Lincoln Park [Finial: City Hall Relic]

Finial: Old City Hall Bldg. Relic

Lincoln Park West

Produced: 1869

Architects: Jenney and Loring

This urn-like finial survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, 2010.

A relic from the old 1853 City Hall and County Court House Building. They were part of addition built in 1869.

I took this image in July, 2009.

Today, August 2012, I came to find that I had photographed a treasure!

I found the information on the wonderful website of Chicago Park District website click here..

Lincoln Park, City Hall relic, click here..

It states..

Installed in Lincoln Park sometime before 1901, this limestone finial survived the Chicago Fire. A whole series of such finials once lined the upper parapet of the old 1853 City Hall and County Court House Building. They were part of an addition built in the late 1869s and designed by architects Jenney & Loring. Although the walls of the "fireproof" wings were still standing after the Great Fire of 1871, the interior was entirely destroyed.

Since the time of the Great Fire of 1871, the City Hall and County Building  has been replaced twice. (The firm of Holabird & Root designed the existing building at 121 N. LaSalle Ave.—which was completed in 1911.)  Today, a matching surviving finial can be found at Wilder Park in Elmhurst, and other adornments of the old City Hall and County Court House rooftop can be found near the Charles Dawes House in Evanston, IL.