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Chicago Has 412 Individual Landmarks. More Than Half Were Designated Under One Mayor.

Chicago’s register of individually designated landmarks holds 412 entries, and more than half were designated in one mayor’s 22 years — about 10.4 a year under Richard M. Daley against roughly 6.5 under the next two administrations, with the pace back near Daley-era levels since 2023. Mapped area by area, with the register’s 1990s-built civic monuments included.

More than half of Chicago’s individually designated landmarks — 230 of the register’s 412 entries — were designated while Richard M. Daley was mayor, a pace of about 10.4 a year across 22 years. The pace fell by a third under the next two administrations and has picked back up since 2023, and the 12 designations dated 2025 are the most in any calendar year since 2013. The register’s designation dates run from 1970 through 2026, as retrieved August 9, 2026. One scope note before anything else: these are individual landmarks only. Chicago also designates landmark districts, which protect far more buildings and are a separate register not counted here.

Individual Landmarks dataset, Chicago data portal · retrieved August 9, 2026 · designation dates as recorded in the register
Individual landmarks by community area 409 of the register’s 412 entries, placed by their own footprints 01–45–1920+ Albany Park: 0 individual landmarksArcher Heights: 1 individual landmarkArmour Square: 3 individual landmarksAshburn: 0 individual landmarksAuburn Gresham: 1 individual landmarkAustin: 15 individual landmarksAvalon Park: 0 individual landmarksAvondale: 1 individual landmarkBelmont Cragin: 0 individual landmarksBeverly: 3 individual landmarksBridgeport: 5 individual landmarksBrighton Park: 0 individual landmarksBurnside: 0 individual landmarksCalumet Heights: 0 individual landmarksChatham: 0 individual landmarksChicago Lawn: 1 individual landmarkClearing: 0 individual landmarksDouglas: 12 individual landmarksDunning: 0 individual landmarksEast Garfield Park: 4 individual landmarksEast Side: 4 individual landmarksEdgewater: 14 individual landmarksEdison Park: 1 individual landmarkEnglewood: 6 individual landmarksForest Glen: 1 individual landmarkFuller Park: 0 individual landmarksGage Park: 0 individual landmarksGarfield Ridge: 0 individual landmarksGrand Boulevard: 15 individual landmarksGreater Grand Crossing: 1 individual landmarkHegewisch: 1 individual landmarkHermosa: 0 individual landmarksHumboldt Park: 2 individual landmarksHyde Park: 12 individual landmarksIrving Park: 8 individual landmarksJefferson Park: 0 individual landmarksKenwood: 7 individual landmarksLake View: 11 individual landmarksLincoln Park: 24 individual landmarksLincoln Square: 2 individual landmarksLogan Square: 8 individual landmarksLoop: 77 individual landmarksLower West Side: 2 individual landmarksMcKinley Park: 2 individual landmarksMontclare: 0 individual landmarksMorgan Park: 2 individual landmarksMount Greenwood: 0 individual landmarksNear North Side: 43 individual landmarksNear South Side: 12 individual landmarksNear West Side: 24 individual landmarksNew City: 3 individual landmarksNorth Center: 2 individual landmarksNorth Lawndale: 4 individual landmarksNorth Park: 2 individual landmarksNorwood Park: 2 individual landmarksOakland: 2 individual landmarksO’Hare: 0 individual landmarksPortage Park: 2 individual landmarksPullman: 0 individual landmarksRiverdale: 0 individual landmarksRogers Park: 5 individual landmarksRoseland: 3 individual landmarksSouth Chicago: 4 individual landmarksSouth Deering: 0 individual landmarksSouth Lawndale: 8 individual landmarksSouth Shore: 4 individual landmarksUptown: 13 individual landmarksWashington Heights: 0 individual landmarksWashington Park: 5 individual landmarksWest Elsdon: 0 individual landmarksWest Englewood: 1 individual landmarkWest Garfield Park: 1 individual landmarkWest Lawn: 0 individual landmarksWest Pullman: 2 individual landmarksWest Ridge: 1 individual landmarkWest Town: 14 individual landmarksWoodlawn: 6 individual landmarks
Where the individual landmarks stand Each placed landmark counts in the area where a vertex of its own recorded footprint falls — one area per landmark, even where a footprint touches a boundary; three entries could not be placed (two undated, one unresolved footprint). The method note has the details. Every area’s exact count is also printed as text directly below the map, no hover needed; twenty-four of the 77 community areas have none.
Every community area’s count, in text

Loop 77; Near North Side 43; Lincoln Park 24; Near West Side 24; Austin 15; Grand Boulevard 15; Edgewater 14; West Town 14; Uptown 13; Douglas 12; Hyde Park 12; Near South Side 12; Lake View 11; Irving Park 8; Logan Square 8; South Lawndale 8; Kenwood 7; Englewood 6; Woodlawn 6; Bridgeport 5; Rogers Park 5; Washington Park 5; East Garfield Park 4; East Side 4; North Lawndale 4; South Chicago 4; South Shore 4; Armour Square 3; Beverly 3; New City 3; Roseland 3; Humboldt Park 2; Lincoln Square 2; Lower West Side 2; McKinley Park 2; Morgan Park 2; North Center 2; North Park 2; Norwood Park 2; Oakland 2; Portage Park 2; West Pullman 2; Archer Heights 1; Auburn Gresham 1; Avondale 1; Chicago Lawn 1; Edison Park 1; Forest Glen 1; Greater Grand Crossing 1; Hegewisch 1; West Englewood 1; West Garfield Park 1; West Ridge 1.

No individual landmarks in this register: Albany Park, Ashburn, Avalon Park, Belmont Cragin, Brighton Park, Burnside, Calumet Heights, Chatham, Clearing, Dunning, Fuller Park, Gage Park, Garfield Ridge, Hermosa, Jefferson Park, Montclare, Mount Greenwood, O’Hare, Pullman, Riverdale, South Deering, Washington Heights, West Elsdon, West Lawn.

Reading the register

The Individual Landmarks dataset carries a name, address, architect, construction date, designation date, and building footprint for each entry. The designation date is a clean date field; two entries lack one and sit outside the era counts. The construction date is free text — “1873-94,” “1888” — so this page reads the first four-digit year in each as the construction start; 410 of 412 entries yield one. Some entries are sites rather than standing buildings — the register’s earliest construction date, 1803, belongs to the site of Fort Dearborn — and some are recent civic monuments: the Little Village Arch (built 1990), the Paseo Boricua gateway flags (1995), and the Rainbow Pylons and Legacy Walk (1997) all entered the register in the last decade. The register is not only old buildings.

The pace, era by era

Designations by mayoral eracountper year
  • Before Apr 24, 1989designations dated 1970 onward70
  • Richard M. DaleyApr 24, 1989 – May 16, 201123010.4
  • Rahm EmanuelMay 16, 2011 – May 20, 2019536.6
  • Lori LightfootMay 20, 2019 – May 15, 2023266.5
  • Brandon JohnsonMay 15, 2023 – Aug 9, 2026*319.6

Eras here are simply date windows — each designation is bucketed by who was mayor on its designation date, using inauguration dates, and the current era’s window runs through this page’s retrieval date rather than a completed term, which is why it carries an asterisk. The register’s busiest single year is 2003, with 24 designations; its longest sustained run is the Daley years, which produced more designations than every other era combined. The slowdown that followed was durable — about 6.6 a year under Rahm Emanuel, 6.5 under Lori Lightfoot — and the current pace, 31 designations in just over three years, works out to 9.6 a year so far. The register records dates, not reasons, and this page offers none.

Where they stand

Most individual landmarks by community arealandmarks
  • Loop77
  • Near North Side43
  • Lincoln Park24
  • Near West Side24
  • Austin15
  • Grand Boulevard15

The Loop’s 77 individual landmarks are the city’s largest collection, with the Near North Side’s 43 next — but the register is not a downtown monopoly. Austin and Grand Boulevard hold 15 apiece, tied for the most outside the central area and the North Side lakefront, and 53 of the 77 community areas hold at least one individual landmark. Twenty-four hold none — a count of this register only, which says nothing about what stands in those areas or what the separate district register protects there.

The buildings themselves

The median landmark was built in 1907 and waited a long time for its designation: the median gap between the extracted construction year and the designation date is 95 years. The construction dates run from 1803 — the Fort Dearborn site — to 1997. The architect field’s most frequent name is Frank Lloyd Wright, listed alone on 10 entries; an 11th credits him alongside Adler & Sullivan. Other firms recur under variant spellings — Holabird & Roche appears more than one way — so this page ranks no one else.

Known limits

Individual landmarks are one of Chicago’s two designation registers; landmark districts, which cover entire streetscapes and many more buildings, are a separate dataset this page does not count. Two entries carry no designation date and sit outside both the era counts and the area counts; two carry no readable construction year; and one more footprint did not resolve to a community area — which is why 409 of the 412 appear on the map. The two undated entries are off the map because the placement step runs only on dated entries — not because their footprints failed — while the other exclusions each lack the one field the figure needs. Construction years are the first year in a free-text field and can represent the start of a range. Era counts attach a designation to the mayor in office on its date; they say nothing about who initiated, supported, or opposed any designation, and the register does not record that.

  • Sources Individual Landmarks (uct4-hrvh, 412 entries) and Boundaries — Community Areas (igwz-8jzy), both retrieved August 9, 2026.
  • Eras Each designation is assigned to the window containing its designation date. Windows are the mayoral inauguration dates: Richard M. Daley April 24, 1989; Rahm Emanuel May 16, 2011; Lori Lightfoot May 20, 2019; Brandon Johnson May 15, 2023 — with everything earlier grouped, and the current window ending at retrieval. Per-year rates divide an era’s count by its length in days over 365.2425.
  • Geography Each landmark was placed in a community area by testing one vertex of its own recorded footprint against the city boundary polygons (point-in-polygon, even-odd rule), for every entry with a designation date. This assigns each landmark to exactly one area; a footprint that touches an area boundary counts where its tested vertex falls, so a boundary-straddling site is a one-area convention here, not a share-out. 409 of the 412 appear on the map: the two undated entries were not placed, and one tested footprint did not resolve. The register carries no community-area field of its own.
  • Construction years The first four-digit year (1600–2029) found in the free-text date-built field; ranges like “1873-94” contribute their first year.

Computed by KCM Desk from records retrieved August 9, 2026. If you spot an error, corrections come first.

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