The sad demise of a 20-foot tall bronze statue of Christopher Columbus after Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

This $50,000 ($1,330,000 today) monument to Christopher Columbus was made for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition by sculptor Howard Kretschmar of Chicago. It was originally placed in Lake Front Park (today's Grant Park) at the "Gateway to the Exposition," at Michigan Avenue and Congress Street.

The statue, in bronze, was twenty feet high, surmounting a granite pedestal thirty feet tall. Columbus' left hand was held to the chest, his right hand extended at his side, and his legs astride. The monument formed the design for souvenirs of the Exposition. The profits from sales were to be used to pay back the borrowed $50,000.

This 1902 photo shows the Christopher Columbus statue lying on the ground, waiting to be melted and reused.

The reaction from the public was immediate and adverse. There are numerous articles in the Chicago Tribune newspaper archives denouncing the statue. The concession never happened, and no money was ever paid back.

The statue was removed and placed in storage in June of 1897. 

In September of 1902, a proposal was put forth to recycle the metal from the Christopher Columbus statue. The metal would be used to make for a figure to honor President McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901.  

That, in fact, was done!

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The De-Mil Putting [Golf] Course was at the north-west corner of Devon and Milwaukee Avenues in Chicago.

The De-Mil Putting Course was located at 6422 North Milwaukee Avenue (north-west corner), at DEvon and MILwaukee Avenues, was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Dolatowski. Before the Kentucky Fried Chicken opened on the corner, there was a City Service gas station there. The golf course wrapped around the back of the business with land facing both Devon and Milwaukee Avenues.

This photo of the De-Mil Putting Course was shot in 1979.

This was a pretty simple layout for a putting. The course greens were topped with a very fine crushed stone rather than carpet or astroturf. The stone was hand-sifted to make sure the greens had the smallest/finest stone for covering the surface. They hosed-down the greens once or twice a day to keep them level and maintain dust control.

The trick to the lowest score on the course was playing the ball off of the sideboards. There were certain locations on the sideboards of each hole that when hit at the correct speed would generate a hole-in-one. 

The course had a small hot dog & refreshment stand that was run by Mrs. Dolatowski

It was known that Mr. and Mrs. Dolatowski’s teenage son, Bill, would regularly play the eighteen holes in 30 strokes or less.

The course was open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, 7-days a week. After Labor Day, it was open weekends until Halloween. In the winter Mr. Dolatowski, taught violin and sometimes drove a cab.

There’s an apartment building on the site today with a "Blaze-N-Grill" restaurant on the corner.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.
A special "Thank You" to Bob Rogan, for adding some details about De-Mil.