Walking Tour | Glitterati on the Gold Coast

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we’re also taking time to consider the ways people in the United States practice democracy through civic action, including by making art, establishing community, and cultural expression.

Join a CHM History Buff volunteer guide and whisk away to a time when Chicago’s rich and famous caroused on the coast. “Gold Coast” refers to a stretch of expensive lakefront property occupied by the city’s wealthiest residents. Before the opening of the Michigan Avenue Bridge (now DuSable Bridge) in 1920, it was isolated from the downtown business district and home to only a few wealthy families, such as the McCormicks, Palmers, and Ryersons.

The area soon became the heart of the upper crust of Chicago society. Sociologist Harvey Warren Zorbaugh, who claimed that college boys returning from the East Coast dubbed the area the “Gold Coast,” immortalized it in his book The Gold Coast and the Slum: A Sociological Study of Chicago’s Near North Side (University of Chicago Press, 1929; reprint 1983). The density of wealth in the Gold Coast buffered it against the deterioration that threatened other portions of the North Side in the 1950s.

Gaze at ornate architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, step onto a rare wood-block alleyway, and take in Chicago’s early mansions, including the Archbishop’s Residence.

NOTE: This tour was originally scheduled for Oct. 24, but has been rescheduled for Oct. 31. Costumes are encouraged but not required.

$25, $22.50 members 

Tour runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Meet at the Chicago History Museum.

Tour also includes free admission to the Chicago History Museum, good for one week from tour date.

Masks are optional for our outdoor walking tours. Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.