Hesler Panorama, 1858: North

North

North Hesler Panorama

Opposite the Courthouse on Randolph Street is the Sherman House, arguably the most impressive building erected in Chicago's early years. It was originally built in 1836-37 and was called the City Hotel. In 1844 F.C. Sherman, the builder and brickmaker who during the Civil War years served two terms as mayor, added two stories and changed the name to the Sherman House. This building was in turn torn down in 1861 and replaced with a six-story luxury hotel, constructed out of "Athens Marble" from the limestone quarries of nearby Lemont. The new Sherman House was one of several leading Chicago luxury hotels that was lost to the fire.The State of Illinois's James R. Thompson Center now occupies the block north of where the Courthouse stood.
Hesler (1823-1895) pioneered both in photography and in the settling of the Middle West. Born in Montreal, he grew up in Vermont and Wisconsin, where his family arrived by lake steamer when he was ten. He first learned how to make daguerreotypes in 1847, and soon was renowned for his work in this and other areas of photography (he introduced the stereograph to Chicago in 1854). He took many images of Chicago, where he settled in 1853, the most memorable being this sequence of photographs. Burned out by the fire, he moved to Evanston for five years before returning to the city.


	North	Hesler Panorama
	Opposite the Courthouse on Randolph Street is the Sherman House, arguably the most impressive building erected in Chicago's early years. It was originally built in 1836-37 and was called the City Hotel. In 1844 F.C. Sherman, the builder and brickmaker who during the Civil War years served two terms as mayor, added two stories and changed the name to the Sherman House. This building was in turn torn down in 1861 and replaced with a six-story luxury hotel, constructed out of "Athens Marble" from the limestone quarries of nearby Lemont. The new Sherman House was one of several leading Chicago luxury hotels that was lost to the fire.The State of Illinois's James R. Thompson Center now occupies the block north of where the Courthouse stood. Hesler (1823-1895) pioneered both in photography and in the settling of the Middle West. Born in Montreal, he grew up in Vermont and Wisconsin, where his family arrived by lake steamer when he was ten. He first learned how to make daguerreotypes in 1847, and soon was renowned for his work in this and other areas of photography (he introduced the stereograph to Chicago in 1854). He took many images of Chicago, where he settled in 1853, the most memorable being this sequence of photographs. Burned out by the fire, he moved to Evanston for five years before returning to the city.