Interesting Ideas

If you’ve spent any time looking at the limestone blocks that line the lakefront north and south of Foster Avenue Beach in Chicago you’ve probably noticed the carvings that look like they are from ancient Mexico. They should, since some — and probably all — are based on actual Mayan carvings. These art works are complex, so much so that the imagery can take careful study to decipher, just as it does in the actual Mayan ruins. There are skeletons, gods, birds and jaguars, as well as a variety of other shapes and forms as well as multiple instances of

Although there are only about two dozen carvings to be found just south of Theater on the Lake at Fullerton Avenue, many are spectacular. These carvings reside on rocks that were relocated in 2016 when the old limestone revetment was replaced with concrete and the parkland was extended slightly into the lake. Many carvings were lost in the course of the reconstruction, but these survived intact, saved at the request of the project’s landscape architect. This map is both printable and interactive — each carving links to its image. Or scroll down for a gallery of all the carvings at

Bob is the winning identity along Chicago’s Lake Michigan shore, beating out Tom, John, Jim, Bill and even Joe for the most prolific name carved into the rocks there. I’ve counted about 80 Bobs surviving along the lakefront, though there were certainly many more before miles of limestone blocks and their carvings were torn out in the shoreline protection projects of the early 2000s. So let’s celebrate Bobs, wherever they may be. Read more about Chicago’s lakefront carvings.

$40.00 Thousands of magnificent stone carvings lie hidden in plain sight along Chicago’s Lake Michigan waterfront, a collective work of art and a spontaneous monument to good times by the lake. These carvings are unique in the world and lavishly illustrated in this first book-length treatment. Description One of the world’s most remarkable outdoor art treasures lies hidden in plain sight along Chicago’s Lake Michigan waterfront. Lakefront Anonymous: Chicago’s Unknown Art Gallery tells the story of the thousands of stone carvings by unknown creators that line the city’s shore but have remained mostly invisible to the public. All together it

It took serious ambition to write on the rocks with such fine penmanship. Gold stars to all who left these accomplished inscriptions on the limestone blocks along Chicago’s lakefront.

The gallery on this page displays the handful of rock carvings along the Chicago lakefront whose location I’ve been unable to determine. These were shot on film before the days of GPS and reflect a record-keeping fail. However, I suspect most were from south of Montrose Harbor or the Belmont Rocks. All were lost when the old limestone revetments were torn out. Find lakefront carvings by location.