Taken from the East Congressional Parkway, Van Buren Metra station in the foreground. The building with the circular windows on top now has a Motorola sign.

The big white building in front of the Art Institute is the Peoples Gas Co. building, completed in 1910.

Here are two shots (date unknown) of the interior showing the gorgeous glass ceiling. I wish I could find more photos of the interior of the building.

This is the Illinois Central disgorging passengers at Van Buren Street station. The rail yards on the far right have now been covered over by Grant Park.

The building at the northwest corner of Jackson and Michigan is the Railway Exchange (later the Santa Fe building). My father-in-law's office, 40 years later, was on the 15th floor, northeast corner, visible in this pic.

The two largest buildings in this photo are both works of the office of D. H. Burnham & Co.: the Railway Exchange (now the Santa Fe Center) at left, built 1903-1904, and the People's Gas Building at right, built 1910-1911. The two-bay "penthouse" perched atop the cornice of the Railway Exchange was originally occupied by part of the Burnham architectural office; it was cut back during the building's restoration in the 1980s so that it is no longer visible from the street. This small change made a distinct improvement in the building's appearance.

I was just thinking of this place the other day. The building in the foreground background is the Art Institute of Chicago. Every year after Thanksgiving, they put the wreaths around the necks of the lions that stand in front of the building.

The area still looks fairly similar to what it looked like back in 1915. The train tracks are still there, and most of the buildings along Michigan Avenue are still there.

On our left, the first two large buildings and that interesting tiny one have been replaced.

Next, the intersection of Michigan and Jackson Drive. In the summer of 1926 Jackson Drive would become the very start of Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles!

The next two buildings are today known as the Sante Fe Building and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

And of course the Art Institute overlooks the train station.

The statue atop the Montgomery Ward building was later moved a couple of miles to Ward's Chicago Avenue building, where she still resides. She is depicted on many Ward's stores around the country.