Robert Wolf
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Concept:
As both a testament to the man DuSable and to the development of the city that began with him, I propose constructing a recreation of a homestead from the earliest period of settlement. The house would be constructed using period techniques and materials, and furnished according to the era. The grounds would be landscaped with native plants and trees. The house could be operated as a museum under the direction of the Historical Society.
The earliest building left in Chicago is the Clarke House, which dates from the 1850s. The DuSable recreation would give Chicagoans a sense of the earlier period of Chicago history, a time when Europeans and Indians both occupied the area.
The DuSable house would also present a jarring contrast between the frontier city of nature and the mega-development of today. With a location at the mouth of the river, the house would afford visitors a panoramic view of the lake and give a small measure of the view that DuSable would have seen. From the other direction, as from Navy Pier, the small house set against the backdrop of the skyline would make a clear statement of the growth and changes of the last 200 years.
Little DuSable Park, at the mouth of the river, probably presents our last chance to memorialize the early settlers of the city at a location close to the actual site of the early homesteads.
Robert
Wolf
Chicago