Picture one of the largest fountains in the world, right at the heart of Grant Park. Buckingham Fountain was dedicated in 1927, a gift from Kate Buckingham in memory of her brother, and designed in a pink-marble Beaux-Arts style modeled loosely on a fountain at Versailles, but built twice its size. Its theme is Lake Michigan, with four pairs of bronze sea horses representing the four states that border the lake.
At full surge the central jet throws water 150 feet into the air. The park itself exists because of one man's stubbornness: Aaron Montgomery Ward sued the city repeatedly to keep this lakefront forever open, clear, and free, blocking developers for decades. Watch for the water display, which runs on the hour in season, and look east past the fountain to the unbroken green and the lake; that uninterrupted view is the prize Ward fought to protect.