Buckingham Fountain

Fall is headed our way this weekend and what better way to welcome it than with a visit to Chicago’s spectacular Buckingham Fountain. This has got to be one of my favorite city landmarks, one I never tire of visiting. Go for the inspiration. Go for the beauty. Go for the dazzling water display that takes place every hour on the hour, where you’ll see the fountain’s center jet shoot water skyward 150 feet into the air. A music and light show accompanies the water display during the evening hours, and trust me, it’s really something to see!

Located in Grant Park and dedicated in 1927, the fountain is one of the largest in the world. Its design is based on France’s Latona Fountain at the Palace of Versailles.

Constructed of Georgia pink marble, the fountain is meant to symbolize Lake Michigan, with its four bronze sea horses representing the four states surrounding it—Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana.

Back in the 1920s, when Chicagoan Kate Buckingham commissioned architect Edward H. Bennett to design the fountain in honor of her late brother Clarence, she did so to, in her words, expose all people in her beloved city to beauty and art. There is no question that she succeeded in doing so, as the iconic fountain is today one of the city’s most magnificent architectural jewels. If you haven’t been before, you should go.

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The fountain is open daily from 8am-11pm