James Kinzie erects the Wolf Point Tavern, which is soon followed by Mark Beaubien’s opening of the Sauganash Hotel. Both establishments are the first of their kind in Chicago and define Wolf Point as a social destination for explorers. Brothers John and Samuel Miller, along with Archibald Clybourn, successfully operated the first ferry across the North Branch of the Chicago River.

James Kinzie erects the Wolf Point Tavern, which is soon followed by Mark Beaubien’s opening of the Sauganash Hotel. Both establishments are the first of their kind in Chicago and define Wolf Point as a social destination for explorers. Brothers John and Samuel Miller, along with Archibald Clybourn, successfully operated the first ferry across the North Branch of the Chicago River.

The need for a ferry is eliminated by construction of a ten-foot wide pedestrian bridge between Lake and Randolph Streets. Built of logs, it joins the north and south branches of the Chicago River.

The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad opens Chicago’s first railroad depot at Wolf Point, on the southwestern corner of Kenzie and Canal Streets. This marks the beginning of Chicago’s future designation as the railway center of North America.

The Illinois and Michigan Canal opens. It runs 96 miles from the Chicago River, eventually connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. The canal helps establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the United States. In an astonishing feat of engineering, pioneering Chicagoans reverse the flow of the Chicago River, sending pollution away from, rather than toward, Lake Michigan — the city’s source of drinking water.

Chicago businessman and department store-owner Marshall Field builds the Art Deco-style Merchandise Mart on property he owns at Wolf Point. The world’s largest building at the time, it consolidates architectural and interior design vendors and trades under a single roof. In the mid 1940s Field sells his property and the Merchandise Mart to Democratic Party figure and Kennedy family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy. The Kennedy family owns and operates the building for nearly half a century before selling it in 1998 to Vornado Realty Trust. The family retains its interest in four acres of Wolf Point land.

Mayor Richard M. Daley taps Chicago architect Carol Ross Barney to transform the narrow pedestrian walkways along the Chicago River into a dazzling waterfront promenade and gathering place. Today, the Chicago Riverwalk features lush green spaces, public art displays, and multiple establishments for drinking and dining while enjoying commanding views of the city’s renowned architecture.