The Riverside Historic District, also known as Riverside Landscape Architecture District, encompasses what is arguably one of the first planned

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The district encompasses the majority of the village of Riverside,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, a suburb just west of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. It was planned and designed by

Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape architect, landscape designer. He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed park ...

and

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

and features a number of architecturally distinguished buildings.National Register Information System
Accessed 2010-19-03.

History

According to "Riverside in 1871 With a Description of its Improvements", a booklet by The Riverside Improvement Company, The Riverside Improvement Company was established in April, 1869 to build a charming, modern suburban neighborhood called "Riverside". About nine miles from Chicago, Riverside covers about 1,600 acres of land along the

Des Plaines River The Des Plaines River ( ) is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American H ...

. Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, furnished the plans for Riverside. Throughout the village, winding roads and green areas along the river create a park-like setting. Walter Creese called it "The Greatest American Suburb". The Water Tower in Riverside was designed by Jenney, Schermerhorn & Bogart, Architects and Engineers. Like the

Water Tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

in Chicago, the Riverside Water Tower is a well-known landmark in the area. It is both a water tank and a decorative element in the village-scape. The Riverside district includes the streets, parkways, parklands, and historic gas street lighting in the area bounded by 26th St., Harlem and Ogden Aves., the Des Plaines River, and Forbes Rd. Also included are the many homes and estates designed by architects such as

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the ''Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American archi ...

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...

William Le Baron Jenney William Le Baron Jenney (September 25, 1832 – June 14, 1907) was an American architect and engineer known for building the first skyscraper in 1884. In 1998, Jenney was ranked number 89 in the book ''1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking th ...

Frederick Clarke Withers Frederick Clarke Withers (4 February 1828 – 7 January 1901) was an English architect in America, especially renowned for his Gothic Revival ecclesiastical designs. For portions of his professional career, he partnered with fellow immigrant Cal ...

, and

.The Village of Riverside
Accessed 2010-19-03. Several homes, such as the F. F. Tomek House and the Coonley House, have individually received

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

status. All but about of the village was designated a

in 1970. and

References

External links

National Historic Landmarks Riverside page
{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Illinois Riverside, Illinois Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Cook County, Illinois

History

See also

References

External links