The Wigwam was a convention center and meeting hall that served as the site of the
1860 Republican National Convention
The 1860 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met May 16-18 in Chicago, Illinois. It was held to nominate the Republican Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election. The conve ...
.
[ It was located in ]Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, at Lake Street and Market (later Wacker Drive
Wacker Drive is a major multilevel street in Chicago, Illinois, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River in the Loop.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, ''Streetwise Chicago'', "Wacker ...
) near the Chicago River. This site had previously been the site of the Sauganash Hotel, Chicago's first hotel. This is where supporters ushered Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
to the party nomination and the eventual U.S. Presidency. The location at Lake and Wacker was designated a Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor of Chicago, Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, ...
on November 6, 2002. The name "Wigwam", although separate structures, was later associated with host locations for both the 1864 Democratic National Convention
The 1864 Democratic National Convention was held at The Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois.
The Convention nominated Major General George B. McClellan from New Jersey for president, and Representative George H. Pendleton of Ohio for vice presiden ...
and the 1892 Democratic National Convention
The 1892 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, June 21–June 23, and nominated former President Grover Cleveland, who had been the party's standard-bearer in 1884 and 1888. This marked the last time a former president was ...
in Chicago.
The building
The two-story Wigwam was built by Chicago business leaders to attract the 1860 Convention. It was a temporary structure, built entirely of wood in little more than a month, and it could accommodate 10–12,000 people. The building was used for political and patriotic meetings during the Convention and the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. It also served as a retail space until its demolition
Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...
, some time between 1867 and 1871.
Following the Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...
of 1871, another "Wigwam" building at Washington (one city block south of Lake) and Market served as the temporary home of the Chicago Board of Trade
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), established on April 3, 1848, is one of the world's oldest futures and options exchanges. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other excha ...
.
Antebellum
Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to:
United States history
* Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States
** Antebellum Georgia
** Antebellum South Carolina
** Antebellum Virginia
* Antebellum a ...
custom was to call a political campaign headquarters a Wigwam. Wigwam
A wigwam, wickiup, wetu ( Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam ( Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wickiup ...
is also a Native American word for "temporary shelter".
History
Sauganash Hotel
Mark Beaubien built a tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
on the site of the later Wigwam in 1829–30. In 1831, he added a frame to the log structure to create Chicago's first hotel, the Sauganash Hotel, on the east bank of the south branch of the Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...
at the point where the north and south branches meet. The newly formed Town of Chicago elected its first town trustees in 1833 in the hotel. The building briefly served as Chicago's first theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, and it hosted the first Chicago Theatre company in 1837 in an abandoned dining room. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1851, and the Wigwam was built in its place nine years later.
Conventions
Chicago has hosted the most United States presidential nominating convention
A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purp ...
s (14 Republican National Conventions and 11 Democratic National Conventions, in addition to one notable Progressive Party assembly). The 1860 Republican National Convention (the second Republican National Convention) was held at the Wigwam. The 1864 Democratic National Convention
The 1864 Democratic National Convention was held at The Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois.
The Convention nominated Major General George B. McClellan from New Jersey for president, and Representative George H. Pendleton of Ohio for vice presiden ...
was hosted in a different "Wigwam" built for the convention as a semicircular roofed amphitheater
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
. These were the first Chicago visits for each party's national convention. Baltimore has hosted 10 and Philadelphia has hosted 9. The 1868 Republican National Convention
The 1868 Republican National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, on May 20 to May 21, 1868. Ulysses S. Grant won the election and became the 18th president of t ...
returned to Chicago, but it was located at the Crosby Opera House. The 1892 Democratic National Convention
The 1892 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, June 21–June 23, and nominated former President Grover Cleveland, who had been the party's standard-bearer in 1884 and 1888. This marked the last time a former president was ...
convened in a temporary "Wigwam" in Lake Park for Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
's third nomination.
1860 Republican National Convention
The 1860 Republican National Convention was eventful for its nomination of Abraham Lincoln, who went on to a Presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...
notably marked by the onset of the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
and the abolition of slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. During the convention, backroom dealing and political scheming played a role in the outcome.[ Nevertheless, Lincoln, who had stayed in Springfield during the convention, received vociferous support and carried the nomination.]
Today
Today, the corner of W. Lake Street and N. Wacker Drive bears the address of 191 N. Wacker. This address is in the West Loop neighborhood of the Loop community area in Chicago. The 157 m (516 ft), 37-story office tower, named 191 North Wacker, was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and built in 2002. The major tenants include Drinker, Biddle & Reath, Much Shelist, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Heitman Financial, and RSM McGladrey
RSM US LLP is an audit, tax, and consulting firm focused on the middle market in the United States and Canada and is a member of the global accounting network RSM International. It is the fifth largest accounting firm in the United States and em ...
. In 2017, the city rededicated plaques gifted in the early 20th century by the Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence.
A non-profit group, they promot ...
, which commemorate the nomination of Lincoln at the Wigwam, and the Saganaush Hotel.
References
External links
{{Chicago Landmark memorials and monuments
Commercial buildings completed in 1860
Former buildings and structures in Chicago
History of Chicago
Chicago Landmarks
Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago