Streeterville

Meet the Chicagoans who had the vision -- or the chicanery -- to turn a worthless marsh into the amazing cityscape that is modern Streeterville.

The towering buildings between beautiful Lake Michigan and Chicago's "Magnificent Mile" didn't just happen. Follow the development from mud and sand to office towers and exclusive residences. The cast includes Cap'n Streeter, real estate genius Potter Palmer, developer Jerrold Wexler, and architect Mies van der Rohe, as well as activists who fought against development. Author Wayne Klatt traces the evolution of the Streeterville neighborhood from lake shore mansions, through a postwar fallow period, and then to an energetic burst of construction that gave Chicago its new downtown.