State Street (Chicago)

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State Street is a major north-south thoroughfare in Chicago, Illinois. It begins on the Near North Side, intersecting with Rush Street, just south of Division Street. For much of its course, it lies between Wabash Avenue on the east and Dearborn Street/Lafayette Avenue on the west. It runs through the heart of Downtown Chicago and ends at the southern city limits, intersecting 127th Street along the bank of the Little Calumet River. Its intersection with Madison Street marks the base point for Chicago's address system.

Originally known as State Road, it was the main route south through Illinois. In its early days, it was unpaved and known for having mud so deep it could allegedly suck down a horse and buggy. In the late 1860s, Potter Palmer decided to improve State Street by moving the Field, Leiter & Co. store in 1868 and building his own Palmer House hotel on State Street in 1870. The historic Chicago Theatre is also located on State Street.

State Street became a shopping destination during the 1900s and is referred to in the song "Chicago", sung by Frank Sinatra where Frank refers it to "State Street, that Great Street." In 1979, Mayor Jane Byrne converted the downtown portion into a pedestrian mall with only bus traffic allowed. Mayor Richard M. Daley oversaw the State Street Revitalization Project and on November 15, 1996, the street was reopened to traffic.

During the 20th century, State Street was largely eclipsed by Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile shopping district. Various projects to restore State Street's glory have been met with some success, and the State Street corridor is gaining residential as well as more traditional commercial development. Marshall Field's (now Macy's) on State Street remains a premier shopping destination. In April 2006, WLS-TV (ABC7) unveiled a new street-level news studio, giving Chicagoans walking by on State Street a direct view of the anchor desk, just as the broadcast cameras see it. [1]

The bridge where State Street crosses the Chicago River is named the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Bridge in honor of the World War II defenders of Bataan and Corregidor including those in the Bataan Death March.

[edit] Sources

• Streetwise Chicago by Don Hayner & Tom McNamee ISBN 0-8294-0596-8
• Chicago Public Library

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