Haymarket Square

Chicago


The odd bronze statue of guys on a wagon marks the spot where the world’s labor movement began. So the next time you take a lunch break or go home after your eight-hour workday, thank Haymarket Sq, which you’re now standing upon. Striking factory workers held a meeting here on May 4, 1886. Bombs, deaths, anarchists and hangings ensued.

The statue is meant to depict the speaker's platform at the rally.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Chicago attractions

1. Batcolumn

0.2 MILES

Artist Claes Oldenburg – known for his gigantic shuttlecocks in Kansas City and oversized cherry spoon in Minneapolis – delivered this 96ft, baseball-bat…

2. Kavi Gupta Gallery

0.28 MILES

Gupta represents contemporary, mid-career artists who work in various mediums, including painting, sculpture, collage and film. Intriguing new exhibitions…

3. Carrie Secrist Gallery

0.28 MILES

Secrist's contemporary gallery has been around for more than a quarter century. The big, open space hosts about six different exhibitions per year, both…

4. Old St Patrick’s Church

0.37 MILES

A Chicago fire survivor, this 1852 church is one of the city’s oldest. Old St Pat’s is best known for its World’s Largest Block Party, a weekend bash in…

5. Union Station

0.47 MILES

This wonderfully restored 1925 train station looks like it stepped right out of a gangster movie. In fact, it has been used to great effect in exactly…

6. Mary Bartelme Park

0.49 MILES

The neighborhood's stroller-pushing families and dog-walking hipsters get their exercise in Mary Bartelme Park. Five off-kilter stainless-steel arches…

7. theMart

0.52 MILES

TheMart, as the Merchandise Mart is now called, is the world’s largest commercial building. Spanning two city blocks, the 1931 behemoth has its own zip…

8. Richard Norton Gallery

0.54 MILES

Located in theMart amid all the home design showrooms, this gallery specializes in colorful impressionist, modernist and historical Chicago-focused works…