User:JeremyA/sandbox/Wolf Point

Notes:

1893
 * Building 9 on the north bank (block 14) = Davidson and Sons' building, built in 1872
 * Building 10 (block 13) = Fulton Elevator (1873) -- previous elevator on same site destroyed by fire Sept 7, 1873
 * Building 11 (block 14) = St Paul Elevator (1879)
 * Building 12/13 (block 29) = Produce Cold Storage Exchange (1890)

Fulton Elevator

The Elevator Fire, Chicago Daily Tribune, Sep 8 1873


 * Built by Munn & Scott in 1852
 * Fourth grain elevator built in Chicago
 * Several blocks in the vicinity destroyed in a fire on Sep 15, 1859 (Fulton Elevator survived)
 * Munn & Scott bankrupt in 1872
 * Purchased by George Armour & Co.
 * Hoyt & Co bought on Friday before fire
 * Destroyed by fire Sept 7, 1873

Big Deal in Elevators, Chicago Daily Tribune, Feb 25 1899


 * Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway company paid $400,000 to the Chicago Railway Terminal Elevator company for the St. Paul and Fulton Elevators

Build on Elevator Site, Chicago Daily Tribune, Jul 19 1906


 * CM&StP plan to demolish Fulton & St. Paul Elevators
 * Munger, Wheeler & Co. became owners of the Fulton Elevator after Munn & Scott, built the St. Paul Elevator next to it

Chicago at a Glance—Seventeenth and Eighteenth Wards, Chicago Daily Tribune, Jun 17, 1900


 * Wolf Point Tavern built by James Kinzie, son of John Kinzie
 * Proprietors of the Wolf Point Tavern:
 * James Kinzie, 1828
 * Archibald Caldwell, 1829
 * Elijah Wentworth, 1830
 * Charles Taylor, 1831–1833
 * William Walters, 1833–1836
 * "Samuel Miller had a tavern across the river, where the coal yard is now"
 * Archibald Caldwell was the first licensed liquor seller in Chicago
 * Wolf Point Tavern was the headquarters on General Winfield Scott during the Black Hawk war of 1832
 * Green Tree Tavern, also built by James Kinzie, in 1833
 * Green Tree Tavern originally stood at the northwest corner of Lake and Canal Streets. Moved in 1880 to 33–37 Milwaukee Avenue (still standing in 1900, and Chicago's oldest building).
 * Wolf Point was the name of the jut of land between the forks of the river (on the west side of the river). It in turn gave its name to the hamlet around the forks

Chicago at a Glance—Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third Wards, Chicago Daily Tribune, Jun 17, 1900


 * John and Samuel Miller opened a little store in a log house in 1829 on the "point of land now occupied by a coal yard" on the north side of the fork of the river
 * In 1830 they added a "lean to" to the back of the cabin and gave shelter to transients for pay
 * In 1831 John Miller build a log house near the tavern for use as a tannery (Chicago's first factory)
 * The first ferry for hire across the river established in 1831 using a scow built by Samuel Miller. Mark Beaubien was the first ferryman
 * 1831 Samuel Miller licensed to sell liquors

Wolf Point is a historic location at the confluence of the North, South and Main Branches of the Chicago River in the present day Near North Side, Loop, and Near West Side community areas of Chicago. The name is said to possibly derive from a Native American Chief whose name translated to mean wolf, but alternate theories exist. Historically the name was given to a point on the west bank of the river at the forks, but gradually it came to denote the forks of the river and the settlement that surrounded it; it is now often used more specifically to refer to a plot of land on the north side of the forks in the Near North Side community area that is owned by the Kennedy family as part of the larger Merchandise Mart Center complex. The river fork was the location of Chicago's first three taverns, its first hotel, Sauganash Hotel, the first ferry, and the first bridges across the Chicago River. Today the north and west banks at the forks are used as parking lost and the south bank serves as the transition point of Wacker Drive from an east-west street to a north-south street.

Background
The origin of the name Wolf Point is unknown. In her 1856 memoir Wau-Bun, Juliette Kinzie states that 'the place was then called Wolf Point, from its having been the residence of an Indian named "Moa-way," or "the Wolf."' Other alternate explanations are that it was so-named after the landlord of what would later be called the Wolf Point Tavern killed a ferocious wolf and hung a painted sign of a wolf outside his tavern to commemorate the event, or that it was named by a soldier at Fort Dearborn because it was a place where wolves would gather at night. Originally the term Wolf Point referred to the west bank of the river at the forks, but it gradually came to refer to the whole region around the forks and in modern usage is often more specifically used to mean the plot of land on the north side of the forks. The confluence of the three branches of the river near Wolf Point provided inspiration for Chicago's three branched, Y-shaped "municipal device," which can be seen on many buildings and structures in Chicago.

Early Settlement
The first non-indigenous settler at Wolf Point may have been a trader named Guarie. Writing in 1880 Gurdon Hubbard, who first arrived in Chicago on October 1, 1818, stated that he had been told of Guarie by Antoine DesChamps and Antoine Beson, who had been traversing the Chicago Portage yearly since about 1778. Hubbard wrote that DesChamps had shown him evidence of a trading house and the remains of a cornfield supposed to have belonged to Guarie This was located on the west bank of the north branch of the Chicago River, a short distance from the forks at what is now Fulton Street; early settlers named the north branch of the Chicago River the Guarie River, or Gary's River.

James Kinzie, the son of early settler John Kinzie, built a tavern on the west bank of the river at Wolf Point in 1828. By 1829 this tavern was operated for Kinzie by Archibald Caldwell who was granted a liquor license on December 8 of that year. Caldwell left Chicago early in 1830 and Elijah Wentworth became the landlord of the tavern. He was followed by Charles Taylor (1831–1833) and William Walters (1833–1836). The tavern became known as the 'Wolf Point Tavern' or 'Wolf Tavern' and a painted sign of a wolf was hung outside the tavern in about 1833.

In about 1829 Samuel Miller and his brother John opened a store on the north bank of the river at the forks. In 1830 they enlarged this cabin and started to operate a tavern in competition with the Wolf Point Tavern. On June 2, 1829 Samuel Miller and Archibald Clybourn had been authorised to operate the first ferry across the Chicago River. Clybourn was the ferry man, crossing the north branch of the river between Miller's tavern and the Wolf Point Tavern. In 1831 John Miller built a log house near his brother's tavern that he use as a tannery; Chicago's first recorded factory. Samuel Miller sold the tavern and moved away following the death of his wife in 1832. Mark Beaubien opened the Eagle Exchange Tavern in a log cabin on the south bank in 1829. In 1831 Beaubien added a frame addition and opened the Sauganash Hotel, Chicago's first hotel. Beaubien left the Sauganash Hotel in 1834, but the hotel continued in operation until it was destroyed by a fire in 1851. The site of the Sauganash Hotel was redeveloped as the Wigwam in 1860; the site today is at 191 North Wacker and is designated as a Chicago Landmark.

James Kinzie built the Green Tree Tavern at the northeastern corner of Canal and Lake Streets in 1833. The tavern went through a succession of owners and name changes before being moved in 1880 to 33, 35, and 37 Milwaukee Avenue. In 1907 plans were made to preserve the building and move it to Garfield Park, however the hotel collapsed before work could start on this project.

Archibald Clybourn's ferry across the north branch of the river was replaced by a bridge in the winter of 1831 and 1832, and a bridge across the south branch of the river was added in the winter of 1832 and 1833. Both of these bridges were constructed of logs; they were about 10 ft wide, and cleared the river by about 6 ft.

Development
When the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848, the landmass at Wolf Point was decreased by dredging to accommodate a turning basin for ships. . In the autumn of the same year the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad opened Chicago's first railroad depot at Wolf Point, on the southwestern corner of Kinzie and Canal Streets. By 1857 the site of Wolf Point Tavern was being used as a lumber yard; the Fulton Elevator, one of Chicago's earliest grain elevators was built just to the north in 1852. Several blocks to the west of Wolf Point were destroyed in a large fire on September 15, 1859. The Fulton Elevator survived this, and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, but was burned down on September 7, 1873. It was rebuilt in the same year, and another grain elevator, the St Paul Elevator, was added immediately to the south in 1879. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway company purchased both elevators in 1889 for $400,000, but demolished them in 1906. The site today is occupied by the Riverbend Condominiums at 333 North Canal Street.

The property on the north bank of the river at Wolf Point was owned by Marshall Field until it was sold to Joseph P. Kennedy in 1945 or 1946, depending on the source. Although the Kennedy family sold much of the complex center property to Vornado Realty Trust in 1998 as part of a larger $625 million ($0 million in current dollar terms) transaction, the family retained their interest in the 4 acre of Wolf Point land. The area still owned by the Kennedy family is bounded by the Chicago River to the east, west and south and 350 West Mart Center to the north. The Merchandise Mart is located diagonally to the northeast. The location is currently used as a parking lot. There have been numerous plans to develop the property dating back to the late 1980s. In 2007, the Kennedys planned to develop the property with three high-rises and skyscrapers to designs by Cesar Pelli designs. The property is a coveted real estate location that has had several serious redevelopment plans in the past.