On State Street

Chicago's great State Street is the brainchild of Potter Palmer, one of Chicago's most successful entrepreneurs. In the mid-1800s, he purchased three quarters of a mile of land along a narrow, muddy street known as State Street, so named because it was the main route south through the state of Illinois. By the 1870s, the street was the city's busy and exciting retail center, with such famed stores as Marshall Field's, Carson Pirie Scott, and the Boston Store attracting an enormous clientele. The famous Marshall Field's clock, jutting out from the State Street store, provides the perfect backdrop for this animated couple.