Nearly 500 rock carvings survive on the limestone steps in the Montrose Beach/Montrose Harbor area of Chicago, although many of those along Montrose Beach are buried under encroaching sand. You can click on the map below for a downloadable and interactive set of maps that show the locations of the most interesting carvings in this area. This document is suitable for printing, or you can click on each carving description to see an image of the artwork.
Below the map is a gallery showing all the carvings, from north at the dog beach to south, just past the entrance to Montrose Harbor.
There once were hundreds more carvings along Montrose Harbor, but they were lost when the Army Corps of Engineers replaced the old limestone revetments with a concrete-and-steel deck. Click here to view a selection of the lost carvings, which included some of the finest sculptures the city has seen.
Don’t forget to take a look at the lost carvings here.
Find lakefront carvings by location.