This U.S. Army Post was named after Civil War Cavalry General Philip Sheridan, to honor his many services to Chicago (1868-1883).
The Commercial Club of Chicago, concerned since 1877 with the need for a military garrison, was motivated by the Haymarket Riot in 1886 to arrange for the donation of 632 acres of land to the Federal Government for this purpose. Troops arrived in November 1887 and were used in 1894 to quell labor unrest during the Pullman strike.
Fort Sheridan became a mobilization, training, and administrative center beginning with the Spanish American War in 1898. During World War II, over 500,000 men and women were processed through military service here. Many Army officers who later became famous lived here, including George Patton and Jonathan Wainwright.
The 94 Historic District buildings, built 1889-1910, include 64 structures that were the first major works of architects William Holabird and Martin Roche of Chicago. These earliest buildings are made of bricks molded and fired on site, using clay mined from lakefront bluffs. The water tower, originally the tallest structure in the Chicago area, was altered and shortened by 60 feet in 1940. The row of buildings flanking the tower were troop barracks.
The 110-acre Historic District, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1984. Fort Sheridan closed in 1993.
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