Living Landmarks of Chicago: Tantalizing tales and skyscraper stories; bringing Chicago's landmarks to life

Living Landmarks of Chicago Official Launch Party

Name: Living Landmarks of Chicago Official Launch Party
SKU: lloc-1
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

$24.99

Tantalizing tales and skyscraper stories: bringing Chicago’s landmarks to life

You’re invited to our official virtual launch party on April 29, 2021!

Order through March 31, 2021, for your autographed copy of Living Landmarks of Chicago and access to our exclusive, virtual launch party!

This virtual event features:

A lively discussion of this passion project’s origins and inspiration
Era-appropriate music performed by Jim Goodrich
A virtual toast – you’ll receive recipes for classic cocktails with your book
A reading of selected stories
Q&A – what do you want to know? (Questions will be sent to Theresa in advance.)

This registration link is ONLY AVAILABLE through March 31, 2021.

Shipping of $3 will be added at checkout.

SKU: lloc-1 Category: Books

Description

Description

Living Landmarks of Chicago goes beyond the what, when, and where to tell the how and why of 50 Chicago landmarks. From the parlor used as a meat locker to the fight over the Field Museum, history comes to life in this non-traditional guidebook.

History lines Chicago’s sidewalks. Stroll down LaSalle or Dearborn or State and you’ll see skyscrapers that have been there for a century or more. It’s easy to scurry by, to dismiss the building itself, but a hunt for placards turns up landmarks every few feet, it seems. Here’s a Chicago landmark; there’s a National Historic landmark. They’re everywhere.

Ironically, these skyscrapers keep the city grounded; they illustrate a past where visionaries took fanciful, impossible ideas and made them reality. Buildings sinking? Raise them. River polluting the lake and its precious drinking water? Reverse it. Overpopulation and urban sprawl making it challenging to get to work? Build up. From the bare to the ornate, from exposed beams to ornamented facades, the city’s architecture is unrestrainedly various yet provides a cohesive, beautiful skyline that illustrates the creativity of necessity, and the necessity of creativity.

In this nontraditional guidebook, Theresa L. Goodrich tells the stories of fifty landmarks in Chicago. Each chapter is a vignette that introduces the landmark and brings it to life, and the book is organized chronologically to illustrate the development of the city’s distinct personality.

These fifty landmarks weave an interconnected tale of Chicago between 1836 and 1932 (and beyond). I’ve chosen each for a reason. If your favorite is missing, I am developing a companion website to include more landmarks and stories (eventually!).

You might notice there are several hotels. That’s because so many wonderful old buildings have been adapted in that manner. It’s pretty cool to be able to spend the night in a building designed by Jenney or Burnham.

Landmarks listed as Current Name (Original Name – where applicable)