Fort Dearborn

We went down to where Fort Dearborn was. Chicago more or less started at Fort Dearborn. Yes, du Sable was here before the fort. (And the site of his house is at Pioneer Square, which is across Michigan Avenue from the Wrigley Building. The site probably merits its own entry, but for now it's here.)

Anyway. Fort Dearborn stood at the intersection of Wacker and Michigan. Two of them actually. The first was built in 1803 only to be destroyed in 1812 at the Battle of Fort Dearborn (which will probably also get its own entry). The fort was rebuilt in 1816, but by 1857 it was done for. It was razed, though Wikipedia makes it sound like some of it was still left to get burnt down in the Great Chicago Fire.

Today, there's very little to see. A couple of plaques and carvings are on the London Guarantee Building (360 N Michigan, mostly covered in scaffolding as of September 2014). The real deal to see is in the sidewalk. There are markers placed into the sidewalks at the corners of Michigan and Wacker that outline the location of Fort Dearborn. Or at least the portions of it that were where the sidewalks are now.