Lincoln Park Conservatory facts for kids
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| Established | 1877; in present location since 1893 |
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| Location | 2391 North Stockton Drive, Chicago, Illinois, USA 60614 |
The Lincoln Park Conservatory is a huge greenhouse and plant garden in Chicago, Illinois. It's located in Lincoln Park, right near Lake Michigan. This amazing place is full of plants from all over the world. It's like a giant glass house built a long time ago, in the Victorian Era.
The Conservatory has four special rooms. Each room shows off different kinds of exotic plants. For example, you can find rare orchids, like the beautiful Moth orchid, in the Orchid Room.
Right in front of the Conservatory is a beautiful formal garden. This garden is one of the oldest public gardens in Chicago. It was first designed and planted in the late 1870s. Many famous sculptures and artworks have been placed here over the years. The garden is usually planted with new flowers between May and June. The best time to see all the flowers is usually in July and August. The display lasts until mid-October.
Contents
Discovering the Lincoln Park Conservatory's Past
Long ago, conservatories were often connected to hospitals. They grew plants for medicine and for people to study. In the early 1800s, new ways of building with iron and glass became popular. This led to many large conservatories being built in cities around the world.
Chicago was growing very fast, and many people lived there. People started to worry about the effects of factories and pollution. They became very interested in collecting and learning about plants. So, the city leaders decided to build a big, new conservatory. It would replace a smaller greenhouse built in the 1870s.
Architects Joseph Lyman Silsbee and M.E. Bell designed this amazing glass building. People called it "a paradise under glass." At first, water plants were kept in a heated pond outside. Later, they were moved inside the Conservatory into special tanks. The exotic plants were so popular that in 1897, the government of Egypt even asked for seeds of water lilies from the Conservatory!
Meet the Architects Behind the Glass House
The Lincoln Park Conservatory was built between 1890 and 1895. The Lincoln Park Commission had already set up a small greenhouse there in 1877. They also planted the formal garden next to it in 1880.
More and more city people became fascinated with plants. The small greenhouse was no longer big enough for all the plants. Large conservatories with many different plants and exhibit rooms were becoming very popular.
A famous architect named Joseph Lyman Silsbee designed the Victorian-style conservatory. He worked with another Chicago architect, Mifflin E. Bell. Between 1890 and 1895, they created a glass building. It was designed to hold "a luxuriant tropical growth." Silsbee gave the conservatory an exotic look. He used special curved arches called ogee arches in the design.
Exploring the Conservatory's Plant Rooms
The Conservatory has a main entrance area and four main display halls. It also has many other rooms where plants are grown.
The Palm House
The entrance area and the Palm House opened in 1892. The Palm House is home to giant palm trees and rubber trees. One rubber tree was planted in 1891 and is now 15 meters (50 feet) tall! The Palm House shows off more than twelve different types of palms. Some unusual ones include the Dwarf Sugar and Fiji Fan palms. You might also recognize the pygmy date palm and the coconut palm. This large room also has plants that grow food. You can see banana plants, a grapefruit tree, orange trees, and even a coffee tree. There is also a sculpture called Garden Figure by Frederick Hibbard here.
The Fern Room
The Fern Room, also called the Fernery, opened in 1895. It is built a bit lower than the other rooms. This room is filled with plants that grow on the forest floor. It has a huge collection of ferns. It also has some of the oldest plants on Earth, called cycads. Fossils of these plants are at least 250 million years old! These plants are more like pine trees than palm trees.
The Orchid Room
The Tropical Room was once called the stove house. It opened in 1895. It used to have many different tropical plants hanging from bark-covered walls. Now, it's called the Orchid Room. It has about 25,000 different kinds of orchids! This room also has bromeliads and some tropical carnivorous plants. Orchids and bromeliads get their water from the air's humidity.
The Display House
The Display House, or Show House, is used for special seasonal flower exhibits. For example, there's a "Spring Flower Show" and a "Tropical Summer Show." The year often ends with a "Winter Flower and Train Show."
Gardens Around the Conservatory
The Conservatory and its surrounding gardens have always been connected. Just south of the Conservatory is the Great Garden. This large formal garden has twelve beds of colorful summer flowers and tropical plants. In the center is the Eli Bates Fountain, also known as Storks at Play. This fountain was designed by sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Frederick MacMonnies. The Great Garden is one of Chicago's oldest public gardens. It was created 20 years before the current Conservatory was built. The fountain was installed in 1886-1887.
The Schiller Monument
At the south end of the Great Garden is the Schiller Monument. It is a copy of a monument to a German poet named Friedrich Schiller. It was made in Germany and put up in 1886. A group of German citizens in Chicago helped make this happen.
The Eli Bates Fountain
The Eli Bates Fountain, or Storks at Play, is in the middle of the formal garden. It has a large, round granite pool. There are two bronze storks (or possibly herons) with their wings spread. Water shoots out of their beaks. There are also three figures that are half-boy and half-fish. They are holding large fish. Bronze reeds and cattails are in the center. This fountain was given as a gift in 1887 by Eli Bates, a rich Chicago businessman. It was designed by the famous artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens and his assistant Frederick William MacMonnies.
The Conifer Garden
Outside the Conservatory, along the west side and front, you can find the Conifer Garden. Conifers are trees and shrubs that have needle-like leaves and grow cones. Most of these conifers are evergreen plants, meaning they stay green all year round.
Changes Over Time
The Lincoln Park Conservatory has been changed a few times. In 1925, some big changes were made. The original front entrance and terrace were removed. The old pointy roof of the entryway was replaced with the bell-shaped roof you see today. A new, larger lobby was also built. The front of the Conservatory was changed and made bigger again in 1954. This was to add public restrooms and create a stronger entrance area.
See also
In Spanish: Invernadero de Lincoln Park para niños
