Hyde Park was a quiet lakeside suburb until 1893, when the World's Fair came to Jackson Park and brought 27 million visitors with it. The University of Chicago rose next door, with Rockefeller money and Gothic towers, and the neighborhood grew into a place of professors, writers and politicians, among them a young lawyer named Barack Obama. This walk takes you from the Obamas' house past their first-kiss rock and his favorite breakfast, out to Promontory Point for the skyline, through Jackson Park to the Obama Presidential Center and into the university, past Robie House and the spot where the atomic age began, to a beer at Jimmy's. The Obama Center's museum needs a ticket booked ahead.
- Nearest station
- 51st-53rd Street (Hyde Park) Metra · 13 min walk to the start
The first 3 stops
Try these stops for free in the app. The full stories and directions are waiting for you there.
1Obama Family Home
2KAM Isaiah Israel
3Heller House
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🔒34 more stops to discover
In the app, Hyde Park will be $2.99 for the full 6.0 mi route: every stop's photos and stories, and GPS guidance that tells you when you've arrived.
Coming soon to the PaveTrail app. The Chicago walks are on their way; New York's 26 walks are in the app now.
Also on this walk: Valois, Promontory Point, Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and more
Sights
- Clarence Darrow Bridge
- Cobb Gate
- Garden of the Phoenix
- Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
- Harper Theater
- Hyde Park Historical Society
- ISAC Museum
- Main Quadrangles
- Mansueto Library
- Midway Plaisance
- Nuclear Energy
- Obama Kissing Rock
- Obama Presidential Center
- Promontory Apartments
- Promontory Point
- Robie House
- Rockefeller Chapel
- Smart Museum of Art
- The Renaissance Society
Food and drink
- Daisy's Po-Boy
- Harold's Chicken Shack
- Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap
- La Boulangerie
- Medici on 57th
- Morry's Deli
- Plein Air Café
- The Cove
- Valois
- Virtue
Shops
- 57th Street Books
- First Aid Comics
- Hyde Park Hair Salon
- Hyde Park Records
- Seminary Co-op
