The name "Loop" is said to have originated from the route of a cable car line that en"circle"d the central business district in 1882, prior to the construction of the Loop elevated railroad tracks in 1897. The Loop has since become a term for the city's historic downtown, an area roughly bounded by the Chicago River on the north and west, Grant Park on the east and Congress Parkway to the south.
The three dozen landmarks on this tour represent an amazing cross-section of the city's architecture and history, ranging from Post-Fire of 1871 structures to early steel-framed skyscrapers from the turn of the century to Art Deco-style high rises of the 1920s and '30s. Among the architects whose buildings are featured are Daniel Burnham, Holabird & Roche, William Le Baron Jenney, John Wellborn Root, and Louis Sullivan.
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You will find tour links in this location on every page. Look for this arrow  to continue the The Loop Tour tour. | |
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