Click above button to interact with over 3,000 of Vintage Chicago photos.
Vintage Chicago, a Cliff Dweller’s History, is a map created by Club past president Bill Bowe. It celebrates many of the Cliff Dweller architects responsible for Chicago’s key role in the development of the modern skyscraper, as well as the many of the other Club architects, writers and artists who played a part in the city’s physical and cultural development. From 1688, when a printed map first showed Chicago’s location, to the present, the map has over 3,000 captioned and geotagged historical photos. You can see and read about how Chicago grew from its origins as a small settlement near founder Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable’s trading cabin into the global metropolis it is today. Vintage Chicago has photos from all 78 Chicago neighborhoods, aerial images, and maps. Plus, the map’s legend offers short essays about each of the city’s six eras, and colorful photo markers to help you to meander easily through these eras of Chicago’s rich past.
