Inscription on plaque:
"Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable
1745 - 1818
Founder of Chicago
African-Caribbean, born in St. Marc, Haiti.
In the 1770's he opened the first trading post beside the Chicago River, establishing the settlement that became Chicago. The DuSable homestead was located near this site.
This monument is given to the City of Chicago by Haitian-born Mr. Lesly Benodin to honor the legacy of its founder."
From sculptor's Blome's website (
visit link)
"The unveiling event for this over-life-size bust of the Founder of Chicago, on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, was well attended by Chicago's Haitian Community. People sang songs, waived Haitian flags and spoke passionately about Haiti and the legacy of DuSable. It was a historic event for Chicago and a day of important recognition. October 17, 2009"
More on DuSable From wikipedia
"Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable first arrived on the western shores of Lake Michigan about 1779, where he built the first permanent nonindigenous settlement, at the mouth of the river just east of the present Michigan Avenue Bridge on the north bank.
Before it was anything else, Chicago was a trading post. As its first permanent resident, du Sable operated the first fur-trading post during the two decades before his departure in 1800. Du Sable built his first house in the 1770s on the land now known as Pioneer Court, thirty years before Fort Dearborn was established on the banks of the Chicago River. By the time he sold out to John Kinzie's frontman, Jean La Lime, for 6,000 livres, his property included a house, two barns, horse drawn mill, bakehouse, poultry house, dairy and a smokehouse. His home was a 22 by 40-foot (12 m) log cabin filled with fine furniture and paintings.
In 1800, du Sable left Chicago for Peoria, Illinois, where he lived for a decade. Du Sable moved to St. Charles, Missouri in 1813, where his granddaughter lived. He died in 1818, the year Illinois became a state."
This location was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976. There is a waymark for a related nearby marker at (
visit link)