Illinois Centennial Monument
Illinois Centennial Memorial Column, Logan Square Monument or Illinois Centennial Monument is a public monument in the Logan Square community area and the Chicago Landmark and National Register of Historic Places-listed Logan Square Boulevards District.[1][2] Built in 1918 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Illinois' statehood, the monument, designed by Henry Bacon, famed architect of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, is a single 70-foot (21 m) tall marble Doric column topped by an eagle, in reference to the Flag of Illinois.[3][4] Reliefs surrounding the base depict figures of Native Americans, explorers, farmers and laborers intended to show the great changes experienced during the state's 1st century.[5] Although Bacon designed the main column, Evelyn Beatrice Longman designed and sculpted the reliefs.[6]
It is located at North Milwaukee Avenue and Logan Boulevard in the public square known as Logan Square. The monumument is cased in Tennessee marble.[7] The column is located in the triangular-shaped Logan Square park within Logan Square.[5] The column is composed of 13 solid marble segments and is based on the same proportions and scale as the columns that make up the colonnade of the Parthenon in Greece.[4] The column is opposed by a flagpole and a concrete plaque dedicated to American soldiers who died in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.[5] The monument was funded by the Benjamin Ferguson Fund.[8] Daniel Boone, Hiawatha and Ceres are among those depicted in the base.[9]
In 1997 the Chicago Department of Transportation planted 81 trees around the column including hackberry, patmore green ash, skyline honeylocust, red oak, swamp white oak, alpine currant, Virginia Rose and three varieties of hawthorns, downy, Washington and thornless cockspur.[10]
Notes
- ^ "Logan Square Boulevards District". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ "Logan Square Boulevards District". Preservation Chicago. 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ Becker, Lynn (2007-08-10). "Between the Boulevards: An architectural tour". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ a b Guerrero, Lucio (2006-01-13). "Logan Square". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ a b c "System bars genuine glasnost". Chicago Sun-Times. 1988-06-05. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ Library of Congress, DN-0088786, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society
- ^ "Monuments". Early Chicago, Inc. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ Hermann, Andrew (1991-08-09). "Public statues are lumberman's legacy to city". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ Cunniff, Bill (1998-08-28). "Logan Square walking tour scheduled to step off". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ Recktenwald, William (1997-05-25). "Tree-Dimensional - Chicago Digs In For Record Planting Season". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-03-20.