{"nrhp_refnum":"87000820","name":"Shedd, John G., Aquarium","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1200 S. Lake Shore Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.86767808500008,"lon":-87.61396998399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-02-27","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1987-02-27","areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A public aquarium building at 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive on the Chicago lakefront, built in 1929 and opened in June 1930, designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst and White. It is clad in white Georgia marble and shaped like an octagon.","why_significant":"It was the first inland aquarium in the United States to keep a permanent collection of both fresh-water and salt-water fishes and other aquatic life. With the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum it forms a cultural complex on the lakefront. Along with Soldier Field, these buildings are the main surviving on-site structures from the 1933-34 \"A Century of Progress\" exposition.","narrative":"Built in 1929 and opened in June 1930 on the Chicago lakefront, this octagonal aquarium was the first inland aquarium in the United States to maintain permanent fresh-water and salt-water collections. Merchant John G. Shedd, a Marshall Field and Company executive, endowed it with a $2,000,000 agreement in 1925 and later added $1,000,000. The architects, Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, also designed the nearby Field Museum and made the aquarium harmonize with it. White Georgia marble covers the exterior, and a Doric temple portico marks the entrance. A skylit tower topped with a trident rises above the central rotunda. Inside, sea creature motifs appear in light fixtures, mosaics, brass railings and tiles. Galleries radiate from the rotunda, which now holds a coral reef tank installed in 1970. Together with the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum, the aquarium forms a lakefront cultural group, and these buildings survive from the 1933-34 Century of Progress exposition.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1929)","architect_builder":"Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White","architectural_style":"Classical (Classic Doric temple portico with simple Classic lines and marine-themed ornament)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, unaltered, on its original site, and occupied as a museum and recreation facility.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.28414-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/8915/28891576/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/87000820_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000820/f0943c2aec-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000820/f0943c2aec-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Madeleine_H","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shedd_Aquarium_-_7714039518.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Madeleine_H</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shedd_Aquarium_-_7714039518.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891576","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shedd_Aquarium","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2166515"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/shedd-john-g-aquarium-87000820/"}