CBA Record September-October 2026

CHICAGO LORE BY RICHARD LEE STAVINS

and river meet is now, of course, far to the east, due to landfilling over the ensu ing two centuries. A bronze plaque at 360 North Michigan marks the site of Fort Dearborn. Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive have long been elevated above ground level, with upper, intermediate, and lower levels. The fort was at ground level in the middle of what are now the upper vehicular street lanes of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive and the east and west sidewalks of Michigan Avenue south of Wacker Drive. Many years ago, on the upper level, the City of Chicago installed perma nent bronze markers in the asphalt of the traffic lanes and the concrete of the sidewalks to mark the outlines of the old fort. Unfortunately, pedestrians often had a bad habit of walking along the path of the bronze markers, out into the traf fic lanes of the two streets. As a safety move, when Michigan and Wacker were subsequently resurfaced, the markers in the streets were eliminated. However, a few were retained in the two Michigan Avenue sidewalks, south of Wacker, and are still there for all to see and trod upon. Final fun facts: Fort Dearborn’s 1803 construction was supervised by Col. John Whistler, grandfather of James McNeil Whistler, who painted the beloved por trait “Whistler’s Mother.” The wooden fort burned to the ground at the outset of the War of 1812 and, after the war, was rebuilt as the second Fort Dearborn.

THE ORIGINAL FORT DEARBORN The Fort Dearborn marker at 360 North Michigan Avenue, at the southwest corner of Michigan and Wacker. Photo by Richard Lee Stavins.

M ost Chicago attorneys know that this city was founded in 1803 by the then-fledgling U.S. government and was originally named Fort Dearborn for Henry Dear born, the U.S. Secretary of War at the time. What and where was that original Fort Dearborn?

It was a small, wooden U.S. Army post located at what is now the intersec tion of North Michigan Avenue and East Wacker Drive, just south of the Chicago River. At the time, the river flowed east ward into Lake Michigan. The fort stood at the strategic point where the river then joined the lake. That point where the lake

Richard Lee Stavins, now retired, was primarily an appellate lawyer; he is is a 50-year member of the CBA and remains a longtime member of the CBA Record Editorial Board.

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