Since 1673 when Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet portaged through the territory that is now Chicago, water transportation has been vital to the city's growth. In the early twentieth century, when Daniel Burnham put together his master plan for the design of Chicago—a plan intended to create a sense of civic virtue—he envisioned a grand municipal pier for public recreation near the central city. Later modified for multiple uses by the Chicago-Harbor Commission, Navy Pier opened in 1916. This glorious extension into Lake Michigan was a feat of engineering not unlike the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, and prompted a similar fascination. In this entertaining history, abundantly illustrated with 75 photographs and 32 color plates, Douglas Bukowski traces the origins and construction of Navy Pier, its "golden era" to 1940, its uses in the World War II home front, its college campus years, and its rediscovery and redevelopment for recreational use from the 1970s to the present. Daniel Burnham's advice to Chicago to "make no little plans" is beautifully captured in this book. A publication of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Chicago.

Excerpt from Executive Summary of Study Alternatives: Chicago's Navy Pier Pedestrians will have access to Lake Michigan along the shoreline, down the south side of Navy Pier, and also on Dime Pier, which will be reconstructed to further increase opportunities for fishing and sightseeing along the water's edge. A causeway will connect the two piers about one-third of the way down Navy Pier. The large excursion boats will dock along this causeway, and the smaller tour boats and fishing charters will dock at the east end of Navy Pier. Historic ships will occupy the remaining berths on the south side of Navy Pier and the north side of Dime Pier. The water along the north side of the pier will accommodate a marina with 350 slips for lease on an annual basis and 50 slips for transient boats on a nightly basis. Courtesy docking for day visitors will be available on the south side of Dime Pier. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.