A Walk in Jackson Park: From the 1893 Columbian Exposition to the Obama Presidential Center

In this tour, you'll both go back in time and speed forward while experiencing why Chicago is called Urbs in Horto -- a City in a Garden. You'll learn about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and how it shaped the city moving forward; how Chicago was eager to host the Columbian Exposition of 1893 to showcase its sophistication and innovation and to celebrate the U.S. having become the world's largest industrial nation. You'll walk the grounds of Jackson Park, redesigned by Frederick Law Olmsted and Daniel Burnham to host the Exposition; admire the Columbian Basin and the Museum of Science and Industry, the only building left from the White City; walk onto the Wooded Island and the golf course; and go east to the lakefront to take in the harbors. You will also experience the newly opened Obama Presidential Center (OPC) and its 19-acre campus. At the end of the tour, you'll decide whether to push through to 63rd Street Beach or turn around to go spend time either at the MSI or the OPC, if you have tickets.

- Meet on the south side of the Columbian Basin, under the cherry trees - Learn about Chicago's early history (pre-1871), and the changes the Great Chicago Fire unleashed - Hear how the Columbian Exposition came to be known as the White City, and what is left of it - Start strolling through the park, from the Wooded Island, with the Japanese Garden and the Yoko Ono sculpture, while looking at the Obama Presidential Center from the lagoon - Learn about the flora and fauna of the prairie -- the marshes and the wild grasses - Make your way to the Statue of the Republic, the golf course, and the harbors - Learn about the Chicago Lakefront, its 27 beaches, and its preservation - After going around the whole lagoon, you may press on to the OPC, or the MSI, or 53st Street for a stroll and a bite.