Randolph Street Chicago From Clark to State Streets in the Year 1865

A bustling scene of commerce and amusement in Chicago shortly after the Civil War.

This eye-catching view of a busy Randolph Street in Chicago was first issued in 1866 as part of Chicago Illustrated. The focal point is Colonel Wood’s Museum, the Windy City’s answer to P.T. Barnum’s immensely popular American Museum of New York. Part educational institution, part freak show, and part amusement park; the five-story building included retail stores, a lecture hall, numerous exhibits (including, apparently, a 900 lb. woman), and 150,000 curiosities of every kind (according to a contemporary news article).

Other local establishments include Baker’s Wood Engraving, H.M. Higgins music store, Chase & Hild sign painters (misspelled!), and the Matteson House (a hotel). The crowded street is shared by carriages, wagons, pedestrians, and streetcars – all with apparently very little traffic regulation. Also of interest is the amputee featured prominently in the right foreground, probably a casualty from the recently concluded Civil War.

The print was re-created from the original by Raoul Varin and published in Chicago by A. Ackerman & Sons, Inc. in 1928. Varin (1865-1943), a French watercolor artist, created a series of 30+ Chicago views depicting both contemporary and historical scenes. Signed by the artist in the lower right margin, with a print number (91/100) faintly visible in the lower left.

Sources: Chicagology; Art Institute of Chicago;