Our latest addition to the tour lineup this spring is one of the most requested areas for tours. Lincoln Park, Community Area 7 sits 3 miles north of Chicago’s Loop. It occupies what is now some of the most desirable real estate and wealthy sections of the city, but it was certainly not always this way. Stretching from North Avenue to Diversey and from the Lake to the River, Lincoln Park is the star of the north side communities, and the location of some of the cities greatest cultural institutions and civic foundations, a major university, religious icons and landmarks and a mini-downtown complete with top restaurants, a theatre district and posh shops and stores.

For our purposes, it also offers a truly exceptional pallet of architectural finds with exquisite examples of nearly every Victorian Style, exceptional green space, a free 35 acre in-city zoo, lakefront trails and beaches and a virtual paradise in the city on what used to be largely cemetery land, or didn’t exist until the landfill made it. Prior to settlement by the Europeans in the 1820s, the area was largely unused marsh and scrub on the banks of Lake Michigan.

Often thought of as a neighborhood, the Community Area of Lincoln Park actually contains nearly a dozen neighborhoods including the Clybourn Corridor, DePaul, Lincoln Central, Lincoln Park (proper), Mid-North, Old Town, Park West, RANCH Triangle, Sheffield, West DePaul and Wrightwood Neighbors. Take a ride with us and examine some of the most beautiful built history in all of Chicago, and learn a bit about how this famous area came to its present perch.