered by its millions of devoted and patri- 
 otic citizens. 
 
 1. What is the Plan of Chicago as it has teen 
 
 worked out? 
 
 2. What is the purpose of the Plan of Chi- 
 
 cago ? 
 
 3. What will the Plan of Chicago mean when 
 
 carried out? 
 
 4. What two elements have had to do chiefly 
 
 with the iuilding of cities of the past 
 according to a definite plan? 
 
 5. What other element do modern people rec- 
 
 ognize as of great importance ? 
 
 6. With what vital prohletns is the Plan of 
 
 Chicago concerned aiove everything else? 
 
 7. What will increase the wealth of the city 
 
 and its people faster than will be possi- 
 ble otherwise? 
 
 8. Why will the plan make the people more 
 
 healthy and better able to carry on the 
 work of commerce and civilization in our 
 city? 
 
 9. What proportion of the population of our 
 
 country did the United States census of 
 1910 show were living in cities? 
 
 10. In what three cities do twelve per cent of the 
 
 entire populatioyi of the United States 
 reside ? 
 
 11. What has a study for years of city growth 
 
 shown us of this movement of mankind 
 toward the city? 
 
 12. What is it that city life saps, according td 
 
 men of science? 
 
 13. What is an aim of the Plan of Chicago ? 
 
 14. What does the carrying out of the plan 
 
 mean ? 
 
98 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 
 What will happen when we have created a 
 great and attractive city here? 
 
 What did the architects constantly keep in 
 mind in drawing the Plan of Chicago ? 
 
 Why was first thought given to transpor- 
 tation f 
 
 What was the architects' first care? 
 
 19. To what does the greatest part of the plan 
 
 refer? 
 
 20. The plan of transportation completed, what 
 
 was the next thought of the architects? 
 
 21. What did the architects recognize the need, 
 
 of in the final arrangements of the plan? 
 
SOLVING TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 
 
 99 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Center Ive. 
 
 SOLVING CHICAGO'S TRANS- 
 PORTATION PROBLEMS 
 
 It has been seen how modern cities are 
 governed in tlieir growth, and development 
 by their fa- 
 cilities for ^ ^ -• 
 transporta- i I S 
 t i n , and 
 Ijow Chica^ ^^^^^ 
 go has come ^^°- 
 to be a big 
 city only be- 
 cause of its 
 fine location 
 in regard to 
 the carry- Hiistedst. 
 ing to and 
 fro of mer- 
 c h andise. cmaist. 
 We must 
 r e c gnize, 
 
 ,-i j_ 1 j_ 12th St. 
 
 tnen, t n a t R.R.stauons 
 Chicago has 
 become 
 great large- 
 ly by virtue 
 of the rail- 
 roads, and 
 that upon 
 the rail 
 roads it is 
 d e p endent 
 for its fu- 
 ture growth 
 and p r s- 
 perity. Chi- 
 
 commerce, to bring them all together as 
 one great machine in the service of the 
 city. 
 
 Under modern conditions, we can under- 
 stand, the city which has the best and 
 cheapest railroad service has an advantage 
 in trade over every other city. Its mer- 
 chants can do business cheaper and more 
 
 & 
 
 3 
 
 ttilvaokee 
 Ave. 
 
 Hichigan 
 Are. 
 
 Test Side 
 R.K.Statioiia 
 
 laSalle St. 
 
 CHICAGO. Diagram of city center, showing- the proposed arrangement of rail- 
 road passenger stations, the complete traction system, including rapid transit, sub- 
 way and elevated roads, and the circuit subway line. 
 
 The last is designed — (A) to connect all railroad stations with one another; (B) 
 to connect passengers from all points of the city within and without the center 
 with the railroad stations by transfer from the subway line; (C) to supplement 
 by transfer the interchange of passengers from traction line going through the 
 center from the north, south or west to any point in the city. 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 cago is now the greatest railroad center in 
 the world. Eailway lines extend from the 
 city in every direction. The problem, then, 
 is to make these roads more effective in 
 
 quickly. Its manufacturers can receive 
 material and ship out their products more 
 easily. This attracts and holds trade, and 
 is a great means of enriching a city and 
 
100 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 its people. Men operating great railroads 
 are agreed that their greatest problem is 
 to provide quick and cheap means of han- 
 dling traffic in the great cities, or, as they 
 call it, of improving terminal facilities in 
 the great centers where so much commerce 
 originates. The city will benefit most in 
 
 i" I 
 
 ■M" 
 
 Ashland Ave. 
 
 lalstedSt. 
 
 Canal St. 
 
 Sauth 
 Freight Yard 
 
 
 Center Ave. 
 
 or in other cities. Every month thousands 
 of cars of goods are hauled into central 
 Chicago over the various roads, switched 
 to other railroads and drawn out of Chi- 
 cago again unopened. Other thousands of 
 cars are shipped into Chicago, unloaded in 
 the center of the city and their contents 
 g carted 
 
 |s- I i^ through the 
 
 streets t o 
 warehouses, 
 only to be 
 nr^n ■"■;.":,'': ^' i!^-'" '^"]y ' '' again cart- 
 
 ed away, 
 n^^yJU!.. • ,^f - ^:.:. jo^ded into 
 
 cars, and 
 shipped out 
 of Chicago 
 b y whole- 
 sale mer- 
 chants a 
 few days or 
 weeks later. 
 Under 
 the Plan of 
 Chicago, as 
 drawn b y 
 the archi- 
 t e c t s , all 
 this waste- 
 f u 1 effort 
 and crowd- 
 ing within 
 the center 
 of the city 
 will be end- 
 ed. This is 
 to be done by establishing upon the broad 
 prairies southwest of Chicago a great 
 freight and warehousing center. After 
 this center is established all merchandise 
 not intended for constructing buildings, for 
 food or to be sold and used by the people 
 of Chicago will be kept out of the city, it- 
 
 ;■:-■-:■:;::, F^r^/^i']- 
 
 
 
 i ■ ; ;- 
 
 f i "^■' 
 
 
 
 ¥est 
 Freight Yard 
 
 La Salle St. 
 
 State St. 
 
 Miohigan 
 Ave. 
 
 . ^■^'■^i^^.*-*; ,. I^iagram of the city center, showing the general location of 
 existing freight yards and railroad lines, the present tunnel system and pro- 
 posed circuit, and connections for all these services, running to the central 
 clearing- yards. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 which this terminal problem is worked out 
 quickest and best. 
 
 The great difficulty in moving freight in 
 Chicago today arises from the lack of or- 
 ganization for handling the merchandise 
 coming into the city over the various rail- 
 roads, but intended for use in the country. 
 
SOLVING TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 
 
 101 
 
 self. The railroads will quickly and cheap- 
 ly interchange traffic at the outside center. 
 In the warehouses there all merchandise 
 to be sold at wholesale and shipped to other 
 towns and cities will be stored until time 
 for shipment arrives, when it will be re- 
 loaded and started on its way without de- 
 lay. 
 
 The advan- 
 tages of this 
 geat common 
 unloading and 
 reloading sta 
 t i n , where 
 much of the 
 work now done 
 by manual la 
 bor downtown 
 can be done by 
 m a c h i n ery, 
 and where 
 crow ding of 
 industries will 
 not interfere 
 with the busi 
 ness for which 
 the center is 
 planned, are 
 apparent. All 
 interests will 
 benefit ; the 
 rail ways by 
 increasing the 
 effective use 
 of their equip 
 ment by rapid 
 loading and 
 
 unloading, the merchants by avoiding the 
 expense and delay of carting and handling 
 products at the city 's center, and by being 
 enabled to more quickly and effectively 
 serve their customers outside the city ; and 
 the city at large by relief from the crowd- 
 ing in the streets due to teaming conges- 
 
 tion, by a saving upon its pavements, and 
 by a cessation of the noise and smoke 
 nuisance growing out of removal of so 
 many freight engines to the new freight 
 handling locality. 
 
 The freight traffic of Chicago has been 
 carefully studied by experts, and it has 
 
 CHICAGO — "The Great Central Market." 
 
 50,000,000 Persons Within a 500-Mile Radius of Chicago Can Leave Home in the Evening and 
 
 Arrive in Chicago for Breakfast the Next Morning. 
 
 [Especially prepared for the Chicago Association of Commerce.] 
 
 been found that ninety-five per cent is 
 handled by the railroads, and five per cent 
 is done by water. For the care and devel- 
 opment of water transportation the Plan 
 of Chicago provides for the building of 
 two great systems of docks, one at the 
 
 mouth of 
 
 Chicago 
 
 river, the other at the 
 
102 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 mouth of Calumet river, adjoining South 
 Chicago. The Chicago river docks are 
 planned to care for vessels bearing car- 
 ' goes of package freight, such as furniture, 
 sugar and manufactured products. Those 
 at South Chicago would he more extensive, 
 and would care for the vessels carrying 
 bulk cargoes, such as coal, grain and ore. 
 
 Connecting the two harbors and the out- 
 er freight center, and running through the 
 center of the city that it may serve the 
 merchants and manufacturers, there is 
 provided in the plan an underground 
 freight way to be operated by electricity. 
 This railway would bind together and make 
 complete all the parts of the great machine 
 of traffic intended to make limitless the pos- 
 sibility of business expansion for Chicago. 
 If it be made an underground way, it may 
 be connected with the present tunnel sys- 
 tem serving the central part of Chicago to 
 carry out a complete system of under- 
 ground distribution. 
 
 In drawing the Plan of Chicago as af- 
 fecting transportation, the designers did 
 not neglect the detail of improving passen- 
 ger service in and out of Chicago. Good 
 order among the passenger stations was 
 considered a necessity, and a pleasing 
 arrangement of the stations was decided 
 upon. The stations on the West Side, it 
 was decided, should be centered in the dis- 
 trict extending from Lake Street to 
 Twelfth Street, bordered by Canal Street 
 on the east and Clinton Street on the west. 
 The South Side stations, according to the 
 Plan, are to be grouped along Twelfth 
 Street from State Street west to the river. 
 Thus the railway stations would be 
 grouped in a semicircle about the heart of 
 the city. An elevated, surface or subway 
 loop railway could be built to connect the 
 stations, and give easy transportation from 
 any one of them to the others. 
 
 One of the great results of carrying out 
 this plan of arranging the passenger sta- 
 tions will be to extend the present crowded 
 business center of Chicago to as far south 
 as Twelfth Street, and as far west as the 
 river. The need of this extension is al- 
 ready great and is growing more acute 
 every day. The unpleasant and distress- 
 ing conditions of crowding already suf- 
 fered in the loop district of Chicago can 
 be relieved in no other way ; and in no other 
 way but undertaking a work for economy 
 in trade and transportation can Chicago 
 fulfill her destiny as mistress of the com- 
 merce of half a continent. To gain this 
 relief, and to provide a certain way by 
 which the railways which have made Chi- 
 cago great may give the people of Chicago 
 the greatest possible amount of service in 
 future, is a powerful reason urging our 
 immediate adoption of the Plan of Chicago. 
 
 1. How have modern cities been governed in 
 
 their growth and development? 
 
 2. Mow has Chicago come to he a Mg city? 
 
 3. What must we recognize as an important 
 
 factor in malcing Chicago great, and upon 
 what is it dependent for its future growth 
 and prosperity? 
 
 4. Of what is Chicago now the greatest center 
 
 in the world? 
 
 5. What is Chicago's problem regarding the 
 
 railroads ? 
 
 6. Under modern conditions, what city has an 
 
 advantage in trade over every other city? 
 
 7. Why is the best and cheapest railroad serv- 
 
 ice an advantage in trade to a city? 
 
 8. Why is the best and cheapest railroad serv- 
 
 ice a means of enriching a city and its 
 people? 
 
 9. On what are men who operate great rail- 
 
 roads agreed is their greatest problem? 
 
 10. What is the great difficulty in moving freight 
 
 in Chicago, coming into the city over the 
 various railroads and intended- for use 
 in the country or in other cities? 
 
 11. Under the Plan of Chicago, how will the 
 
 handling of merchandise from the rail- 
 roads be improved? 
 
SOLVING TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 
 
 103 
 
 12. How will wasteful effort in handling freight- 
 
 in the center of the city be ended? 
 
 13. What will result after the establishment of 
 
 a warehousing center Southwest of Chi- 
 cago ? 
 
 14. What will take place in the warehouse re- 
 
 garding all merchandise to be shipped to 
 other towns and cities? 
 
 15. How are the advantages of this great com^ 
 
 mon unloading and reloading station ap- 
 parent ? 
 
 16. State three principal reasons why all inter- 
 
 ests will benefit by the establishment of a 
 freight and ivarehousing center South- 
 west of Chicago. 
 
 17. What have experts discovered through care- 
 
 ful study of the freight traffic of Chicago? 
 
 18. How does the Plan of Chicago provide for 
 
 the care and development of water trans- 
 portation? 
 
 19. Name the locations where two great dock 
 
 systems are to be built, as provided for 
 in the Plan of Chicago. 
 
 20. What kind of vessels are the docks to care 
 
 for which are planned at the mouth of 
 Chicago river? 
 
 21. What kind of vessels are the docks to care 
 
 for which are planned at the mouth of 
 Calumet river? 
 
 22. What does the Plan of Chicago provide to 
 
 connect the two harbors and the outer 
 freight center? 
 
 23. What is the freight way to connect the two 
 
 harbors and the outer freight center in- 
 tended to do? 
 
 24. If the connecting freight way be made un- 
 
 derground, what may it be connected 
 with, and what would it serve ? 
 
 25. What part of transportation was not neg- 
 
 lected by the designers of the Plan of 
 Chicago ? 
 
 26. What was decided upon as a necessity in 
 
 the improvement of passenger service? 
 
 27. Where was it decided to locate the West Side 
 
 stations ? 
 
 28. According to the Plan of Chicago, where are 
 
 the South Side stations to be located? 
 
 29. How would the railway stations be grouped? 
 
 30. What could be built to connect the stations 
 
 and give easy transportation from one to 
 another? 
 
 31. What would be one of the greatest results of 
 
 carrying out the plan of arranging the 
 passenger stations ? 
 
 32. What can be relieved in no other way than 
 
 by this plan of arranging the passenger 
 stations? 
 
 33. What may be accomplished for Chicago by 
 
 undertaking a work for economy in trade 
 and transportation? 
 
 34. State a powerful reason for urging and car- 
 
 rying out the Plan of Chicago. 
 
104 
 
 W ACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 PERFECTING OUR STREET 
 SYSTEM 
 
 In tlie early days of Chicago, as we have 
 seen, press of business and lack of wealth 
 made the people of the city intensely prac- 
 tical in their daily lives. Every public 
 action proposed was subjected to scrutiny 
 as to whether it would pay financially and 
 
 One of the first needs of the future city 
 is a perfect street system. There must 
 be enough streets to easily accommodate 
 the traffic of the millions who are to live in 
 the city. They must be wide enough to in- 
 sure comfort in traversing them, and they 
 must run in the right directions to enable 
 the people to go from place to place quick- 
 ly. We must realize that lifetimes are 
 made up of minutes, and that to save min- 
 utes means to lengthen life. Thus we can 
 
 •"«S^1S»- 
 
 ' ^k^n- 
 
 "flja* 
 
 CHICAGO. Proposed Twelfth Street Improvement at its Intersections with Michigan Avenue 
 and Ashland Avenue. It is planned to make this a Broad Business Street and not a Boulevard as 
 Shown in this Picture. The Proposed Railway Terminals are Shown Fronting on Twelfth Street at 
 its Level, Which is Raised to Allow North and South Trafflc to Flow Underneath Access to the 
 Street is Provided at Alternate Streets. The rise Presumably will begin at Wabash Avenue and 
 end at Canal Street. At the Intersection of Twelfth and Canal Streets a Diagonal Thoroughfare is 
 Shown Bxtendmg to the Proposed Civic Center. Between this Diagonal and the River is Shown the 
 Begmnmg of the West Side Railroad Stations. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 practically before it was undertaken. It 
 has become, therefore, a habit among the 
 people to give first importance to the mat- 
 ter of direct gain from contemplated 
 changes. It was this spirit which ruled in 
 the minds of the architects in working out 
 methods of perfecting the street system for 
 the Chicago of the future. 
 
 justify the spending of millions of dollars 
 today if it means saving time for millions 
 of people in years and centuries to come. 
 In all cities which have grown up with- 
 out being governed by a proper plan, it 
 has always been necessary to make largo 
 expenditures of money and labor to correct 
 the error of planless building. "We have 
 
PERFECTING OUR STREET SYSTEM 
 
 105 
 
 seen this in the experience of London. We 
 have seen, also, that the longer this expen- 
 diture is delayed the greater the cost when 
 
 comfort, continued danger to health, and 
 continued and increasing loss to the city's 
 husiness, trade and commerce. 
 
 § 
 ? 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
 ^ 
 
 :\! 
 
 lalsted St 
 
 llicbigan Ave. 
 
 ii if ^ 
 
 r Y l^t— "' 
 
 
 ^„K I 
 
 •r^^mmm^. 
 
 T:y9 
 
 [' , I. >' -m I // - <*' 
 
 j£ :a 
 
 ^' I ,f 
 
 — :y^?---j £._ 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 CHICAGO. Plan of the center of the city, showing the present street 
 and boulevard system, and the proposed additional arteries and street widenmgs 
 (heavy black). [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 Milwaukee Ave 
 
 Center Ave 
 
 Sute St. 
 
 it is finally forced upon a city. To post- 
 pone action means not only a greater bur- 
 den of cost, but it means continued dis- 
 
 The architects, in their Plan of Chicago, 
 have prepared for great changes in the 
 street plans of the city. They have pro- 
 
106 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 vided for wider streets throughout the city, 
 for widened and improved boulevards, and 
 they have laid out, as absolutely necessary 
 to a properly arranged and permanent 
 city, a large numl)er of new streets and 
 ways, in the creation of which it will be 
 necessary to destroy or remove hundreds 
 of buildings in tlie crowded parts of the 
 present city. 
 
 Circuits — An idea of the plan is to es- 
 tablish several circuits of existing tlior- 
 
 luuiiiMuUULLIULIu' 
 
 of the Chicago Plan Commission — the 
 foundation for all that is to follow — 
 is to carry out the circuit idea by com- 
 pleting the great quadrangle formed by 
 Twelfth street on tlie South, Ilalsted street 
 on the West, Chicago avenue on the North 
 and Michigan avenue on the East. These 
 four streets are destined to bear the 
 heaviest traffic of any streets in Clii- 
 cago. The initial step will be to widen 
 Twelfth street from Michigan to Ashland 
 
 the s e c - 
 
 UUUUUUUUULJL/^f 
 
 □□□□□nnnnn^UU 
 □□□□□aannci^ann 
 
 □□ca[aca6i3L 
 
 " ■ nnnn nnmnnnnGnnnnLi 
 □DBoaDDnDonnnnBH" 
 
 □DnnnnnnnQDppiL 
 
 |[jD(_>i[inDnn[3nnno 
 
 nnnn 
 nannnn 
 
 DDDDDa 
 
 DDnnnnnnojjaDDDDnnnnLj 
 
 DDEJ 
 
 □□□nnnncDDDnnnD 
 
 □CIL 
 
 a ^s' e n u e, 
 ond to widen Mich- 
 igan avenue from 
 Eandolph street 
 North to connect 
 with Chicago ave- 
 nue. Chicago avenue 
 is sufficiently wide, 
 so we then come to 
 the connectino- link 
 
 DDaDnnDnnC of the quadrangle— 
 nngnDDDDDr the widening of 
 
 □naDnGDaa:: 
 
 jmnnyanncunDDDDD 
 
 □□I 
 
 DDDc:: 
 
 nDQL:: 
 
 CHICAGO. Plan of the quadrangle bounded by Twelfth Street on the 
 South, nalsted Street on the Wes(, Chicago Avenue on the North and Michigan 
 Avenue on the East. These four streets are destined to bear the heaviest traffic 
 ot any thoroughfares in the city. The completion of the quadrangle means the 
 construction of a substantial part of the main vertebra of the street circulation 
 system. It is the purpose ot the Chicago Plan Commission to complete this 
 square as tlic first great necessary step in carrying out the plan as a whole. 
 
 suing 
 Halsted street. 
 
 Michigan avenue 
 — a section of the 
 quadrangle — forms 
 so great a part of 
 the street plan as a 
 whole that it lias 
 lieen thought best to 
 treat it in a separate 
 chapter, so we will 
 go on to the iiext 
 s t e p — T w e 1 f t h 
 street — taking u p 
 the study of Michi- 
 gan avenue, or what 
 is ]iopularly known 
 as the "boulevard 
 
 oughfares and to improve them so traffic 
 can move freely and directly about the 
 city's center. 
 Quadrangle — The first constructive work 
 
 link, ' ' at the close of this chapter. 
 
 Twelfth street, the first section of the 
 quadrangle, is being developed under the 
 Chicago Plan. It is to be widened and ar- 
 
PERFECTING OUR STREET SYSTEM 
 
 107 
 
 ranged to bear easily a heavier traffic than 
 that which now makes it a badly congested 
 street. The widening of Twelfth street is 
 the iaitial step in the constructive work of 
 developing the plan as a whole and bears 
 a relationship to the whole scheme of street 
 construction and street widening. 
 
 The necessity for the improvement of 
 that street lies in the fact that it is the 
 only through thoroughfare between Harri- 
 
 must be made for a suitable outlet from- 
 that district to the present business center 
 of the city. 
 
 Twelfth street from Ashland avenue to 
 Michigan avenue is at present 66 feet wide 
 between building lines with the exception 
 of the blocks between State street and 
 Michigan avenue, where the street is but 50 
 feet wide; 39 feet wide between sidewalk 
 curbs and only nine feet and nine inches 
 
 c/foss ■ J£:cr/o// 
 
 J 
 
 ^/slmjvz> fij./»TropM 
 
 »^OL£ ^ . \sTf^S£T CA^ T/j^CMS « 
 
 s 
 
 ^/SLAAr£> fLATrOHM 
 
 FLy4/^ //£h^. 
 
 K 
 
 1 
 
 IT 
 
 CHICAGO Plan of the new Twelfth Street. Top diagram shows sidewalks 14 feet and 26-foot roadway 
 on either side' with a 20-foot strip in the center for double street car line and bracket trolley poles. Plan 
 below shows '"'islands" on both sides of the car tracks at the intersection of each street for safety in entering 
 and leaving street oars. Dimension of island 4 by 60 feet. Car tracks at street level, with free access for 
 traffic to either side. [Prepared for the Chicago Plan Commission.] 
 
 son and Eighteenth streets connecting the 
 west side with the down town district. The 
 actual heart of the city's population today 
 is a little north of the corner of Twelfth 
 and Halsted streets. Traffic and the city's 
 growth are gradually moving in a south- 
 westerly direction. Adequate provision 
 
 wide between the street car step and the 
 curb. It is proposed to make the street 108 
 feet wide from Ashland avenue to Canal 
 street, taking a 42-foot strip off from the 
 lots on the south side of the street. It is to 
 be widened to 118 feet from Canal street 
 to the lake. 
 
108 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 ' It is not intended to boulevard the street; 
 but to make it a clean, wide, business thor- 
 oughfare with a double, rapid-transit sur- 
 face street car line down the center, and on 
 it might be established stations of all the 
 great railroads entering the city from the 
 east, south and southwest. It is hoped that 
 the railroads may be induced to locate 
 terminals south of Twelfth street between 
 State street and the river. 
 
 On November 16, 1909, the Chicago Plan 
 Commission's Executive Committee ap- 
 pointed a special Twelfth street com- 
 mittee whose mission it was to investi- 
 gate the entire matter and report back to 
 the Executive Committee. On January 19, 
 1910, the Executive Committee received the 
 Twelfth Street Committee's report, adopt- 
 ing same, which was referred to the Com- 
 mission as a whole and unanimously adopt- 
 ed on January 19, 1910. 
 
 On March 2, 1911, th^re was a public 
 hearing on the matter before the Board of 
 Local Improvements, after which the prop- 
 erty owners on that street were given thirty 
 days in which to file a protest representing 
 a majority of the lineal front footage. The 
 time limit expired without such majority 
 protest having been filed with the Board, 
 and the matter then went to the City Coun- 
 cil, where on April 6, 1911,, the Twelfth 
 street widening ordinance passed by a vote 
 of 46 to 10. In accordance with this ordi- 
 nance. Commissioners were appointed by 
 the Superior Court to estimate cost and 
 damages. 
 
 The improvement might properly be 
 designated as both a "local improvement" 
 and a "general benefit." The Chicago Plan 
 Commission has made a strong recommen- 
 dation for a large "general benefit" in or- 
 der that a large percentage of the cost of 
 the improvement shall be borne by the 
 whole city, in which case the matter of a 
 
 bond issue to defray the city's part of the 
 cost will have to be referred to the people 
 in a referendum. 
 
 Public sentiment generally and the unit- 
 ed support of the press is back of this 
 movement. Every citizen of Chicago should 
 aid with his influence and vote at the prop- 
 er time in the realization of this improve- 
 ment, thus insuring the success of the first 
 practical step in carrying out the Plan. 
 
 Halsted street, a section of the quad- 
 rangle, it is predicted, will, in time to come, 
 carry an enormous traffic. It is so situated 
 that its usefulness, already great, may be 
 very much increased. It is selected as, 
 next to Michigan avenue, the most im- 
 portant north and south traffic thorough- 
 fare. Under the Chicago Plan the street 
 would be widened, paved properly and de- 
 veloped as one of the great central business 
 streets of the future city. 
 
 Chicago avenue, a section of the quad- 
 rangle, already one hundred feet wide, will 
 serve for a long time the traffic it will be 
 made to carry. Crowding of vehicles is not 
 so great upon the north side of the city 
 and is not increasing so fast as in other sec- 
 tions. It will connect with the proposed 
 Michigan boulevard extension at Pine 
 street, completing the first circuit of im- 
 provement in our streets. 
 
 Next to the quadrangle, by far the most 
 important in the plans for streets are those 
 relating to the time and distance saving 
 diagonal thoroughfares which Chicago 
 needs so badly. The city is fortunate in 
 having, as a foundation for this system 
 of diagonal streets, a large number of such 
 thoroughfares. Among these are Evans- 
 ton, Lincoln, Clybourn, Elston, Milwaukee, . 
 Ogden, Blue Island, Archer and Cottage 
 Grove avenues. These thoroughfares, for 
 the most part, are the routes followed for 
 hundreds of years by the Indians, whose 
 
PERFECTING OUR STREET SYSTEM 
 
 109 
 
 wide trails were developed first into coun- 
 try roads leading to the settlement at Chi- 
 cago, and gradually became city streets as 
 Chicago extended its limits with its growth. 
 
 The aim of all the present diagonal 
 streets is to bring all traffic to the center 
 of the city. The effect of this, in the pres- 
 ent city, is to produce congestion and 
 crowding that is fast growing unbearable. 
 It is apparent, then, that the city's great 
 need now is for diagonal streets to give 
 more direct routes throughout the city, 
 and so stop the crowding of traffic into the 
 city's business center. 
 
 The architects found, in studying the 
 street system of Chicago, that the greatest 
 need is for diagonal streets to connect the 
 widely extended west side of the city with 
 the north and south sides. "Ways must be 
 opened, it is seen, by which the people of 
 the various parts of Chicago may go quick- 
 ly and conveniently to other parts. Ways 
 must be created by which the people of 
 the great west side may go directly to the 
 lake front parks on either the north or 
 south sides, and thus have greater freedom 
 in recreation. 
 
 The Plan of Chicago, as completed, pro- 
 vides a complete system of diagonal streets 
 which, if they were in existence today, 
 would be used by hundreds of thousands of 
 people with a saving of time and effort 
 which cannot even be estimated. Millions 
 of people will use these streets in the fu- 
 ture. Their creation will remove every 
 limitation now existing to prevent the 
 city's growth in population. 
 
 Two of the great diagonal streets the 
 architects have proposed will, upon the 
 adoption of the Plan, be cut through the 
 central part of the city. One of these thor- 
 oughfares will run from the lake front at 
 Chicago avenue southwesterly in an al- 
 most straight line to connect with Blue 
 
 Island avenue at South Halsted and West 
 Harrison streets. Another will serve to 
 extend Cottage Grove avenue from its 
 present terminus in East Twenty-second 
 street northwesterly to connect with Mil- 
 waukee avenue at North Ashland avenue. 
 The first of these streets will be about 
 two and one-half miles long; the second 
 about four miles long. The function of 
 these thoroughfares will be to give traffic 
 which now crowds into the business cen- 
 ter of the city a direct route between the 
 north and south central districts and the 
 central west side territory. The second 
 street described will provide, also, a direct 
 route connecting the northwest and south- 
 east districts of Chicago. 
 
 Because of the promise they give of do- 
 ing away with crowding and congestion in 
 various parts of the city, and because of 
 their effect upon every neighborhood, it is 
 interesting to have these proposed diago- 
 nal streets outlined, so each of us can see 
 how much more convenient it will be to get 
 about Chicago when the streets are com- 
 pleted, and how much of beauty will be 
 added to each neighborhood by the new 
 ways of traffic. 
 
 On the north side there are to be four 
 new diagonal streets created besides the 
 one mentioned. They may be outlined as 
 follows : 
 
 Beginning at the crossing of La Salle 
 avenue and North avenue a street will run 
 southwesterly, cutting across Clybourn 
 avenue at Sedgwick street, and there turn- 
 ing more westerly to run southwest to 
 connect with Ogden avenue near the cross- 
 ing of Washington boulevard and North 
 Ashland avenue. This street will be about 
 two and one-half miles long. It will be a 
 practical extension of Ogden avenue to the 
 gate of Lincoln Park. 
 
 The second of the four outer diagonals 
 
110 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 will begin at the lake front at Belmont 
 avenue and run southwesterly, cutting Lin- 
 coln avenue at North Halsted street and 
 Clybourn avenue at Eacine avenue, and so 
 on southwest to the crossing of North ave- 
 nue and North Ashland avenue. The route 
 will follow North Ashland avenue south- 
 ward for one-half mile to the crossing of 
 Milwaukee avenue and there run again 
 southwest to the crossing of North "West- 
 ern and Grand avenues, continuing still 
 southwesterly to connect with Colorado 
 avenue at West Madison street. This work 
 means the creation of about four and one- 
 half miles of new street ways. It will prac- 
 tically serve to extend Colorado avenue to 
 the lake front at Belmont avenue. 
 
 The third outer diagonal on the north 
 side is to be cut through from the lake 
 front at Irving Park boulevard southwest 
 to Humboldt Park, near North Kedzie and 
 West North avenues, a distance of about 
 four miles, and is to resume at the south 
 end of the park, where Grand avenue in- 
 tersects North Kedzie avenue, running 
 southwestward for nearly three miles more 
 to the entrance of a large park proposed to 
 be extended to the westward from South 
 Fifty-second avenue and West Congress 
 street. 
 
 The final north side diagonal proposed 
 will run from North Clark street and Law- 
 rence avenue to the entrance of another 
 large park proposed at the intersection of 
 Irving Park boulevard and North Western 
 avenue. This diagonal will be only one and 
 a quarter miles long. It will connect at its 
 southern end with a wide bow boulevard 
 to be cut across the entire west side of the 
 city, and to be described in detail later. 
 
 Two new diagonal streets, not before 
 mentioned, are to be cut on the west side. 
 Both are to run from the crossing of West 
 Congress and South Halsted streets. One 
 
 will go northwesterly to connect with 
 Grand avenue at North Western avenue, a 
 distance of about two miles, thus bringing 
 Grand avenue straight down to the pro- 
 jected civic center. The other will run 
 southwesterly to West Twelfth street and 
 South Ashland avenue, a distance of a lit- 
 tle over one mile. It will open to light and 
 air one of the most crowded and unhealth- 
 ful sections of the city. 
 
 The diagonal systems necessary to con- 
 nect the south side and the west side, aside 
 from the Cottage Grove avenue extension 
 mentioned, are also four in number. They 
 may be thus outlined : 
 
 One new street will begin at Thirty-ninth 
 street, at the lake front, and run north- 
 westerly, crossing Grand boulevard at 
 Thirty-fifth street, Wentworth avenue at 
 Thirty-first street, and terminating at 
 Archer avenue and South Halsted street. 
 The route then, will be north in South Hal- 
 sted street to West Twenty-second street, 
 and then again the street would cut north- 
 westward, crossing West Twelfth street at 
 South Ashland avenue, and on in the same 
 direction, crossing West Congress street 
 at Ogden avenue, and connecting with 
 Grand avenue at North Western avenue. 
 This work means the cutting of about five 
 and one-half miles of new streets. 
 
 Another great south side highway to the 
 west side will begin at the western edge 
 of Jackson Park at Sixty-seventh street. 
 It will run northwest to the southeast 
 corner of Washington Park at Cottage 
 Grove avenue, a distance of a little over 
 one mile. It will go thence either through 
 or around the park to the junction of Gar- 
 field and Grand boulevards, where it will 
 begin cutting northwesterly again. It will 
 cross West Forty-seventh street at Went- 
 worth avenue. West Thirty-ninth street at 
 South Halsted street, West Thirty-fifth 
 
PERFECTING OUR STREET SYSTEM 
 
 111 
 
 street at South Center avenue, go along the 
 west bank of the south fork of the south 
 branch of Chicago river to South Ashland 
 avenue. The route will then be in South 
 Ashland avenue north to West Twenty- 
 second street, where cutting northwesterly 
 will be resumed, the street crossing West 
 Twelfth street at South Western avenue, 
 and terminating in North Forty-eighth 
 avenue, near Washington boulevard. To 
 complete this system means the creation of 
 a little more than seven miles of new 
 streets. 
 
 The third of the outer routes between 
 the south and west sides is to run from 
 the lake shore region of South Chicago 
 along the route of the Lake Shore and 
 Michigan Southern railway to about Six- 
 tieth street, near State street, there begin- 
 ning the main cutting northwesterly. It 
 will cross South Halsted street at Garfield 
 boulevard and South Ashland avenue at 
 West Forty-seventh street, joining South 
 Western avenue at West Thirty-ninth 
 street, and running north in South West- 
 ern avenue to West Thirty-first street, 
 turning west in that thoroughfare to an 
 extension of Blue Island avenue, and 
 thence northwesterly to cut Ogden avenue 
 at South Forty-eighth avenue, crossing 
 West Congress street at South Fifty-sec- 
 ond avenue and continuing indefinitely into 
 the country. This route involves the cre- 
 ation of about ten miles of new streets. 
 
 Finally, on the south side, is to be a 
 diagonal course from the north end of 
 Lake Calumet northwest through a sparse- 
 ly settled territory for a distance exceed- 
 ing seven miles to connect at South West- 
 ern avenue and G-arfield boulevard with 
 the sweeping bow-shaped boulevard before 
 mentioned. 
 
 Besides cutting the new diagonals and 
 widening the principal thoroughfares with- 
 
 in the city, there will be constructed thor- 
 oughfares along both sides of Chicago river 
 and its branches. This work, in all prob- 
 ability, will be the finishing labors of the 
 city in its street transformation plans. The 
 water fronts of the great European cities 
 are thus improved and beautified. Broad 
 ways, according to the Plan of Chicago, 
 will surely line both banks of the river 
 branches, that to the northward at least 
 as far as North avenue and to the south- 
 ward at least as far as South Halsted 
 street. This street construction is to be 
 on a plan so laid as not to interfere with 
 the use of the river in commerce and trade, 
 the driveways being elevated and running 
 above the roofs of low warehouses and 
 wharves lining the edges of the stream. 
 
 The city's streets would be linked to- 
 gether and unified by the wide semi-circu- 
 lar boulevard drive described in the next 
 chapter as more properly a part of the 
 vast park system by which the city is, 
 according to the Plan of Chicago, to be- 
 come the most attractive and healthful 
 great city the world has ever known. 
 
 A system of outer roadways and high- 
 ways encircling the city to connect the 
 various parts of Chicago with each other, 
 with the center of the city and with the 
 outlying sections, is considered a great 
 need. With the exception of five per cent, 
 a perfect system of outer highways — called 
 "turnpikes" in the old days — now exists. 
 Partly disconnected roads form ninety-five 
 per cent of the proposed system today. 
 
 A study of the accompanying chart will 
 show that circle No. 1 connects Winnetka, 
 the northern lake terminal, with LaGrange, 
 Hinsdale, Blue Island and Orland, ending 
 with Eoby on the lake to the South. 
 
 Circle No. 2 starts with Waukegan on the 
 lake to the North, connecting that city with 
 Libertyville, Lake Zurich, Elgin, Geneva, 
 
112 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 2. Why was every proposed public action sub- 
 jected to scrutiny before it was under- 
 taken? 
 
 3. What spirit, as a result of a habit among' 
 the people, ruled the architects in work- 
 ing out methods of perfecting the street 
 system for the Chicago of the future? 
 
 4. What is one of the first needs of the future 
 city? 
 
 Aurora, Joliet, CMcago Heights, ending 
 with Gary on the lake to the South. 
 
 Circle No. 3 is also a lake terminal at 
 Kenosha on the North and embracesWood- 
 stock, Genoa, Sycamore, Morris, Momence, 
 Kankakee and La Porte, finding its southern 
 outlet again on the lake at Michigan City. 
 
 The Chicago Plan Commission proposes 
 to enlist the aid of 
 the various townships 
 en route on these 
 three circles in the 
 construction of the 
 connecting links, 
 amounting as stated 
 to but five per cent 
 needed to complete 
 these highways. Con- 
 sider these circular 
 roadways and their 
 connection with the 
 proposed diagonal 
 street system of our 
 plan — the convenient 
 and time saving feat- 
 ure of this system is 
 apparent at a glance. 
 Country turnpikes 
 and their relationship 
 to the metropolis 
 should be inseparably 
 interlinked, and that 
 is especially true in 
 
 considering Chi- fCopyrightea by the Commercial Club'] 
 
 CHICAGO. General diagram of exterior highways encircling- or radiating 
 from the city. Ninety-five per cent of these arteries now exist. 
 
 cago's welfare and her outlying suburban 
 cities, when we realize that the population 
 of the twenty-four cities and villages on 
 these circles amounts to 250,000, and will 
 continue their growth in proportion to their 
 relationship to the city of Chicago and its 
 future development. 
 
 1. In the early days of Chicago what made 
 the people intensely practical in their 
 daily lives? 
 
 5. What three things are necessary in perfect- 
 
 ing a street system for the Chicago of the 
 future ? 
 
 6. What has been necessary in all cities which 
 
 have grown up without being governed 
 by a proper plan? 
 
 7. What three things result from postponed 
 
 action in governing a city by a proper 
 plan? 
 
 8. What four great changes in the street plans 
 
 have the architects made in the Plan of 
 Chicago? 
 
PERFECTING OUR STREET SYSTEM 
 
 113 
 
 9. What is the idea in establishing several 
 circuits of existing thoroughfares? 
 
 10. What is the foundation for all that is to fol- 
 
 low in the first constructive work of the 
 Chicago Plan Commission? 
 
 11. What arc these four streets destined to hear? 
 
 12. What will the initial and following steps he 
 
 in carrying out the quadrangle? 
 
 13. To what does the widening of Twelfth Street 
 
 hear a relationship? 
 
 14. What is the first necessity for the improve- 
 
 ment of Twelfth Street? 
 
 15. Why must adequate provision he made for 
 
 a suitahle outlet from the west side to the 
 present business center of the city? 
 
 16. What is the present width of Twelfth Street 
 
 from Ashland Avenue to Michigan Ave- 
 nue ? 
 
 17. State the width of Twelfth street hetween 
 
 sidewalk curbs. 
 
 18. What is the width of the roadway on either 
 
 side of Twelfth Street between the street 
 car step and the curb ? 
 
 19. How wide is it proposed to make Twelfth 
 
 Street? 
 
 20. What is the intention in not hoidevarding 
 
 Twelfth Street? 
 
 21. On what date and. in what year did the 
 
 Chicago Plan Commission's Executive 
 Committee appoint a special Twelfth 
 Street Committee? 
 
 22. What was the mission of this special Twelfth 
 
 Street Committee? 
 
 23. On what date and in what year did the Ex- 
 
 ecutive Committee and the Chicago Plan 
 Commission as a whole receive and adopt 
 the Twelfth Street Committee's widening 
 report? 
 
 24. On what date and in what year was there 
 
 a public hearing before the Board of 
 Local Improvements on widening Twelfth 
 Street? 
 
 25. On what date and in what year did the 
 
 Twelfth Street widening ordinance pass 
 the City Council? 
 
 26. How did the vote stand in the City Council 
 
 on the Twelfth Street widening ordi- 
 nance ? 
 
 27. How should the improvement of Twelfth 
 
 Street he designated? 
 
 28. What did the Chicago Plan Commission 
 
 recommend concerning the cost of the im- 
 provement? 
 
 29. What is predicted for Halsted Street as a 
 
 section of the quadrangle? 
 
 30. Next to Michigan Avenue, what is Halsted 
 
 Street selected as being? 
 
 31. Under the Plan of Chicago, how would Hal- 
 
 sted street be improved? 
 
 32. What is the condition of Chicago Avenue as 
 
 a section of the quadrangle? 
 
 33. Next to the quadrangle, what is by far the 
 
 most important idea in the plans for 
 streets? 
 
 34. Name the streets the city is fortunate in 
 
 having as a foundation for the system of 
 diagonal streets. 
 
 35. What is the aim of all the present diagonal 
 
 streets? 
 
 36. What is the effect on the city of the present 
 
 diagonal streets? 
 
 37. What is apparent now as the city's great 
 
 need? 
 
 38. What did the architects find in studying the 
 
 street system of Chicago? 
 
 39. What must be done to give the people on the 
 
 great west side greater freedom in recrea- 
 tion ? 
 
 40. What does the Plan of Chicago, when com- 
 
 pleted, provide in its complete system of 
 diagonal streets? 
 
 41. Describe the route of two great diagonal 
 
 streets proposed by the architects in the 
 Plan of Chicago. 
 
 42. What is the length of the first of these 
 
 streets, and what is its function? 
 
 43. What is the length of the second of these 
 
 streets, and what is its function? 
 
 44. How many neiv diagonal streets are pro- 
 
 posed for the north side besides the one 
 previously mentioned ? 
 
 45. State the length and describe in their or- 
 
 der the routes of the four new diagonal 
 streets proposed for the north side. 
 
 46. State the length and describe in their order 
 
 the routes of the two new diagonal streets 
 proposed for the west side. 
 
114 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 47. State the length and describe in their order 
 
 the routes of the four new diagonal 
 streets to connect the south and west sides. 
 
 48. What is contemplated in finishing the street 
 
 transformation plans ? 
 
 49. What does the Plan of Chicago provide to 
 
 connect the various parts of Chicago with 
 each other, with the center of the city and 
 with the outlying sections? 
 
 50. What proportion of a system of outer road- 
 
 ways now exists? 
 
 51. Name in their order the towns connected by 
 
 outer highway or circle No. 1. 
 
 52. Name in their order the towns connected by 
 
 outer highway or circle No. 2. 
 
 53. Name in their order the towns connected by 
 
 outer highway or circle No. 3. 
 
 54. What does the Chicago Plan Commission 
 
 propose to do to secure the connecting 
 links of these three outer highways, 
 amounting to about 5 per cent? 
 
CONNECTING BOULEVARD LINK— MICHIGAN AVE. 
 
 115 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 CONNECTING BOULEVARD 
 LINK-MICHIGAN AVENUE 
 
 Michigan avenue — a section of the quad- 
 rangle — it was found, is really the base 
 
 line of the city 's traffic. A great develop- 
 ment of this avenue is proposed, to malie it 
 a great, wide street skirting the entire front 
 of the city. This means widening the ave- 
 nue from Eandolph street to connect with 
 Lincoln Park drive at Ohio street, and the 
 construction of a wide, roomy concrete via- 
 duct and bridge across the river. The 
 
 
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 W ■' ' 
 
 
 
 CHICAGO. Proposed Boulevard to Connect the North and South Sides of the River, 
 View Looking isTorth from Washington Street. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
116 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 bridge is to be a double deck, bascule struc- 
 ture, the upper deck for carriages and au- 
 tomobiles and the lower one for heavy traf- 
 fic, with wide sidewalks above and below 
 for pedestrians. Arrangements would Jse 
 made to have east and west traffic of all 
 kinds in the busy section near the river 
 pass through this viaduct at about street 
 grade. 
 
 There is to be a gradual grade the en- 
 tire width of the street from building line 
 to building line, starting from Randolph 
 street, reaching a maximum height of six- 
 teen and one-half feet above street level 
 at the river crossing, then a gradual de- 
 scent to Ohio street. This grade will be 
 no more perceptible than is Jackson boule- 
 vard at the river. The grades suggested 
 are less than those existing on Fifth 
 J avenue. New York. Imagine standing at 
 the intersection of Randolph street and 
 Michigan avenue and being able to follow 
 with the eye the straightened course of that 
 magnificent widened thoroughfare direct to 
 Lincoln Park, where it would end in the 
 lake at the intersection of Bellevue place. 
 
 The completion of the North and South 
 boulevard system with this connecting link 
 as shown in the cut on page 115 would give 
 Chicago the most magnificent thoroughfare 
 in the world. The estimated cost of this 
 work is less than six million dollars; the 
 value of its realization is inestimable. If 
 there is one phase of the Plan of Chicago 
 that every citizen should demand, it is the 
 building of this connecting link. Its value 
 as a Chicago asset would attract interna- 
 tionally wide attention. Property A^alues in 
 the immediate section of this proposed im- 
 provement would be tremendously en- 
 hanced. Indirectly the benefit would be to 
 the whole city, even to those of our citizens 
 living in far remote sections. 
 Attractiveness is a community asset 
 
 shared in by all. It is not believed that 
 there can be any serious objection on the 
 part of any citizen, either directly or indi- 
 rectly affected, to an improvement so 
 palpably in the interests of all as the com- 
 pletion of the boulevard link as proposed. 
 
 ' * Michigan avenue is more than the main 
 connecting thoroughfare between the north 
 and south sides;" as has been well said, 
 "it is the great plaisance for office build- 
 ings, hotels, clubs, theatres, music halls, 
 and shops of the first order, lining the west- 
 ern side of the avenue. So desirable has 
 property become, that the extension of it 
 to the north must enhance the value of the 
 abutting real estate, because of the in- 
 creased opportunities for continuing the 
 building of structures of the highest class." 
 Tlie property owners there should be the 
 first to recognize their opportunity and co- 
 operate to the fullest extent in this great- 
 est of all needed street improvements. 
 
 "Michigan avenue is destined to carry 
 the heaviest movement of any street in the 
 world. Any improvement for this thor- 
 oughfare which does not recognize its im- 
 portance will be a waste of money and 
 energy and an error of the first magni- 
 tude." Michigan avenue north of Randolph 
 street is now 66 feet wide. 
 
 The Mayor of Chicago in 1904 was one of 
 the very first advocates of the boulevard 
 connection. On May 16th of that year he 
 sent a letter to the City Council asking 
 the appointment of a special committee to 
 take up the question with the South Park 
 Board and the Lincoln Park Board, also 
 with the directly interested property own- 
 ers to learn whether a practical scheme for 
 accomplishing this boulevard connection 
 could not be devised and forwarded. Au- 
 thority was granted the Mayor and the spe- 
 cial committee was duly appointed. On 
 February 6, 1905, this committee submitted 
 
CONNECTING BOULEVARD LINK— MICHIGAN AVE. 
 
 117 
 
 a report recommending an order providing 
 that the Board of Local Improvements pre- 
 pare and submit to the City Council an 
 ordinance for condemnation of property ly- 
 ing between Michigan avenue and Central 
 court, and between Eandolph street and the 
 river ; for condemnation of property on the 
 west side of Pine street to make it possible 
 to construct a street 125 feet wide and to 
 bring the southern extremity of street oppo- 
 site the north end of Michigan avenue; 
 after said avenue had been widened for the 
 construction of a bridge to connect these 
 streets and for payment of improvement by 
 special assessment, which in judgment of 
 committee should embrace the entire city of 
 Chicago. Eight real estate experts were ap- 
 pointed to appraise the value of land and 
 buildings.- The full committee finally unani- 
 mously recommended the plan suggested by 
 the Mayor as one of the greatest and most 
 immediate needs of the City of Chicago. 
 Legal steps in the judgment of the commit- 
 tee would necessarily take a long time, as 
 would also the work of construction. They 
 therefore recommended that the Council 
 without delay secure the passage of the 
 necessary ordinance to begin the work. The 
 order was passed February 16, 1905. Up to 
 the very close of the Mayor's administra- 
 tion he urged action on the matter by the 
 Board of Local Improvements. During the 
 administrations of succeeding Mayors, 
 1906-7 and 1907-11, the case was up repeat- 
 edly before their respective Boards, and at 
 various periods dates were set for a public 
 hearing, but little progress was made, ow- 
 ing to objections and counter plans con- 
 stantly being submitted from property 
 owners and others. 
 
 It seemed quite a remarkable coincidence, 
 after all these years, that the Mayor who 
 first advocated the boulevard connection 
 should again have the opportunity through 
 
 his re-election in 1911 to take up this great 
 improvement where he left off upon his re- 
 tirement from office in 1905. Meanwhile, as 
 we know, the Chicago Plan Commission had 
 been appointed and within two months 
 after the Mayor's election the Commis- 
 sion's Executive Committee invited him to 
 inspect its plans for the boulevard link. 
 After a careful study of these the Mayor 
 declared himself in favor of an elevated 
 roadway, departing from his original idea, 
 which provided for the connecting link to 
 be built at grade level. On July 6, 1911, the 
 Executive Committee of the Chicago Plan 
 Commission unanimously decided to lay be- 
 fore the Mayor a definite plan for the boule- 
 vard link providing for an elevated struc- 
 ture from Eandolph street to Ohio street, 
 to run from building line to building line ; 
 Michigan avenue to be widened from 66 feet 
 to 130 feet from Eandolph street north to 
 the river, terminating in a plaza at the river 
 222 feet wide, 64 feet to be taken from the 
 east side of Michigan avenue ; north of the 
 river the plan provided for widening Pine 
 street to 146 feet by taking the necessary 
 land from the west side of the street, from 
 Chicago avenue to Michigan street, there to 
 terminate in a plaza approximately 250 feet 
 wide; grade of street from Eandolph to 
 Lake street, 2.7 per cent; grade of street 
 from Ohio to Indiana street, 3 per cent ; the 
 distance between these two points to be 
 practically level ; the roadway at the Ohio 
 street corner to be raised 3 feet; Lake 
 street and Michigan street to be lowered 3 
 feet ; South Eiver street gently graded to 
 bridge approaches ; North Eiver street gen- 
 tly graded to bridge approaches; lUinois 
 street at Pine street to be lowered 4 feet ; 
 Indiana street at Pine street to be lowered 
 3 feet ; a double-deck bridge to be built over 
 the river ; approach to lower deck of bridge 
 for teaming south of river to be 2.5 per 
 
118 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 cent ; north of river to be 3 per cent instead 
 of approximately 5 per cent as at present ; 
 subdivision of new street soutb of river, 
 east to west, sidewalk 25 feet wide ; road 75 
 feet wide ; sidewalk 30 feet wide ; north of 
 river there will be a central parkway 26 
 feet wide and two roadways on either side 
 thereof, approximately, east to west, side- 
 walks 25 feet wide; roadways 32 1-2 feet 
 each; stairways to be placed for access to 
 
 mission is broadly representative of the 
 entire citizenship of the City of Chicago. 
 Its duty, in brief, is to study the Plan of 
 Chicago and to recommend what part or 
 parts of the plan should be adopted by the 
 city and carried to completion. For six 
 years plans for adequately connecting the 
 North and South sides have been studied, 
 first by committees of the City Council, Eeal 
 Estate Board, Architects, South Park 
 
 Michigan Avenue and Michigan Avenue projected. North and South Connection. Isometric chart. View look- 
 ing down on the street from above, showing cross sections, plazas north and south of the river and double 
 declc structure over the river. 
 
 upper street at the river abutments north 
 and south and at Indiana, Illinois, South 
 Water and Lake streets. This plan was 
 personally endorsed by the Mayor on July 
 7, 1911, and submitted for ratification by 
 the entire Chicago Plan Commission at a 
 meeting held July 10, 1911, at which time it 
 was unanimously adopted as the official 
 plan of the Commission. 
 
 The next step was taken by the city at a 
 piiblic hearing by the Board of Local Im- 
 provements, held in the City Hall, July 12, 
 1911, at which hearing the Commission was 
 represented by its Executive Committee, 
 and the plan submitted to the Board by 
 the Chairman of the Commission, who ad- 
 dressed the Board as follows : 
 
 "I am here as Chairman of the Chicago 
 
 Plan Commission, created by the City 
 
 Council of the City of Chicago, November 
 
 1, 1909. 
 
 ' ' The personnel of the Chicago Plan Corn- 
 
 Board and Lincoln Park Board, Special 
 Council Committees and other prominent 
 citizens, and for the past three years by the 
 Plan Committee of the Commercial Club 
 and the Chicago Plan Commission, to which 
 body the plans were committed for the pur- 
 poses which I have previously indicated. 
 During these six years of study on the wide- 
 ning and projection of Michigan avenue, 
 hundreds of meetings and conferences have 
 been held. Every conceivable sort of a plan 
 has been considered and all manner of ex- 
 pert data and testimony introduced and 
 carefully weighed. During all that time 
 and in the vast research of the organiza- 
 tions named, one plan and only one plan for 
 the connecting link has loomed up as out- 
 topping and overshadowing any other plan 
 or all other plans, as being the only compre- 
 hensive, practical and adequate means for 
 coping with this complex and aggravated 
 question. 
 
CONNECTING BOULEVARD LINK— MICHIGAN AVE. 
 
 119 
 
 ' ' Tlie plan I refer to is the original plan 
 of the Commercial Club, first put out to 
 the public in 1908. This plan is known to the 
 Chicago Plan Commission as Plan No. 1, 
 and provided for the treatment of the pro- 
 posed connecting link from Eandolph street 
 to Chicago avenue by means of two levels 
 and a double deck bridge; and called for 
 the condemnation of all the property east 
 of Michigan avenue and Beaubien court as 
 originally proposed by the Mayor in 1904 ; 
 Michigan avenue to be 246 feet wide south 
 of the river, taking the width from the 
 property on the east side of the street, and 
 to be 216 feet wide north of the river, taking 
 the property for the widening from the 
 west side of Pine street; upper street to 
 stretch from property line to property line 
 both on north and south sides of the river, 
 
 that eighteen public hearings have been 
 scheduled and abandoned by the Board of 
 Local Improvements on this case, and that 
 in fairness to the property interests along 
 the zone of the proposed improvement, 
 which have been seriously menaced during 
 this long agitation and these many delays, 
 that some action would have to be taken by 
 the city at the conclusion of this hearing, 
 the Executive Committee of the Chicago 
 Plan Commission after a series of recent 
 conferences with all interests concerned, 
 met in executive session July 6, 1911, and 
 again reviewed all conditions, plans and 
 objections and voted unanimously in favor 
 of what is known to the Commission as Plan 
 No. 3, to be hereinafter described. 
 
 "At a meeting of the Plan Commission as 
 a whole, held July 10, 1911, a unanimous 
 
 
 ■z^vr:si"^-^.VX-::-3£yA-^y--':^tr:^;iai'iKiaiii'A' 
 
 
 Proposed double deck bridge for north and south boulevard connection Michigan Avenue and Michigan 
 Avenue projected. 
 
 the inclines to upper street to start from 
 Eandolph and Ohio streets; grades of in- 
 cline as follows : Eandolph street to Lake 
 street 2.7 per cent, from Ohio street to Indi- 
 ana street 3.5 per cent; balance of upper 
 street to be practically level. 
 
 "I want to repeat that at all of the de- 
 liberations of the Plan Committee of the 
 Commercial Club and of the Executive 
 Committee of the Chicago Plan Commis- 
 sion there has not been a single dissenting 
 voice to the plan just outlined. It has al- 
 ways and unanimously been declared as the 
 only practical plan. Eealizing, however, 
 
 vote was had, ratifying the action of the 
 Executive Committee in the adoption of 
 Plan No. 3 as being the final plan the Chi- 
 cago Plan Commission would stand for and 
 recommend to your honorable body for 
 adoption and execution. 
 
 "Plan No. 3 provides for widening Mich- 
 igan avenue south of the river from Ean- 
 dolph street to 130 feet ; Pine street north 
 of the river to Chicago avenue to 146 feet ; 
 with plazas approximately 250 feet square 
 at the intersection of the river and both 
 street connections. In other details the plan 
 is practically the same as previously out- 
 
120 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 lined in Plan No. 1. The arguments of the 
 Chicago Plan Commission in favor of a 
 raised street, are as follows : 
 
 ' ' 1. The congestion on the four east and 
 west streets immediately north and south 
 of the river of teaming traffic headed to 
 and from the I. C. freight terminal and the 
 new industrial district north of the river, 
 in connection with the contemplated outer 
 harbor, has produced and will continue to 
 increase a traffic congestion situation un- 
 paralleled in a single section of any city in 
 the world. 
 
 ' ' 2. The plan which is best adapted to im- 
 prove the existing conditions of intolerable 
 congestion at these points, is the plan of a 
 raised street, as it will separate these east 
 
 to 3 per cent, for the benefit of commercial 
 teaming. 
 
 "3. This plan takes into account also the 
 Randolph street viaduct traffic, by diverting 
 it into Beaubien court and distributing it 
 at Lake street under the r'aised street. This 
 plan also will allow the 0. & N. W. E. E. to 
 remain at its present grade, any other plan 
 excepting the railway were lowered to a 
 subway tunnel, would force the teaming 
 north and south over grades altogether too 
 steep, and would shut out the present ap- 
 proaches from North Eiver street and 
 Michigan street to the bridge. 
 
 "4. A surface road south of the river, 
 by reason of the difference in elevations be- 
 tween Michigan avenue and Beaubien court, 
 
 
 
 
 a„?'t¥™™ °^ f^*'?,'"*'' ^"^ 1°"* Boulevard Connection showing width ot street North and South 
 and the zone of the proposed improvement, Indicating ali intersecting thoroughfares. 
 
 of the River 
 
 and west streams of traffic from the north 
 and south traffic on Michigan avenue. 
 
 "Independently of this, it is the only one 
 which improves the grades of existing 
 streets ; by it, are reduced the grades of the 
 east and west streets leading to the Michi- 
 gan Central and the I. C. freight yards and 
 the approaches to the bridge north and 
 south. 
 
 ' ' The grades of the east and west streets 
 are now approximately 4 per cent ; they will 
 be reduced to 2 per cent. Those north and 
 south, now 5 per cent, are to be made 2 1-2 
 
 and the shortening of the run by reason of 
 the widening of Michigan avenue, would 
 produce grades of 10 per cent, which are 
 impossible for teaming. The only alterna- 
 tive would be the lowering of Lake, South 
 Water and Eiver streets as subways. 
 
 "5. In the case of the surface arrange- 
 ment the inclines on the east and west 
 streets would have to extend to Wabash 
 avenue, thus affecting property on either 
 side of these streets to a detrimental extent. 
 
 "In addition to this, the teaming to and 
 from the freight yards, bound for the north 
 
CONNECTING BOULEVARD LINK— MICHIGAN AVE. 
 
 121 
 
 side to the industrial district east of Pine 
 street, would have to cross the State street 
 bridge, thus making a long detour. 
 
 "In the plan as proposed, the grades of 
 the approaches to the raised street are re- 
 duced to the minimum, that on the south 
 side being 2.7 per cent and on the north 
 side 3 per cent. 
 
 "No citizen of Chicago acquainted with 
 the facts can deny that intolerable condi- 
 tions (daily growing worse) exist on Mich- 
 igan avenue from Eandolph street to the 
 Chicago river and north on Eush street 
 from the Chicago river. 
 
 "All citizens of Chicago, and all ac- 
 
 materialize along the lake shore, north and 
 south of the main branch of the Chicago 
 river, the enormous commercial and indus- 
 trial development, already taking place in 
 the district bounded by Chicago avenue on 
 the north, the main branch of the Chicago 
 river on the south, Lake Michigan on the 
 east and the north branch of the Chicago 
 river on the west. 
 
 "It has been well said: 
 
 " 'The heart of Chicago extends from 
 Halsted street to the lake, and from the 
 main branch of the river to Twelfth street. 
 Within a few years, it will spread to Ash- 
 land avenue on the west, Twenty-second 
 
 
 ^^ M ' ^ ^^'r w4^fi -': ^^W^ 
 
 d£r:^-^>fe ,»#4 -- -^ 
 
 y-^®<» --^.t-* J'- ' '^ ~^^.' ■■^. 
 
 Section through Michigan Avenue between Lalte Street and South Water Street looking West, showing 
 raised street with upper and lower levels, with crossings at Lake and South Water Streets. This illustration 
 shows store entrances on upper level directly off the sidewalk, also showing basement entrances on lower or 
 grade level where shipping and heavy teaming will he done. In contemplating this drawing it must be remem- 
 bered buildings have been effaced on the Bast side, the purpose being merely to show to the mind's eye the two 
 levels in operation. 
 
 quainted with the facts, know that some 
 plan for properly connecting the north and 
 south sides of our great city, must be de- 
 veloped and executed at an early date ; that 
 the plan must be a comprehensive one, not 
 sufficient for today alone, but also for the 
 future, and that the plan to be finally ad- 
 opted by your Honorable Board, must take 
 into account the needs of the whole city. 
 Therefore, this proposition has grown to be 
 of such importance to the future welfare of 
 Chicago, that personal interests can no 
 longer be considered. The interests of a 
 few must make way for the interests of the 
 many. This I say, taking into consideration 
 the future harbor developments, sure to 
 
 street on the south and Chicago avenue on 
 the north. This heart of Chicago is badly 
 congested, although most of the buildings 
 within the territory are low. 
 
 ' ' ' Street traffic conditions in this district 
 will become insufferable if the buildings 
 reach the full height permitted by law. That 
 practically all of them will go up to the lim- 
 it, there is little doubt.' Property values 
 will make that imperative. 
 
 "In this connection, remember that no 
 street can ever be widened between Michi- 
 gan avenue and the south branch of the 
 river. 
 
 "In one of our pamphlets we reach the 
 conclusion, and we challenge contradiction 
 
122 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 of the statement, that 'Michigan avenue is 
 probahly destined to carry the heaviest 
 movement of any street in the world. Any 
 boulevard connection in Michigan avenue 
 which fails to recognize the basic import- 
 ance of this street will be a waste of money 
 and energy. Any impairment of the capac- 
 ity of this street, at any point along its en- 
 tire front, and any weakening of this foun- 
 dation, is a grave error of the first magni- 
 tude.' 
 
 "A careful study of our conditions has 
 acquainted us with our needs. "We believe 
 in the future of our great city and we must 
 adequately provide for her needs and assist 
 in securing the adoption of a plan or be 
 held responsible by posterity for our ne- 
 glect. 
 
 "Procrastination marks the beginning of 
 the end. Delay will make the execution of 
 many of the important and now feasible 
 features infeasible, the practical impracti- 
 cal, the possible impossible, the economical 
 extravagant. 
 
 "On the other hand, if these plans for 
 Chicago's betterment are now carried out 
 in a practical and economical manner, the 
 record of the present City administration, 
 including Mayor, City Council and Board 
 of Local Improvements, will become a bea- 
 con light in the history of our great city for 
 the constructive work they were big enough 
 to undertake." 
 
 At the conclusion of this hearing the 
 Board of Local Improvements ordered an 
 estimate to be made on the plan submitted 
 by the Chicago Plan Commission known as 
 Plan No. 3 — arguments to be heard on that 
 plan at a subsequent hearing. 
 
 1. What section of the quadrangle is really the 
 
 base line of the city's traffic? 
 
 2. Why is a great development of Michigan 
 
 Avenue pro-posed? 
 
 3. What does the improvement of Michigan 
 
 Avenue contemplate ? 
 
 4. Describe the bridge. 
 
 5. What arrangements are proposed for east 
 
 and west traffic? 
 
 6. Describe the grade. 
 
 7. What would the completion of the north and 
 
 south connecting link give Chicago? 
 
 8. How does the value of this work compare 
 
 with the estimated cost? 
 
 9. What would the building of the connecting 
 
 link attract? 
 
 10. Who would be benefited? 
 
 11. What is attractiveness in a community? 
 
 12. Why is Michigan Avenue more than the 
 
 main connecting thoroughfare between 
 the north and south sides? 
 
 13. Why will the extension of Michigan Avenue 
 
 to the north enhance the value of abutting 
 real estate? 
 
 14. Who should be the first to recognize their 
 
 opportunity and co-operate in this needed 
 improvement? 
 
 15. What is Michigan Avenue destined to carry? 
 
 16. What does it mean to refuse to recognize the 
 
 importance of this thoroughfare in any 
 improvement? 
 
 17. Who was one of the very first advocates of 
 
 the boulevard connection? 
 
 18. .What did the Mayor ask of the City Coun- 
 
 cil in a letter dated May 16, 1904? 
 
 19. What was the special committee to learn f 
 
 20. On what date and in what year did the spe- 
 
 cial committee submit a report favoring 
 an ordinance for the Michigan Avenue 
 improvement ? 
 
 21. What was the judgment of the committee 
 
 on the payment for the improvement? 
 
 22. What did the full committee, including eight 
 
 real estate experts, finally unanimously 
 recommend, and why? 
 
 23. Why did the Committee recommend that 
 
 the Council without delay secure the pas- 
 sage of the necessary ordinance to begin 
 the work? 
 
 24. What date and year was the order passed? 
 
 25. What did the Mayor do up to the very close 
 
 of his administration? 
 
 26. Why was nothing done to forward the Mich- 
 
 igan Avenue improvement during the suc- 
 ceeding administrations? 
 
 27. What was the coincidence that befell the 
 
 Mayor who first advocated the boulevard 
 connection ? 
 
CONNECTING BOULEVARD LINK— MICHIGAN AVE. 
 
 123 
 
 -38. WJiai did the Chicago Plan Commission's 
 Executive Committee do within two 
 months after the Mayor's election? 
 
 29. What did the Mayor declare himself in favor 
 
 of after a careful study of the Commis- 
 sion's plans? 
 
 30. On what date and in what year did the Ex- 
 
 ecutive Committee of the Chicago Plan 
 Commission lay before the Mayor a defi- 
 nite plan for the boulevard link? 
 
 31. For what did the plan provide? 
 
 32. What is the grade from Randolph to Lake 
 
 Street? From Ohio to Indiana Street? 
 State in order. 
 
 33. What grade is the distance between Lake 
 
 and Indiana Streets to be? 
 
 34. How much is the roadway to be raised at 
 
 Ohio Street? 
 
 35. How much are Lake and Michigan Streets 
 
 to be lowered? 
 
 36. Where are South and North River Streets 
 
 to be gently graded? 
 
 37. How much are Illinois and Indiana Streets 
 
 to be lowered, and where? State in or- 
 der. 
 
 38. What is the style of bridge to be built over 
 
 the river? 
 
 39. What are the grades of teaming approaches 
 
 to the lower deck of the bridge? 
 
 40. What is the subdivision, east to west, of 
 
 new street south of river? 
 
 41. What is the subdivision, east to west, of 
 
 new street north of river? 
 
 42. Where are stairways to be placed for access 
 
 to upper street? 
 
 43. On what date and year did the Mayor per- 
 
 sonally endorse this plan? 
 
 44. On what date and year did the entire Chi- 
 
 cago Plan Commission unanimously adopt 
 this as its official plan? 
 
 45. When did the City of Chicago act in the. 
 
 matter and how ? 
 
 46. Who represented the Chicago Plan Commis- 
 
 sion at the public hearing July 12, 1911? 
 
 47. Who submitted the plan for the Michigan 
 
 Avenue improvement to the Board of 
 Local Improvements at the public hear- 
 ing? 
 
 48. Who did the Chairman of the Chicago Plan 
 
 Commission say had for six years studied 
 plans for adequately connecting the 
 north and south sides? 
 
 49. How many meetings were held during six 
 
 years' study on the widening and projec- 
 tion of Michigan Avenue? 
 
 50. What was considered at these meetings? 
 
 51. During the vast researches of the organiza- 
 
 tion what one plan overshadowed any 
 other? 
 
 52. What provision did the original Plan No. 1 
 
 make for the width of Michigan Avenue 
 south and north of the river? 
 
 53. Where was there not a single dissenting 
 
 voice to original Plan No. 1 ? 
 
 54. On what date and in what year did the Ex- 
 
 ecutive Committee of the Chicago Plan 
 Commission meet and review all condi- 
 tions, plans and suggestions ? 
 
 55. What action was taken at the meeting of 
 
 the Executive Committee of the Chicago 
 Plan Commission July 6, 1911 ? 
 
 56. State in order the arguments of the Chicago 
 
 Plan Commission in favor of a raised 
 street. 
 
 57. What is it that no citizen of Chicago ac- 
 
 quainted with the facts can deny? 
 
 58. What is it that all citizens of Chicago, at all 
 
 acquainted with the facts, know? 
 
 59. What is it that can no longer be considered 
 
 in connection with an adequate plan for 
 the connecting link? 
 
 60. What must make way for the interests of 
 
 the many? 
 
 61. By whom and for what will we be held re- 
 
 sponsible if we do not adequately provide 
 for the needs of the future city? 
 
 62. What is it that marks the beginning of the 
 
 end? 
 
 63. What effect will delay in execution have on 
 
 many of the important features of the 
 plan? 
 
 64. If the plans for Chicago's betterment are 
 
 carried out in a practical and economical 
 manner, what will become a beacon light 
 in the history of our great city? 
 
 65. What action did the Board of Local Im- 
 
 provements take at the conclusion of the 
 public hearing July 12, 1911? 
 
The World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1S93. The Court of 
 Honor, Looking Towards the Peristyle. This View Shows the Effect of 
 an Orderly Arrangement of Buildings and a Uniform Cornice Line. 
 
A PARK SYSTEM FOR CHICAGO 
 
 125 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 A PARK SYSTEM FOR 
 CHICAGO 
 
 Next to convenience and orderliness in 
 its street arrangements the most essential 
 
 have been aptly compared with the lungs 
 of a person, as means by which the city and 
 its people get the stimulus of fresh air so 
 necessary to normal well-being. 
 
 The desire of the people for extensive 
 parks for Chicago has always been mani- 
 fest. When Chicago became a city, in 1837, 
 it chose as its motto Urbs in Horto — a city 
 
 CHICAGO. View Looking Soutli Over the Lagoons of tlie Proposed Lalie Front Park for 
 
 the South Shore. 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 thing in a great city is a sufficient park area. 
 When, therefore, Chicago is cutting new 
 streets and solving her problems of traffic 
 and transportation by that labor, provision 
 ought also to be made for the beautification 
 of the city and the preservation of public 
 health by means of parks. Parks of a city 
 
 set in a garden, and two years later the 
 people set about creating for the city a park 
 system which should justify to the world 
 that description of the city. At that time 
 half a square of land, upon which the Public 
 Library now stands, was all the park area 
 in Chicago. In 1842 Washington Square 
 
126 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OP THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 was added, and subsequently Jefferson, 
 Union, Ellis and Vernon Parks came into 
 being, mostly through the generosity and 
 public spirit of the citizens. 
 
 In 1869 an agitation was begun to connect 
 the parks by boulevards, and thus create a 
 park system. This agitation succeeded, 
 
 cago there are nearly five thousand people 
 to each acre of park space. The average 
 for the entire city is close to one thousand 
 persons to the acre, while for health and 
 good order there should be one acre 
 of park space for each one hundred 
 people. 
 
 CHICAGO. Lake shore from Chicago Avenue on the north to Jackson Park on the south. A general scheme 
 is to he carried as far north as Wilmette. This park, enclosing lagoons for boating, would be a continuous 
 playground for the people and may be built at practically no cost by utilizing the wastage from the city and 
 excavated material. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 and with the addition of Lincoln, Hum- 
 boldt, Garfield, Douglas, Washington and 
 Jackson Parks to the city's open-air areas 
 the park system became the pride of Chi- 
 cago. The adding of large park lands to 
 the city stopped, however, over forty years 
 ago. In 1880 Chicago was the second city 
 in America in park area, being exceeded 
 only by Philadelphia. The city has now 
 dropped to seventh place, however, and 
 when density of population is taken into 
 account our city occupies the thirty-seventh 
 place among American municipalities. At 
 least half the population of Chicago now 
 live more than one mile from any large 
 park, and in the congested sections of Chi- 
 
 Three great elements make up the park 
 plans of the future city under the Plan of 
 Chicago. First, there is the lake front to 
 be improved, beautified and put at the 
 service of the city's millions for the crea- 
 tion and preservation of public health. 
 Second, there is provision to be made for 
 extending the park areas within the city, 
 that wholesome and necessary recreation 
 may be close at hand for the people in all 
 parts of the great future city. Third, 
 there are the wide areas of forest and 
 stream outside of the corporate limits, but 
 upon the borders of the city, to be acquired 
 and held in their natural state as places 
 where the city-worn worker and his family 
 
A PARK SYSTEM FOR CHICAGO 
 
 127 
 
 may rest and wander freely in holiday and 
 vacation time. 
 
 In considering the park plans we may 
 well take up these three elements in the 
 order given, as conditions within the city 
 appear to be such now that the plans can 
 probably be completed easiest in the order 
 named. First attention, then, will be given 
 the plans for the lake front, which form at 
 once one of the great and spectacular fea- 
 tures of the plan, and one easiest to be 
 carried out. 
 
 We have aU heard, perhaps, of the con- 
 ditions years ago when the sewers of the 
 city emptied into the lake, and so poisoned 
 the water supply of Chicago. We over- 
 came that trouble, and sought to secure for 
 Chicago a source of pure water forever by 
 digging, at a cost of $60,000,000, a wide 
 drainage canal running southwesterly from 
 the city and emptying into the Desplaines 
 river, whereby the city's sewage is carried 
 away into the valley of the Illinois river. 
 
 Chicago engaged upon that great work 
 of digging the drainage canal that its citi- 
 zens might, have pure water to drink. It 
 was one of the greatest undertakings ever 
 made by any city, and attracted to Chicago 
 the admiration of all the world. Yet to- 
 iday there is being dumped into the lake off 
 Chicago every year thousands of tons of 
 refuse matter, including street sweepings 
 and dredgings of filth from the bed of the 
 river. This imperils the health of all of 
 us and at the same time proves us a most 
 wasteful people. 
 
 Under the Plan of Chicago for the beau- 
 tification of the lake front, all this refuse 
 matter is to be dumped close to the shore, 
 far from the water intakes and within 
 tightly sealed cofferdams. Islands are 
 thus to be created along the entire water 
 front. These will be planted with trees 
 and gardens and opened to the people as 
 
 parks and playgrounds. There is enough 
 of this waste material now thrown into 
 the lake every year to thus construct one 
 hundred acres of land for parks in the shal- 
 low water along the city's shoreline. It 
 was by that method that our Grant Park 
 of over 200 acres, and worth many millions 
 of dollars, was created for us. 
 
 The City Engineer of Chicago in 1911 
 stated that Chicago, produces an annual 
 total of waste matter close to 4,660,000 
 cubic yards. Of this he figures that prob- 
 ably 3,000,000 cubic yards goes into the 
 lake. This material includes clay from ex- 
 cavations, products of wrecking operations, 
 ashes, cinders, household rubbish, street 
 sweepings, factory refuse, and all manner 
 of waste matter. The Sanitary District 
 within the next several years will make 
 1,330,000 cubic yards of new excavations on 
 its main canal in addition to routine dredg- 
 ings and the spoil from the Calumet Chan- 
 nel. Building operations and other fixed 
 sources of supply show a total that is 
 larger every year. Means of disposal that 
 have been adequate in the past will fail to 
 be in the future. 30,000 cubic yards of 
 waste, according to the City Engineer, will 
 raise one acre five feet above the surface in 
 water fifteen feet deep. At this rate the 
 estimated annual 3,000,000 cubic yards, if it 
 could all be applied, would fiU in each year 
 about 100 acres. It is therefore evident 
 the city furnishes the raw material to build 
 public domain by reclaiming lake area 
 along the shore. City officials. Sanitary 
 District engineers, manufacturers and 
 building contractors all agree they would 
 be saved money if allowed to dispose of 
 waste at convenient points along the lake 
 front. The daily report of the Department 
 of Public Works, Bureau of Streets, of the 
 City of Chicago, on June 26, 1911, cover- 
 ing eight wards, was as follows : 
 
128 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 Ward 
 No. 
 1 .. 
 
 9 
 
 3 .. 
 
 4 .. 
 
 6 .. 
 
 7 .. 
 18 .. 
 21 .. 
 
 Cubic Yards Cubic Yards 
 
 Street Dirt. 
 
 of Ash 
 
 182 
 
 110 
 
 56 
 
 115 
 
 80 
 
 130 
 
 72 
 
 85 
 
 20 
 
 160 
 
 54 
 
 140 
 
 75 
 
 90 
 
 72 
 
 160 
 
 611 990 
 
 At 1, 600 cubic yards a summer day, these 
 eight wards would make a 20-foot fill an 
 acre in extent in about 20 days. The total 
 waste of the city is divided as follows : 
 
 Cubic Yards. 
 
 Dredging 500,000 
 
 Building excavation & wreckage . . 1,500,000 
 
 Ashes and refuse 1,400,000 
 
 Street sweepings 1,000,000 
 
 Tunnel excavations 60,000 
 
 In these figures are included the cinders 
 and ashes produced. According to the 
 Black Diamond, a coal trade publication, 
 Chicago consumes yearly 11,000,000 tons of 
 coal. Taking 10 per cent of this as the ash 
 produced gives a total for the whole city of 
 1,100,000 tons, or 1,700,000 cubic yards of 
 cinders and ashes. Part of tliis is moved 
 in city wagons and part by private means. 
 
 When this work is started Chicago can in 
 five years create upon the lake front land 
 worth at least $20,000,000 in money and of 
 a future value beyond computation. With- 
 in thirty years, expert engineers say, a 
 lake front park system extending for twen- 
 ty miles and worth hundreds of millions 
 can be created from the city's waste. 
 
 In planning the lake front parks the 
 architects took into account the demand 
 of the people for extensive areas of pleas- 
 ure grounds, 'and also the desire of the 
 people to have a place for boating, canoe- 
 
 ing, bathing and other water enjoyments 
 created. They answered this demand in 
 the plans with provisions for islands cov- 
 ering hundreds of acres along the shore, 
 and providing a wide water course stretch- 
 ing for miles along the city's front, this 
 course to be bordered throughout its ex- 
 tent by park lands on either side. 
 
 Beginning at G-rant Park at the center of 
 the city, the plans provide for the filling in 
 first of a wide strip of shore land facing 
 the open lake, this strip to extend solidly 
 to connect with Jackson Park on the south. 
 The strip is to be planted with trees and 
 given informal landscape treatment with 
 flowers and shrubs growing throughout its 
 extent. Along this shore will run the wa- 
 ter course for small craft, for sailboats, 
 motor boats, canoes and racing shells. 
 Beyond the water course, built to protect 
 it and provide safety and shelter forever 
 to pleasure craft, will be a long island 
 planted with trees, having winding walks 
 and driveways, and providing frequent 
 bathing beaches for the city's summer 
 multitudes. 
 
 At the northern terminus of the long 
 island park protecting the south shore, 
 which will be at the foot of Twelfth street, 
 are to be great refectories and extensive 
 boat houses. At that point will be one 
 entrance to the main harbor of Chicago, 
 and therefore a giant lighthouse and life 
 saving station will be there. On the main 
 shore, in the mile of park land between 
 Twenty-second and Twelfth streets, is to 
 be a wide athletic ground, with a base- 
 ball field, a rimning track, tennis courts 
 and football fields. A stadium is to be 
 built for all kinds of athletic contests, and 
 a great public gymnasium will be erected. 
 
 Northward from the athletic field of the 
 main shore and the refectories and boat- 
 houses of the island terminus will stretch 
 
A PARK SYSTEM FOR CHICAGO 
 
 129 
 
 the magnificent main harbor of Chicago. 
 Two curving breakwaters will extend into 
 the lake, defending the harbor for all time 
 and defying the mightiest of storms. Be- 
 tween the ends 
 of these pro- 
 tecting arms 
 will pass and 
 repass the 
 greatest vessels 
 ofthelakes. 
 For over a 
 mile, or from 
 Twelfth street 
 to Washington 
 street, the har- 
 bor will be set 
 off by the beau- 
 ties of Grant 
 Park. 
 
 At the north- 
 e r n extremity 
 of the main 
 harbor will be a 
 circle of piers 
 from which the 
 passenger car- 
 rying boats of 
 the lakes will 
 make their sail- 
 ings. The piers, 
 to be upon an 
 island to be 
 built in the 
 lake, are to be 
 reached by 
 street cars and 
 carriages b y 
 way of a com- 
 modious bridge 
 opposite the foot of Eandolph street. A 
 yacht harbor is to be provided off Jackson 
 Park, where the water is quite shallow, by 
 the creation of an encircling line of island 
 
 CHICAGO. Plan of a paik proposed on the main Bast-and-West 
 axis of the city at Congress Street and Fifty-second Avenue. 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 parks a mile or more off shore, and enclos- 
 ing a basin a mile wide and nearly two 
 miles long. 
 
 In the district from the mouth of the 
 
 river north to 
 Chicago avenue 
 the lake front 
 is to be im- 
 proved by crea- 
 tion of a large 
 island wharfing 
 system. There 
 will dock the 
 lake steamers 
 devoted to mis- 
 cellaneous 
 trade and gen- 
 eral commerce. 
 There, too, the 
 ships in the 
 vegetable and 
 fruit trade 
 across the lake 
 will discharge 
 their cargoes, 
 and reload with 
 Chicago manu- 
 factures for 
 use of people at 
 the other ends 
 of their routes. 
 An open water- 
 w a y between 
 the wharves 
 and shore will 
 serve for pas- 
 sage of all 
 craft desiring 
 either to enter 
 the river or 
 traverse the passage between the south and 
 north park systems. 
 
 To the northward of Chicago avenue the 
 lake front plans vary in detail from the 
 
130 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 soutli shore plan. The islands will be built 
 a little farther off shore. The lagoon 
 skirtiag the shore will be narrower, bnt will 
 continue unbroken and giving protection 
 for small craft until it connects with the 
 yacht harbor and park already established 
 at Wilmette, which is over twenty miles 
 distant from Jackson Park. At that point 
 begins the north channel of the drainage 
 district, which canal now cuts through 
 Evanston and connects with the north 
 branch of Chicago river at the city 's north- 
 ern limits. 
 
 Throughout this twenty miles of lake 
 front parks there will be frequent ways of 
 access to the islands. Every half mile, 
 perhaps, there will be a wide bridge arch- 
 ing gracefully across the lagoons and wa- 
 terways, inviting the people to recreation 
 and rest upon the cool, airy, tree-shaded 
 islands. There will be unlimited relief from 
 the summer's heat for the city's millions 
 and the city's guests, and in winter unlim- 
 ited enjoyment of all outdoor sports upon 
 the frozen surfaces of the lake waterways. 
 
 As a side feature of the liake front plans 
 it is proposed to drive a winding canal 
 through the Midway Plaisance on the south 
 side, connecting the lagoons of Jackson 
 and Washington Parks. Boulevards would 
 skirt this waterway, by which pleasure 
 craft could make their way far into the 
 heart of the residence section of the city. 
 The earth removed in this work could be 
 used in constructing the islands in the lake 
 nearby. 
 
 The second element in park development 
 for the future Chicago aims to create new 
 parks upon a scale in accordance with the 
 needs of the city, and after a fashion to ex- 
 press the size, wealth and importance of 
 Chicago. Considering the shape of the 
 city, the location of the great body of its 
 citizens, the direction of future growth, the 
 
 manner of laying out the streets and boule- 
 vards, and all other conditions affecting 
 park plans, it was decided that the Plan of 
 Chicago should provide three large city 
 parks. There is to be one in each section 
 of the city, and the plan is to connect the 
 three by a boulevard which in its scope and 
 character will give the Chicago park sys- 
 tem world-wide distinction. 
 
 Because of the great number of people 
 living on the west side-, and because in cre- 
 ating an ideal street system the west side 
 was the most important factor, it was de- 
 cided to give to. that side of the city the 
 largest single park in Chicago, and make 
 that park the center of the future city's 
 park system. The park system, as planned, 
 bears more perfect relations to the rest 
 of the future city than do the parks of 
 any other city in the world. 
 
 As the street system has been planned, 
 the main east-and-west axis of the future 
 Chicago is to be in Congress street. It is 
 upon that thoroughfare, then, that the 
 great west side park has been projected. 
 The park, as planned, is to be more than 
 two miles long and approximately three- 
 quarters of a mile wide. It will contain, 
 approximately, 1,000 acres. Its eastern ex- 
 tremity is to be in Fiftieth avenue, and it 
 will extend west to beyond Sixty-fourth 
 avenue. The park is rectangular in shape. 
 
 The south side park, as projected, is to 
 cover the square mile of territory bounded 
 on the east and west by South Western and 
 South Kedzie avenues, and on the north 
 and south by Garfield boulevard and Sixty- 
 third street. It will include, also, 150 or 
 more acres of land lying to the north and 
 east of the square, making the total area 
 of the projected park about 800 acres. 
 There are very few buildings at present 
 upon this great tract. 
 
 The north side park, as projected, is to 
 
A PARK SYSTEM FOR CHICAGO 
 
 131 
 
 be of about the same size as that on the 
 south side, but of slightly different shape. 
 The territory selected for this park is 
 bounded on the east and west by North 
 "Western avenue and Whipple street, three- 
 quarters of a mile apart. Its north boun- 
 dary is Lawrence avenue, and its south 
 boundary is to be south of Irving Park 
 boulevard, making the park something over 
 a mile in its 
 north and 
 south dimen- 
 s i n. The 
 park is to in- 
 elude, also, 
 some terri- 
 tory lying 
 south of Irv- 
 in g Park 
 b u 1 e vard 
 a n d 1 h e r 
 territory t o 
 the eastward 
 of North 
 Western av- 
 enue. 
 
 To connect 
 the three 
 p a r ks the 
 a r c h i t ects 
 have project- 
 ed a great 
 curving 
 b o u 1 e vard. 
 This is to be 
 a very wide 
 thoroughfare, drawn as though it were part 
 of the border of a great circle having its 
 center at South Halsted and West Cong- 
 ress streets, where is planned the civic 
 center of the future city. Beginning at 
 Garfield boulevard, within the great south 
 side park, the boulevard swings in an arc 
 northward and westward. 
 
 CHICAGO, 
 field Boulevard, 
 
 It reaches its 
 
 western extremity within the west side 
 park at Fifty-second avenue and swings 
 eastward and northward, terminating 
 within the north side park at Irving Park 
 boulevard. Western avenue lies in a 
 straight line for eleven miles between the 
 ends of this sweeping, bow-shaped boule- 
 vard. The great way itself is over thir- 
 teen miles from end to end. 
 
 <* The acqui- 
 
 sition of the 
 n e c e s s ary 
 ground and 
 creation o f 
 these three 
 p a r ks and 
 the bow 
 b u 1 e V ard 
 would a p- 
 p r oximately 
 double the 
 area of Chi- 
 cago 's s y s- 
 tem of larger 
 parks. If 
 this were to 
 be done to- 
 day Chicago 
 would be on- 
 ly on an even 
 basis as to 
 park area 
 with the most 
 pro gressive 
 cities. This 
 much park 
 extension work is necessary even now, and 
 much more than this must be done by way 
 of creating small park areas within the 
 city as the population of Chicago increases. 
 No single park plan ever undertaken by 
 any city, however, is as pretentious, bold 
 and inspiring as is this plan for the three 
 large parks for Chicago, and to adopt the 
 
 Plan of a park proposed at Western Boulevard 
 being an extension of Gage Park. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 and Gar- 
 
132 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 plan and develop such a park system 
 would give us of today world-wide fame as 
 city builders. 
 
 Modern cities have learned that they 
 must not confine their park land projects 
 to their own limits, but must go beyond 
 them and out into the open country to pro- 
 vide recreation areas for their people. 
 Every European capital has its forest 
 parks outside of its limits, but within easy 
 reach of its people. Thus in summer Lon- 
 don, Paris, Berlin and Vienna are on Sun- 
 days desert- 
 ed by their 
 millions, the 
 people d i s - 
 p e r s i ng to 
 the p en 
 country park 
 lands and the 
 f res ts set 
 aside for 
 their use and 
 enjoy ment 
 forever. In 
 this country 
 other cities, 
 notably New 
 York in its 
 acquirement 
 of the pictur- 
 esque country along the Hudson river, are 
 acquiring outer territory for park piir- 
 poses. 
 
 Thus it has been that in the creation of 
 the Plan of Chicago means of securing for- 
 est places for the people have been pro- 
 vided. No more beautiful country exists 
 than the wooded territory surrounding 
 Chicago on all sides. Much of this land 
 can be acquired now at small cost, and a 
 great part of the investment would begin 
 at once returning to Chicago in the in- 
 creased health and happiness of her peo- 
 
 CHICAGO. Plan of a park proposed at the North Branch of the Chi- 
 cago River and Graceland Avenue. 
 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 pie miTch more every year than the cost of 
 securing it for the use of the people. 
 
 The spaces to be acquired should be wild 
 forests, filled with such trees, vines, flowers 
 and shrubs as will grow in this climate. 
 Country roads and paths should be run 
 through them and the people should be al- 
 lowed and encouraged to use them freely. 
 Provisional search has resulted in plans 
 for setting aside five reserves for public 
 forests. 
 The largest of these forest tracts select- 
 ed is that of 
 the S k k i e 
 valley, com- 
 prising about 
 8,000 acres, 
 lying to the 
 northward of 
 Chicago, and 
 extend ing 
 back from 
 G 1 e n c oe to 
 include the 
 valley of Chi- 
 c a g o river, 
 s t r e t c liing 
 southerly in- 
 to the limits 
 of the city. 
 To the 
 northwest it is proposed to secure for the 
 use of the people a large part of the Des- 
 plaines river valley, these reserves extend- 
 ing southward along the entire western 
 edge of the city, and including some most 
 beautiful water courses. 
 
 Still further westward the better part of 
 the Elmhurst and Salt Creek country, 
 which is wild, rough and full of natural 
 scenic beauties, has been selected as proper 
 territory to retain for the continued use of 
 the people of future Chicago. 
 
 To the southwestward the Plan of Chi- 
 
A PARK SYSTEM FOR CHICAGO 
 
 133 
 
 cago looks to securing wide areas along 
 the Desplaines river, and in the vicinity of 
 Mount Forest, where the country is high 
 and wooded, and affords some fine views. 
 
 The Lake Calumet country, much of it 
 within the city limits, is considered as af- 
 fording most desirable territory to acquire 
 for forests for the people. This reserve, 
 lying upon the edge of the great southern 
 steel and industrial section of the city, 
 would be highly desirable as affording to 
 the workers of that section opportunities 
 for healthful rest and recreation. 
 
 In the period of less than a century that 
 modern man has been permitted to enjoy 
 the delights of city life and have the many 
 comforts that community existence pro- 
 vides, he has learned that great danger to 
 mankind lurks in the existence of cities. 
 City life is an intense life, many times more 
 wearing upon the nerves than country life. 
 It is this strain of city life which increases 
 insanity and brings weaknesses of many 
 kinds to shorten life and deprive the peo- 
 ple of their vigor. There is only one way 
 known by which a community may lessen 
 these ills or do away with them, and that 
 is by increasing park areas and by creating 
 conditions which invite the people to an 
 athletic, out-of-doors life. 
 
 To upbuild Chicago, to enable her to keep 
 her place in commerce and to grow in pow- 
 er in the modern stressful warfare of trade, 
 it is necessary above all else to maintain 
 and increase the vigor of her people. The 
 only way to do this, and' the best way to 
 do it, is to bear constantly in mind the ne- 
 cessity and wisdom of always and active- 
 ly working in behalf of the park projects 
 contained in the Plan of Chicago. 
 
 1. What is the most essential thing in a great 
 
 city, next to convenience and orderliness 
 in its street arrangement? 
 
 2. When Chicago is cutting new streets and 
 
 solving her problems of traffic and trans- 
 portation, what other provision ought also 
 to he made? 
 
 3. How have parks of a city been aptly com- 
 
 pared with the lungs of a person? 
 
 4. In what year were Washington Square and 
 
 Jefferson, Union, Ellis and Vernon Parks 
 created? 
 
 5. In what year was an agitation begun to con- 
 
 nect the parks by boulevards and thus 
 create a park system? 
 
 6. What parks were added to the city's open 
 
 air areas, making the park system the 
 pride of Chicago? 
 
 7. In what year was Chicago second in park 
 
 area and what city exceeded her? 
 
 8. To what place has Chicago now dropped in 
 
 park area? 
 
 9. How far do half the people of Chicago now 
 
 live from any large park ? 
 
 10. How many people are there in the congested 
 
 sections of Chicago to each acre of park 
 space ? 
 
 11. What is the average population of the entire 
 
 city io each acre of park space ? 
 
 12. For health and good order how many people 
 
 should there be to each acre of park 
 space ? 
 
 13. What three great elements make up the park 
 
 plans' of the future city under the Plan 
 of Chicago? State in order. 
 
 14. Why should first attention be given to the 
 
 plans for the lake front? 
 
 15. Why did, Chicago years ago spend $60,000,- 
 
 000 digging a wide drainage canal, emp- 
 tying from the lake into the Desplaines 
 River? 
 
 16. What is being dumped into the lake off Chi- 
 
 cago every year? 
 
 17. What is io take place under the Plan of 
 
 Chicago for the beautification of the lake 
 front? 
 
 18. What is to be created in this manner? 
 
 19. How many acres of land can be created 
 
 every year from waste material for parks 
 on the lake front? 
 
 20. How much waste matter did the City Engi- 
 
 neer of Chicago say, in 1911, Chicago pro- 
 duces annually? 
 
 21. How much of this goes into the lake? 
 
 22. What does this waste material include? 
 
 23. How many cubic yards of new excavation 
 
 will the Sanitary District make in the 
 next several years on its main canal? 
 
 24. According to the City Engineer, how many 
 
 cubic yards of waste will raise one acre 
 
134 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 five feet above the surface in water fifteen 
 feet deep? 
 
 25. what is it evident that the city furnishes? 
 
 26. How do city officials, Sanitary District en- 
 
 gineers, manufacturers and building con- 
 tractors all agree they will save money? 
 
 27. How is the total waste of the city divided? 
 
 28. WJiat is the number of cubic yards of cin- 
 
 ders and ashes produced each year by the 
 city's consumption of coal? 
 
 29. How is this moved? 
 
 30. What will be the value of the land Chicago 
 
 can create upon the lake front in five 
 years? 
 
 31. what do expert engineers say can be cre- 
 
 ated from the city's waste within thirty 
 years? 
 
 32. What did the architects take into account in 
 
 planning the lake front parks? 
 
 33. How did they answer this demand in the 
 
 plans? 
 
 34. Where do the plans provide for the filling in- 
 
 first of a wide strip of shore land facing 
 the open lake? 
 
 35. What will run along this shore ? 
 
 36. What will be built beyond the water course 
 
 to protect it and provide safety and shel- 
 ter forever to pleasure craft? 
 
 37. What will be located at the northern termi- 
 
 nus of the long park at the foot of Twelfth 
 Street? 
 
 38. What is to be located on the main shore in 
 
 the mile of park land between Twenty- 
 second and Twelfth Streets? 
 
 39. What will extend northward from the ath- 
 
 letic field on the main shore ? 
 
 40. What will be situated at the northern ex- 
 
 tremity of the main harbor? 
 
 41. Where are the piers to be built, and how will 
 
 they be reached? 
 
 42. What is to be provided off Jackson Park 
 
 where the water is quite shallow ? 
 
 43. How is the lake front to be improved in the 
 
 district from the mouth of the river north 
 to Chicago Avenue? 
 
 44. What steamers will dock at the wharves in 
 
 the harbor between the Chicago Biver and 
 Chicago Avenue? 
 
 45. How do the lake front plans vary in detail, 
 
 from the south shore plans to the north- 
 ward of Chicago Avenue? 
 
 46. How will the people benefit from the parks 
 
 along the lake shore? 
 
 47. What does the second element in park, de- 
 
 velopment for the future Chicago aim to 
 create? 
 
 48. What was decided in the plans after con- 
 
 sidering the shape of the city, location of 
 its great body of citizens, direction of 
 future growth and all other conditions? 
 
 49. Where are the three large new parks to be 
 
 located and how connected? 
 
 50. Why was it decided to give the west side the 
 
 largest single park in Chicago and make 
 that park the center of the future city's 
 park system? 
 
 51. What relation does the park system, as 
 
 planned bear to the rest of the future city? 
 
 52. Why is the great west side park planned to 
 
 be located on Congress Street? 
 
 53. Describe the proposed Congress Street Park. 
 
 54. Describe the south side park as proposed. 
 
 55. Describe the north side park as proposed. 
 
 56. What have the architects projected to con- 
 
 nect the three parks? 
 
 57. Describe the curving connecting boulevard, 
 
 beginning with the great south side park. 
 
 58. What is the relation of Western Avenue to 
 
 this sweeping bow-shaped boulevard? 
 
 59. What would the acquisition of these three 
 
 parks and the bow boulevard add to Chi- 
 cago 's park area and where would it place 
 Chicago in relation to the park area of 
 other cities? 
 
 60. What have modern cities learned that they 
 
 must do to provide recreation areas for 
 their people? 
 
 61. What does every European capital have 
 
 within easy reach of its people but out- 
 side of its limits? 
 
 62. What do the people of London, Paris, Berlin 
 
 and Vienna do on Sundays in Summer? 
 
 63. Where is New York acquiring outer terri- 
 
 tory for park purposes? 
 
 64. Describe the territory surrounding Chicago 
 
 procurable for forest parks. 
 
 65. Describe the sort of spaces that should le 
 
 acquired for forest reserve purposes. 
 
 66. What has provisional search resulted in? 
 
 67. Describe the five proposed forest reserves, in 
 
 their order. 
 
 68. What has modern man learned of city life in 
 
 a period of less than a century? 
 
 69. How is city life different from country life? 
 
 70. What is the only way known by which a 
 
 city may lessen these ills or do away with 
 them? 
 
 71. What is necessary to upbuild Chicago and 
 
 enable her to keep her place in commerce 
 and to grow in power in the modern 
 stressful warfare of trade? 
 
 72. State the only^ way for Chicago to increase 
 
 and maintain the vigor of her people. 
 
CREATING A CIVIC CENTER 
 
 135 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 CREATING A CIVIC CENTER 
 
 In becoming the second city of the United 
 States in population, Chicago has not until 
 now taken any account of unity, or of cen- 
 tralizing its governmental acti\dties. First 
 there was the settlement about Fort Dear- 
 
 cago. Finally Chicago spread out until 
 these villages were swallowed up within 
 the city, giving up their little local gov- 
 ernments and becoming districts of Chi- 
 cago itself. 
 
 In this process by which Chicago ab- 
 sorbed its neighboring towns and villages 
 there was no planning for the creation of a 
 center. Instead of creating a great unified 
 
 CHICAGO View looking west, of the proposed civic center, plaza and buildings, showing it as the center 
 of the system of arteries of circulation and of the surrounding country. 
 oi ^ne sybicm ui clilc b [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 born, then the extension of the village to 
 cover a square mile or so. While this was 
 in progress at the heart of affairs nearby 
 farm centers grew into little settlements. 
 Township governments were established, 
 and in each township a village came into 
 beino-. Chicago grew toward these villages 
 in all directions, and the villages extended 
 their streets and settlements toward Chi- 
 
 city, therefore, we built up one by grouping 
 to,gether numerous adjoining towns. By 
 good fortune, these towns and villages were 
 so laid out that for the most part their 
 streets blended well with the street sys- 
 tem of Chicago, and so we do not notice, 
 in going about the city, that Chicago is 
 really the result of patching several towns 
 together. 
 
136 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 Chicago has now reached a development 
 that assures an almost limitless future in 
 population and business. The time has 
 come then, to create in Chicago a civic cen- 
 ter. We ought to bring together in one 
 place the agencies by which the city is gov- 
 erned, and to express there the pride and 
 spirit of the people of the city by the erec- 
 tion of imposing buildings. In this work 
 we should spare no expense of labor or 
 money, for, in it we will be constructing for 
 the view of the whole world great monu- 
 ments to ourselves and to our city. In it 
 we will be providing for eternal fame for 
 our city, such as Rome enjoys today he- 
 cause of the majesty of her Forum and 
 Athens because of the beauty of the Acrop- 
 olis. 
 
 The creation of this center, giving life to 
 the spirit of unity in the city, is one of the 
 great ends to be attained through the Plan 
 of Chicago. The architects, in drawing 
 their plans for the parks, for the harbors, 
 for even the most remote street yet to be 
 developed within the limits of the future 
 city, bore always in their minds the ideal 
 of uniting all elements of the city, and giv- 
 ing this ideal forni and substance through 
 the civic center. 
 
 Cities, in their growth, follow always the 
 line of least resistance. The center of a 
 city moves always in the direction toward 
 which trade and commerce flow easiest. 
 Thus it has been with Chicago. The first 
 settlement was at the mouth of the river. 
 Trade in the early days followed that wa- 
 ter course inland. The chief settlements 
 were to the southwestward, dotting the 
 course of the Illinois river and running 
 into the vallej^ of the Mississippi. This 
 turned the current of commerce to the 
 southwest, and as the city's trade has 
 grown in that direction the flow of indus- 
 try and population has followed. The cen- 
 
 ter of population of the city, which was 
 within the Fort Dearborn stockade in 
 the beginning, has now moved south- 
 westward to a point near the intersection 
 of South Halsted and West Twelfth 
 streets. 
 
 In selecting a place for the building of 
 the civic center of the Chicago of the fu- 
 ture, the architects were forced to give 
 great weight to this constant southwest- 
 ward tendency of the city. Considering, 
 however, that in late years this movement 
 of the center has npt been so rapid, and 
 considering, too, that the business center 
 of Chicago is fairly well established for all 
 time, it was decided that the best site to 
 select for the civic center was at South 
 Halsted and West Congress streets, and it 
 is there, when the Plan of Chicago has been 
 carried out in detail, that the city will have 
 its seat of government. 
 
 In planning for the future of the city 
 much consideration was given to Congress 
 street. Firstly, it coincides substantially 
 Avith the center of the business district as 
 it will be when the present loop district is 
 extended to Twelfth street. It is also 
 about equally distant from Twenty-second 
 street and Chicago avenue, which are to 
 be highly developed under the Plan of Chi- 
 cago. It is a disconnected street now, and 
 so could be completed at comparatively 
 small cost, and as the buildings upon it 
 within the distript where widening is pro- 
 posed are not as expensive as those in 
 other streets another economy in the work 
 would result. Its opening would create, in 
 combination with Harrison and Van Buren 
 streets, a trii)le set of traffic ways at the 
 center. 
 
 It has been seen how, under the Plan of 
 Chicago, a large number of the new di- 
 agonal streets planned will center at the 
 crossing of South Halsted and Congress 
 
CREATING A CIVIC CENTER 
 
 137 
 
 liilllll 
 
 inanriii 
 
 iS^III 
 
 ||i|Si|"B 
 
 streets. The aim of this arrangement is 
 two-fold : to provide on the one hand direct 
 ways of reaching the city's future center, 
 and on the other hand to open to the daily 
 view of a million or 
 more people and 
 give architectural 
 prominence to the 
 magnificent city 
 buildings planned to 
 he grouped together 
 at the civic center. 
 The buildings to 
 be placed in the civic 
 center naturally fall 
 into three divisions, 
 \ those for the City of 
 ^Chicago holding the 
 j principal place, ac- 
 companied by the 
 ; buildings of Cook 
 County and the Fed- 
 eral Government. A 
 wide square or tri- 
 angle, including 
 from ten to twenty 
 acres, perhaps, can 
 be swept of build- 
 ings now existing at 
 'the Congress street 
 I crossing of Halsted 
 street. There, at the 
 end of all the con- 
 verging streets, can 
 be built the City 
 Hall. In this struc- 
 ture the aim will be, 
 if the idea of the 
 Plan of Chicago 
 dominates the ar- 
 rangement, not only to produce a building 
 so stately and magnificent as to indelibly 
 impress Chicago's greatness upon the mind 
 of every beholder, but also to have it a 
 
 IIHIIIIIIIIi 
 
 B«3 isa ^^-"'^ as ;•- 
 
 tf^siniiiiiiii . 
 i§&'!9seiiiiiiiiiii! 
 ^"iiiieiiisinii 
 
 ^■"i^iiiaii 
 
 
 \ If!!! 
 
 building so high and wide as to stand far 
 out above every other structure, thus mark- 
 ling it as the center of the city from afar. 
 ' Artists, inspired by the work of the ar- 
 chitects in the crea- 
 tion of the Plan of 
 Chicago, have vied 
 with each other in 
 attempts to visual- 
 ize for us today the 
 triumphs of the peo- 
 ple of tomorrow in 
 the planning and 
 construction of these 
 vast civic temples. 
 Their suggestions 
 are that the City 
 Hall, rising from the 
 plain upon which 
 Chicago rests, should 
 be surmounted by a 
 great dome compar- 
 able to that of St. 
 Peter's cathedral at 
 Rome. 
 
 Upon either side 
 of the towering 
 dome of the City 
 Hall, and making up 
 their parts of the 
 whole composition, 
 will be the main 
 County Building and 
 main Federal Build- 
 ing. There will be 
 grouped with them, 
 after a manner to 
 give the finest archi- 
 tectural effects, va- 
 
 [Copyrightea by the commercial Club.] ^.^^^ ^^^^^ ^^.j^_ 
 
 ings devoted to the purposes of the respec- 
 tive governments. Thus there will be struc- 
 tures for the courts, whose character and 
 importance in our government seem to call 
 
 d 
 
 -°-1 
 
 CHICAGO. The business center of the city within 
 the first circuit boulevard, showing the proposed grand 
 east-and-west axis and its relation to Grant Park ana 
 the yacht harbor; the railway terminals schemes on the 
 south and wesit sides, and the Civic Center. 
 
138 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 for separate and distinct housing provision. 
 By decision and action now, this plan for a 
 civic center could be put under way at once, 
 as the government is seeking a site for a 
 postoffice on the West Side, giving us the 
 opportunity of starting construction of the 
 civic group with a building of importance. 
 Experience has shown us in Chicago 
 that there is no danger of our undertak- 
 ing too large or extensive plans for public 
 buildings. No sooner do we get a public 
 structure completed, in fact, than the 
 growth of the public business fills it to 
 
 building, it is already filled to its limit 
 with the workers in the public service. 
 Important as is the civic center consid- 
 ered as of itself, when taken in connection 
 with the whole Plan of Chicago, it may be 
 likened to the keystone of an arch. With 
 Halsted street widened and developed, and 
 with sweeping improvements made in 
 Michigan avenue and in Ashland avenue, 
 there will come betterments in the great 
 thoroughfares of Chicago avenue and of 
 Twelfth street to give form to the business 
 center. To open Congress street to a great 
 
 CHICAGO, 
 central dome. 
 
 The proposed civic center square, sliowlng the group of surrounding buildings crowned by the 
 [Copyrighted by the Commercial Club.] 
 
 overflowing. It has been so throughout 
 the history of the city. We have been 
 forced to renew our public buildings, doub- 
 ling them in size and capacity, every 
 twenty years or so. Our Federal Building 
 was outgrown by Chicago while it was in 
 the process of construction. Our County 
 Building, finished only a short time ago, 
 and which the architects believed would 
 serve the county needs for many years, is 
 already proving too small. It is the same 
 way with the new City Hall. Built with 
 nearly three times the capacity of the old 
 
 width throughout the city, and indefinitely 
 into the country, will bring the civic center 
 and its great buildings into high relief. 
 Nowhere else in America is a city offered 
 such possibilities, combined with such ease 
 of attainment. Simply by the intelligent 
 handling of the changes necessary from 
 year to year, we can, by adopting the Plan 
 of Chicago, make ours a city both unified 
 and beautiful. 
 
 1. As the second city of the United States, 
 what is it of which Chicago has not taken 
 any account? 
 
CREATING A CIVIC CENTER 
 
 139 
 
 2. How did Chicago become a collection of 
 
 towns and villages? 
 
 3. What was neglected in this process iy which 
 
 Chicago absorbed its neighboring towns 
 and villages? 
 
 4. Instead of creating a great unified city, what 
 
 did we do? 
 
 5. What point has Chicago now reached and 
 
 what does it mean? 
 
 6. What ought we to bring together and what 
 
 should we express there? 
 
 7. How will the creation of a civic center in 
 
 Chicago provide eternal fame for our 
 city? 
 
 8. What is it that is one of the great ends to 
 
 be attained through the Plan of Chicago? 
 
 9. What did the architects always bear in mind 
 
 in drawing the plans for the parks, the 
 harbors and even the most remote street 
 yet to be developed? 
 
 10. What do cities follow in their growth ? 
 
 11. In what direction and to what point has the 
 
 center of population in Chicago gradually 
 moved? 
 
 12. To what were the architects forced to give 
 
 great weight in selecting a place for the 
 civic center? 
 
 13. Why was it decided that South Hoisted and 
 
 West Congress streets provided the best 
 site for the civic center? 
 
 14. In planning for the future of the city why 
 
 was much consideration given to Congress 
 Street ? 
 
 15. What is the aim of the Plan of Chicago in 
 
 centering a large number of new diag- 
 onal streets at the civic center? 
 
 16. Into what three divisions do the buildings to 
 
 be placed in the civic center naturally 
 fall? 
 
 17. What has experience shown us in Chicago? 
 
 18. What happens in Chicago as soon as we get 
 
 a public structure completed? 
 
 19. What have we been forced to renew every 
 
 twenty years or so? 
 
 20. What three buildings were outgrown by Chi- 
 
 cago while in the process of construction? 
 
 21. Why is Chicago offered possibilities com- 
 
 bined with ease of attainment above any 
 other city in America? 
 
140 
 
 W ACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 FINAL RESULT OF THE 
 PLAN 
 
 There have been presented in the previ- 
 ous chapters only some of the larger and 
 more important facts bearing upon the 
 Plan of Chicago. No idea can be given 
 in this volume of the immense amount of 
 study and labor involved in producing the 
 plan, and of the infinite pains and pa- 
 tience required to work out all the details 
 and fit them together perfectly. No idea, 
 either, can be given in a sketch of the plan 
 so brief as this one of the amounts of 
 money and the many days and hours of 
 time devoted to the Plan of Chicago by 
 the city's men of great wealth who are 
 proud of Chicago and anxious to see their 
 home city grow in power, importance and 
 good order. 
 
 We have seen, though, that in the earn- 
 est desire to make the future Chicago the 
 ideal great city of the world, some of the 
 most far-sighted and able citizens of our 
 city have labored together for a long 
 time, and as a result of their labor we 
 have been given the Plan of Chicago. The 
 men interested in the production of this 
 plan do not say it is perfect in every de- 
 tail. They believe, however, it is as near 
 to perfection as architectural skill makes 
 possible, considering the physical condi- 
 tions within the city. They are giving us 
 this design for a future city in confident 
 belief that it points the way for us to very 
 greatly improve our magnificent Chicago. 
 When it is worked out in any of its details, 
 they say, we will have a better and more 
 convenient city, and when it is completed 
 in all its details Chicago will stand alone 
 
 among all the ^world's great cities in pub- 
 lic health, good order, attractiveness and 
 civic economy. 
 
 The men who have produced and given 
 to us the Plan of Chicago have not done 
 their work blindly. They realized, when 
 they undertook their task, that Chicago is 
 a city of great accomplishments. They 
 knew that the plan, when completed, was 
 to be given into the care of a people who 
 never have failed or faltered in their de- 
 votion to their city. They knew that no 
 task, however great, has ever proven too 
 great a task for the people of Chicago to 
 undertake, and that when Chicago's men 
 and women start out to do anything noth- 
 ing can serve to keep them from success. 
 
 It is realized, in giving the people of 
 Chicago this plan for a complete, beautiful 
 and unified city, that they are being asked 
 to carry out a great work, and one which 
 will occupy them for many years. It is 
 a work, too, which seems to involve large 
 expenditures of money. This is only a 
 seeming condition, for in fact the Plan of 
 Chicago can be carried out in its entirety 
 without seriously increasing the present 
 tax burdens. The very growth of the city, 
 which is creating wealth greater than the 
 richest mines, can produce, gives a basis 
 for bond issues far in excess of the utmost 
 cost of carrying out the plan. The in- 
 crease in the value of real estate in the city 
 in the last ten years is greater than the 
 entire cost of executing the plan, and be- 
 sides that, the changes brought about by 
 the various steps in the plan will stim- 
 ulate the increase in the city's wealth. 
 
 It is probable that in carrying out the 
 plan some changes will have to be made 
 in our laws. It is clear that we can have 
 these changes whenever the people desire 
 them. One of these changes that might 
 be desirable is to have a law passed by 
 
FINAL RESULT OF THE PLAN 
 
 141 
 
 wliich the city could take over from the 
 owners all the property along a street, 
 "widen the street as much as necessary, and 
 then resell the remaining property. 
 "Wherever streets have been widened in 
 Chicago it has been found that land values 
 upon them have increased immediately in 
 sums large enough to more than repay the 
 cost of widening. If the city had been the 
 owner and could have secured the profits 
 resulting from the increase the widening 
 would not only have cost nothing, but 
 would have been a source of profit. Under 
 the law as it is today the city can take over 
 for purposes of improvement only such 
 property as is actually needed for the im- 
 provement. Usually such property is se- 
 cured only at high cost. 
 
 All of the difficulties in the way of car- 
 rying out the Plan of Chicago have been 
 weighed carefully, and none of them are 
 of sufficient consequence, in the opinion of 
 the ablest men who have studied them, to 
 deter or delay us. To realize the plan then, 
 becomes a question of public desire, and 
 whether the people of Chicago will deter- 
 mine to give the world an example of mag- 
 nificent public spirit and public work may 
 be well judged from the past. 
 
 Chicago was little more than a village 
 when the first tremendous task to try the 
 spirit and character of her citizenship was 
 brought forward. It was over sixty years 
 ago that it became apparent that in order 
 to secure proper drainage, and so protect 
 the health of the city, it would be neces- 
 sary to raise the level of all the streets 
 within what we know as the old city, from 
 the main river to Twelfth street, and also 
 for a distance along the West and North 
 Sides. To do the work was a tremendous 
 task. There was little machinery for such 
 labor in the city, and none at all such as is 
 used today in engineering work. Yet, the 
 
 people went to work with a will to raise 
 the streets and most of the buildings 
 within the city. Everybody in the city 
 worked, including the boys and girls, and 
 soon the task the city had set itself to 
 accomplish was completed. That work, in 
 its period, was a much more serious un- 
 dertaking for the few thousand people who 
 did it than the rearrangement of streets 
 according to the Plan of Chicago will be 
 to a city of millions of people with mod- 
 ern machinery at their command. 
 
 Some fifty years ago, as has been re- 
 lated, when the idea of creating wide met- 
 ropolitan park areas was new, Chicago un- 
 dertook to acquire and improve a chain of 
 parks and public grounds surrounding the 
 city on three sides. A plan was adopted 
 in which all classes of people had an in- 
 terest, and in which the city looked to 
 everybody to do his share to advance the 
 work. We all know how well this plan, 
 undertaken by only a fraction of the num- 
 ber of people now living in Chicago, be- 
 came a reality. Parks were created which 
 have served the city well and sufficiently 
 until recent years, and it never was a bur- 
 den upon the people to pay for them. 
 
 Next, between 1880 and 1890, came the 
 problem of Chicago's water supply and of 
 disposal of the city's sewage. The people 
 again rallied together. Conceiving the 
 idea of digging a drainage canal, they en- 
 ergetically set about that tremendous 
 duty. They worked for years and spent 
 $60,000,000 before they completed the un- 
 paralleled civic feat which gi^-es us of to- 
 day the splendid benefits of the sanitary 
 waterway. 
 
 The joy of Chicago's people in doing 
 vast public works was not abated in the 
 drainage canal construction. Before that 
 big work was completed, in fact, the people 
 entered upon another enterprise which 
 
142 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 gave their city worldwide fame, — the 
 World's Columbian Exposition, out of 
 which came the idea of tlie Plan of Chi- 
 cago. Joining hands through a committee 
 of citizens, the people of Chicago, in a 
 short time, raised $20,000,000 to spend in 
 buildings and grounds for a World's Fair 
 in celebration of the 400th anniversary of 
 America's discovery by Columbus. The 
 raising of that sum of money for the pur- 
 pose of a public entertainment was a 
 thrilling civic feat. Nothing like it had 
 ever before even been given thought as 
 possible in any city. 
 
 These four tasks are the principal ones 
 upon which Chicago's fame as a city of 
 great public spirit and loyalty of citizen- 
 ship has been founded. Thus, throughout 
 the entire history of the city, has been 
 proven the readiness of the people of Chi' 
 cago to take up large plans for public im 
 provements. Thus has been proven th 
 faith of all the people of Chicago in the^n 
 city's future and power. Truly Chicago' 
 history is such as to demonstrate that its 
 people will not let slip such an opportu- 
 nity to achieve such necessary improve- 
 ments and greatness for their city as lies 
 within the Plan of Chicago. 
 
 There is still a stronger reason than 
 comes to iis from our history to believe 
 the Plan of Chicago will be the next public 
 enterprise upon which the citizens will em- 
 bark. That reason is the growing love of 
 good order, due to the advance in educa- 
 tion. We all know that we would not tol- 
 erate today in our cities such conditions 
 as we are told were usual in the days of 
 our fathers. We may well believe, tlieq^ 
 that the people of the future will not tol- 
 erate such conditions as surround us to- 
 day. 
 
 We are learning new lessons in muni- 
 cipal economy, in hygiene, and in city gov- 
 
 ernment. We are learning that time, la- 
 bor and health saving means and methods 
 are valuable to a city. We are learning 
 that attractive surroundings encourage 
 good morals. We are learning more and 
 more every day the things that are nec- 
 essary to promote good conditions within 
 a city. We are every day making greater 
 and greater demands upon the city, and we 
 realize that our responsibilities and duties 
 as citizens grow greater and greater every 
 day. 
 
 In crystallizing in our minds the various 
 aims of the Plan of Chicago, to decide for 
 I ourselves, perhaps, what feature is the 
 1 most necessary to begin upon at once, we 
 naturally conclude there are four main el- 
 ements in the plan. These are : 
 
 1. The systematic arrangement of the 
 streets and avenues within the city in or- 
 der to save time and effort in the move- 
 ment of people and merchandise between 
 the various parts of the city. This in- 
 cludes the cutting of new streets where 
 necessary in and through the congested 
 parts of the city. It includes the widening 
 of many streets to care for increased traf- 
 fic, to add to the city's attractiveness and 
 to conserve our greatest asset, — the health 
 of the people. 
 
 2. The centralization and improvement 
 of our railway terminals, the perfection of 
 
 \harbors, and the creation of a proper sys- 
 tem of freight transportation. This in- 
 cludes the ranging of passenger terminals 
 along Twelfth street on the South Side, 
 and along Canal street on the West Side. 
 It includes also the building of a general 
 y dock system near the mouth of Chicago 
 \river, and a coal and grain dock system 
 on the lake at Soiith Chicago, with a ware- 
 housing and freight center for all through 
 merchandise at a point southwest of Chi- 
 cago, the whole connected by belt railways. 
 
FINAL RESULT OF THE PLAN 
 
 143 
 
 3. The acquirement and development of 
 an extended park system to supply the 
 needs of the city for all time to come. This 
 includes the building of islands along the 
 lake front, providing an enclosed lagoon 
 skirting the entire city shore; the secnr- 
 irj^ of a park a mile or more square upon 
 each of the three sides of the city, and 
 their connection by a majestic bow-shaped 
 boulevard; and the purchase of extensive 
 woodlands lying in a broad belt in the 
 suburban territory, to be held forever as 
 places for picnics and recreation of city 
 dwellers. 
 
 ,4. The development of a center of civic 
 a(iministration so located as to give co- 
 herence and unity to the city. This in- 
 cludes the securing of a large area at West 
 Congress and South Halsted streets, at the 
 convergence of numerous new diagonal 
 streets, the holding of this tract near the 
 city's geographical center for gradual im- 
 provement by erecting stately buildings 
 for governmental purposes, and the erec- 
 tion of a great domed City Hall as the cen- 
 tral building of this feature of the plan. 
 
 In reporting the street plan the archi- 
 tects of the Plan of Chicago admitted that 
 it involves a very considerable amount of 
 money. It was added in their report that 
 it will be found in Chicago, as in other 
 cities, that the opening of new thorough- 
 fares, although meaning a large expense to 
 initiate the work, creates a large increase 
 in values. This is due to increase in con- 
 venience and the creation of large num- 
 bers of new and very valuable building 
 sites adjoining the new streets. The cost 
 will amount to many millions of dollars, 
 but the result will be continuous pros- 
 perity for all dwellers in Chicago and the 
 savino" of millions of dollars in time and 
 effort to the citizens. 
 
 Tlie suggestions of the Plan of Chicago 
 
 in regard to the railroads and the har- 
 bors are many and serious. The aim is to 
 produce results beneficial to all interests, 
 — the manufacturers and shippers who 
 patronize the railroads by improving serv- 
 ice, the railroads themselves by making 
 their service to the public more effective 
 and therefore more largely patronized. 
 Over all considerations, however, is that 
 of economy in the handling of freight at 
 Chicago as a shipping center. The meth- 
 ods of the plan will give to the manufac- 
 turers and shippers all the advantages 
 which naturally should be theirs, and so 
 mean constant operation of factories and 
 employment of the people. The commer- 
 cial prosperity of the community is rep- 
 resented by the cost per ton of handling 
 freight into and out of the Chicago terri- 
 tory. General changes in railroad condi- 
 tions take years to accomplish, but the 
 public will not be compelled to pay for the 
 changes suggested in the plan. They will 
 be railroad enterprises, undertaken by the 
 railroads and carried out by the railroads. 
 
 As to the park plans, it is imperative 
 that extensive additions be made to our 
 public recreation grounds. The location 
 and arrangement of the parks and park- 
 ways of Chicago today are entirely inade- 
 quate to the future of the city. Fifty years 
 ago, before the population of the city was 
 large and densely crowded together, peo- 
 ple could live in comfort and good order 
 without public parks, because of the ex- 
 istence of large open spaces. We of today 
 can not do without parks. They are a vi- 
 tal necessity to the city. We regard the 
 promotion of robust health of body and 
 mind as necessary to good citizenship, 
 which is, after all, the prime object of good 
 city planning. 
 
 The lake front improvement from Wil- 
 mette to the Indiana line is an economic 
 
144 
 
 BACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OF CHICAGO 
 
 necessity. We have noted before the enor- 
 mous amount of waste material seeking 
 dumping ground on the lake shore because 
 it is the cheapest place to deposit it. En- 
 gineers say this material is sufficient to fill 
 in one hundred acres of land per year, rais- 
 ing it five feet aboA^e the surface of water 
 fifteen feet deep. The park authorities, 
 then, would have only to furnish break- 
 waters and finish off the ground. The dirt to 
 be removed in the construction of subways 
 in the city, when that work is undertaken, 
 will go far to help redeem the lake front. 
 The creation there of an extremely beau- 
 tiful and useful public recreation ground 
 will involve very little public expense. 
 
 The extensive woodlands proposed as 
 forests for the people, make an additional 
 park feature not usually designed for cit- 
 ies in America, but almost invariably used 
 in Europe. The cost of these wooded sites 
 will be considerable, and it must be borne 
 by the public, but the people will gain from 
 the sixty thousand acres of forests, in 
 health and recreation, much more interest 
 than money invested in any other security 
 so safe as that land could earn them. 
 These outer parks can be acquired and im- 
 proved within ten years, and if the cost 
 is distributed over that period it will not 
 prove burdensome. The health and joy 
 of living of all the people will be increased, 
 and incidentally the value of all real estate 
 within and around the city will be in- 
 creased. 
 
 The interurban highway system to link 
 the outer parks together can be realized 
 very cheaply. Ninety-five per cent of the 
 roads exist now. The remaining five per 
 cent can be acquired at small cost, which 
 will be widely distributed through many 
 townships, and will serve to connect and 
 complete the system. The cost of macad- 
 amizing the roadways and tree planting 
 
 to provide shade for travelers upon them 
 will be only incidental. 
 
 To acquire the land for the parks nec- 
 essary for the "West and South Sides is 
 a matter of comparatively small expens^ 
 now. There are no very costly or impoi|- 
 tant buildings standing upon the site pr* 
 posed for the West Side park. The land 
 selected for the South Side park is almost 
 entirely vacant, stretching for hundreds of 
 acres as level farms and truck gardens. 
 The North Side tract would prove the 
 most costly of all the three if taken today. 
 Since the plan was drawn much of the ter- 
 ritory proposed for the park in questions 
 has been cut up into lots, and numerous 
 substantial buildings have been erected^ 
 The cost, however, would not be prohibi- 
 tive, even if the park work there is to be 
 delayed for ten or twenty years. 
 
 The land necessary for the civic center 
 should be secured as soon as sentiment ;for 
 its establishment can be created. Values 
 at that point are reasonable, but are sure 
 to advance. If the city were to take the 
 land today it could be cleared of buildiags 
 and treated as park space for a time, and 
 the various buildings in the plan could be 
 erected as they are found necessary, all 
 being put up in accordance with a plan 
 adopted at the start. To adopt such., a 
 scheme of purchase would save a very 
 large sum in the purchase of public build- 
 ing sites in future, and also give stability 
 to real estate values in the vicinity. It 
 would be an excellent thing for the City 
 to establish the civic center on the West 
 Side, as it would give that side of the city 
 the impetus toward higher standards in 
 construction of which it is so much in need. 
 The cost of the civic center should be paid 
 by the whole community. 
 
 Summing up the subject of cost of 
 adopting the Plan of Chicago, it seems 
 
FINAL RESULT OF THE PLAN 
 
 145 
 
 probable that the plans for outer highways 
 and of all the lake front improvements will 
 come about naturally and with very little 
 expense to the city. The railways will pay 
 most of the expense of their changes and 
 betterments, which leaves all the cost of 
 the civic center, of the parks and park- 
 ways, and of the street development for 
 the general public to pay. The community 
 has ample financial ability to do this. 
 Paris had not much more than a million 
 and a half of people, and not nearly so 
 good commercial prospects as Chicago has, 
 when her people adopted a street improve- 
 ment plan involving over $260,000,000 and 
 carried it to completion in thirty-five years. 
 The success of the undertaking has justi- 
 fied the expense. People from all over the 
 world visit Paris by hundreds of thou- 
 sands every year. No matter where they 
 make their money, they go there to spend 
 it, and every workman and proprietor in 
 Paris benefits from this expenditure of 
 millions of dollars drawn from all quar- 
 ters of the world. 
 
 Conditions in Chicago are such as to re- 
 pel outsiders, not to attract throngs of 
 visitors. "With the Plan of Chicago re- 
 alized, and our city made attractive, health- 
 ful, open to the light, a place of beautiful 
 street views, Chicago will become a mag- 
 net, drawing to us those who wish to en- 
 joy life. It will produce for us conditions 
 in which business enterprises can be car- 
 ried on with the utmost economy and with 
 the certainty of success, while we and our 
 children can live broader, safer, saner and 
 happier lives, growing stronger each year 
 and generation in love and loyalty to the 
 great Chicago of our birth or adoption. 
 
 There is another and deeper motive in 
 planning for the future greatness of the 
 city than its splendid material upbuilding. 
 This is of significance only as it expresses 
 
 the actual social, intellectual and moral 
 upbuilding of the people, and so far as, in 
 turn, it opens the way for further develop- 
 ment of this higher type. City building 
 means man building. Who is there among 
 us who is not lifted above sordid industrial 
 existence into the realm of the beautiful 
 and ennobling things in life by attrac- 
 tive surroundings? Beautiful parks, fine 
 moniTments, well laid out streets, properly 
 lighted, paved and amply provided with 
 shade trees, relief from noise, dirt and con- 
 fusion — all these things and many others 
 contemplated in the Plan of Chicago are 
 agencies that make not only for the future 
 greatness of the city, but the happiness and 
 prosperity of all the people within our 
 gates. The ideal of a city must rise above 
 mere commercial and industrial supremacy, 
 taking the higher ground of becoming an 
 attractive, composite home for its residents, 
 both of large and small means, as well as 
 for the stranger within its gates. 
 
 The crowning necessity for the adoption 
 of the Plan of Chicago by the City of Chi- 
 cago is shown in the fact that in the twenty- 
 five years ending in 1906 the people of the 
 city of Chicago expended $225,000,000 for 
 extraordinary improvements, with nothing 
 to show for this vast sum but a city grown 
 by chance and without orderly develop- 
 ment. During that time the people of Chi- 
 cago actually spent for improvements but 
 $35,000,000 less than the city of Paris ex- 
 pended upon its plan for the rebuilding of 
 the entire city, making it the most beauti- 
 ful and attractive city in the world. 
 
 1. Of what can there he no idea given in this 
 
 volume f 
 
 2. What is it that the men interested in the 
 
 production of the Plan of Chicago do not 
 say, but what do they believe? 
 
 3. What confident belief have they in giving us 
 
 this design for a future city ? 
 
146 
 
 WACKER'S MANUAL OF THE PLAN OP CHICAGO 
 
 4. What do they say we will have when it 'is 
 
 worlced out in any of its details, and when 
 it is completed? 
 
 5. What did the men who produced the Plan 
 
 of Chicago realize when they undertook 
 their task? 
 
 6. What is it that gives a basis for bond issues 
 
 far in excess of the utmost cost of carry- 
 ing out the plan? 
 
 7. What is greater than the entire cost of exe- 
 
 cuting the Plan? 
 
 8. What will the changes brought about by the 
 
 various steps in the Plan do ? 
 
 9. What new law would it be desirable to have 
 
 passed? 
 
 10. What has happened in Chicago wherever 
 
 streets have been widened? 
 
 11. What would be the result of a law giving 
 
 the city power to own property in street 
 widening cases? 
 
 12. Eow is the city restricted binder the present 
 
 law? 
 
 13. What is the opinion of the ablest men who. 
 
 have studied the difficulties in the way of 
 carrying out the Plan of Chicago? 
 
 14. What is necessary to realize the Plan? 
 
 15. What was Chicago when the first tremen- 
 
 dous task to try the spirit and character 
 of her citizenship was brought forth? 
 
 16. More than sixty years ago what became ap- 
 
 parent would be necessary to secure prop- 
 er drainage and protect the health of the 
 city? 
 
 17. What did the people do, handicapped as they 
 
 were with little machinery for such 
 labor? 
 
 18. How did that work, in its period, compare 
 
 with the rearrangement of streets accord- 
 ing to the Plan of Chicago? 
 
 19. What was accomplished fifty years ago, by 
 
 only a fraction of the number of people 
 now living in Chicago, by thf city look- 
 ing to everybody to do his share to ad- 
 vance the work? 
 
 20. What civic feat did the people of Chicago 
 
 accomplish between 1880 and 1890 which 
 gives us today the splendid benefits of 
 the sanitary waterway? 
 
 21. What did the people of Chicago do to cele- 
 
 brate the 400th anniversary of America's 
 discovery by Columbus? 
 
 22. What has been proven throughout the entire 
 
 history of the city? 
 
 23. What does Chicago's history demonstrate? 
 
 24. What is the still stronger reason that comes 
 
 to us from our history to believe the Plan 
 of Chicago will be the next public enter- 
 prise upon which the citizens will em- 
 bark? 
 
 25. What is it that we all know we would not 
 
 tolerate today in our cities? 
 
 26. What new lessons are we learning? 
 
 27. In crystallizing our minds on the various 
 
 aims of the Plan of Chicago, what do we 
 naturally conclude are the four main ele- 
 ments most necessary to begin upon at 
 once ? 
 
 28. In considering the street plan, what did the 
 
 architects' report show? 
 
 29. To what is this large increase in value due? 
 
 30. How do the suggestions of the Plan of Chi- 
 
 cago produce results beneficial to all in- 
 terests in regard to the railroads and the 
 harbors? 
 
 31. By what is the commercial prosperity of the 
 
 community represented? 
 
 32. Why will the public not be compelled to pay 
 
 for the railroad changes suggested in the 
 Plan of Chicago? 
 
 33. Why could the people fifty years ago live in 
 
 comfort and good order without public 
 parks? 
 
 34. What is the prime object of good city plan- 
 
 ning? 
 
 35. In park planning what is an economic neces- 
 
 sity for the city? 
 
 36. What have we noted before as seeking dump- 
 
 ing ground on the lake shore and why? 
 
 37. What area do engineers say this material is 
 
 sufficient to fill? 
 
 38. What icotild the park authorities have 'to 
 
 furnish frr the creation on the lake front 
 of an extremely beautiful and useful pub- 
 lic recreation ground involving very little 
 public expense? 
 
 39. What will make an additional park feature 
 
 not usually designed for cities in Amer- 
 ica, but almost invariably used in 
 
 Europe ? 
 
 40. How is the cost of these wooded sites, which 
 
 will be considerable, offset in gain to the 
 people? 
 
 41. How soon can the outer parks be acquired 
 
 and improved without the cost being bur- 
 densome, and what will be the result? 
 
FINAL RESULT OP THE PLAN 
 
 147 
 
 ^-. IIoiv can the interiirian highway system to 
 link the outer parks together be realized 
 very cheaply? 
 
 43. Why is it a matter of comparatively small 
 
 expense now to acquire the land for the 
 parks necessary for the west and south 
 sides? 
 
 44. Why ivould the north side tract prove the 
 
 most costly of all three if taken today? 
 
 45. Why should the land necessary for the civic 
 
 center be secured as soon as sentiment for 
 its establishment can be created? 
 
 46. What could the city do by taking the land 
 
 for the civic center today? 
 
 17. What would follow the adoption of such a 
 scheme of purchase ? 
 
 48. Why would it be an excellent thing for the 
 
 city to establish the civic center on the 
 west side? 
 
 49. How should the cost of the civic center be 
 
 borne ? 
 
 50. Summing up the subject of the cost of adopt- 
 
 ing the Plan of Chicago, how does it seem 
 to be apportioned? 
 
 51. What was the condition of Paris when that 
 
 city adopted a street improvement plan 
 involving $260,000,000? 
 
 52. Why was the expense of the improvement of 
 
 Paris justified? 
 
 53. Who in Paris benefits from the expenditures 
 
 of millions of dollars drawn from all 
 quarters of the world? 
 
 54. What are conditions in Chicago today ? 
 
 55. With the Plan of Chicago realized and our 
 
 city made attractive, healthful, open to 
 the light, and a place of beautiful street 
 views, what will Chicago become? 
 
 56. What is another and deeper motive in city 
 
 planning than material upbuilding, and 
 what is its significance ? 
 
 57. What does city building mean? 
 
 58. What is the effect upon us of attractive sur- 
 
 roundings? 
 
 59. What are the agencies that make for the fu- 
 
 ture greatness of the city and the happi- 
 ness and prosperity of all the people? 
 
 60. What must the ideal of a city rise above, 
 
 and what higher ground should it takef 
 
 61. What is the crowning argument in favor of 
 
 Chicago adopting and carrying out the 
 Plan of Chicago being studied and pro- 
 moted by the Chicago Plan Commission?