Chicago's Gold Coast By Wilbert Jones, Katie Willis-Morton, Maureen O’Brien and
photography by Bob Dowey
What was once described as an undesirable swampland has been transformed into
one of the most beautiful and wealthiest neighborhoods in America. Chicago's
Gold Coast neighborhood, developed in the late 1800s, was first called the
Astor Street District. It was named after one of the first multimillionaires in
the United States, John Jacob Astor—even though Astor never lived in Chicago.
In 1885, Astor Street District's first mansion was built. Potter Palmer, a dry
goods merchant and owner of the Palmer House Hotel, built his palatial,
castle-like residence on the corner of Lake Shore Drive and Banks Street;
inside the Palmer mansion were 42 lavishly furnished rooms, which required 26
servants to maintain. Many wealthy Chicagoans followed Palmer's lead and built
mansions in the neighborhood. Several homes took up an entire city block and,
as time progressed, the name Gold Coast was adopted. On January 30, 1978, the
entire Gold Coast district was listed in the National Register of Historic
Places.
ISBN: 9780738591773
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Date: 07/09/2012
State: Illinois
Series: Images of America
Images: 183 Black And White
Pages: 128
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