Site of the Sauganash Hotel/Wigwam

“Meetings were held there until the first courthouse was constructed two years later. The Wigwam, built on the same site in 1860, housed the 1860 Republican National Convention, the first national presidential convention held in Chicago and the convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for president on May 18, 1860.”

“In 1841 he died at Council Bluffs, Iowa, where the Potawatomi had been relocated after the Treaty of 1833. By 1833 Chicago had evolved, according to one writer at the time, from "an Indian wigwam town" into an "American city." On August 10 of that year, the first village board was elected, consisting of the following five trustees: T. J. V. Owen, George W. Dole, Madore B. Beaubien (Mark Beaubien's nephew), John Miller, and E. S. Kimberly.”

“Lincoln's nomination and subsequent election set in motion a series of events that ultimately led the country into the Civil War. The selection of Chicago as the site of the convention signaled the rising importance of the City in national politics and also signaled the beginning of one of the more remarkable trends in the United States' political history-since 1860, Chicago has hosted 25 national conventions, more than double the number hosted by any other city.”

“In 1839, the building once again became a hotel, which it remained until it was destroyed by fire on March 4, 1851. THE WIGWAM Nine years after the Sauganash Hotel went up in flames, a large building was erected on the same spot to house the Republican National Convention of 1860.”

“The Wigwam was dedicated on May 12, 1860, the Chicago Press and Tribune boasting that, "altogether the Wigwam is a success in design, and in its carrying out." The 1860 Republican Convention was important for many reasons.”

“Subsequently, the building was converted to commercial use and rented by merchants Brayton and Young for a market. In 1862 the Wigwam was divided into 10 stores. It is unclear what happened to the building after this.”

“According to some reports, the building may have burned in 1867, after which a block of brick store buildings was built on the site in 1870. Whatever was there in 1871 was certainly destroyed by the great fire.”

“Abraham Lincoln's nomination for the presidency at the 1860 Republican National Convention at the Wigwam in Chicago set the stage for his election as president of the United States later that year.”

“The Chicago Landmarks Ordinance allows designation of sites of importance to Chicago history even when no buildings or other "improvements" from the period of significance survive. Although nothing remains of the Sauganash Hotel or the Wigwam, the location of the site at the southeast corner of Lake Street and Wacker Drive, on the south bank of the Chicago River, still conveys its association with these important events in the city's early history.”