The monument, designed by Henry Bacon, famed architect of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and sculpted by Evelyn Beatrice Longman, is a single 70-foot (25-meter) tall "Tennessee-pink" marble Doric column, based upon the same proportions as the columns of the Parthenon in Ancient Greece, and topped by an eagle, in reference to the state flag and symbol of the state and the nation.

[4] Reliefs surrounding the base depict allegorical figures of Native Americans, explorers, Jesuit missionaries, farmers, and laborers intended to represent Illinois contributions to the nation through transportation as a railroad crossroads for passengers and freight (represented by a train extending across the arm of one of the figures), education, commerce, grain and commodities, religion and exploration, along with the "pioneering spirit" during the state's first century.

Originally developed by early settlers like Martin Kimbell (of Kimball Avenue fame) in the 1830s, forming around the towns of "Jefferson," "Maplewood," and "Avondale', the vicinity was annexed into the city of Chicago in 1889 and renamed Logan Square.

Known as the "Logan Square Boulevards District", the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and became a protected Chicago Landmark in 2005.

This began to change with the annexation of this rustic hinterland to the city in 1889 in anticipation of the World's Columbian Exposition that would focus the country's eyes on Chicago just a few years later in 1893.

Centered on Wrightwood Avenue, which was originally laid out as "Pennock Boulevard", the area was planned to be a hefty industrial and residential district.

The development was so renowned that the village was highlighted in a "History of Cook County, Illinois" authored by Weston Arthur Goodspee and Daniel David Healy.

While Homer Pennock's industrial suburb failed, Chicago's rapid expansion transformed the area's farms into clusters of factories and homes.

At the turn of the 20th century as settlement was booming, Belmont Gardens and Avondale were at the northwestern edge of the Milwaukee Avenue Polish Corridor - a contiguous stretch of Polish settlement which spanned this thoroughfare all the way from the southern tip of Wicker Park's Polonia Triangle at the intersection of Milwaukee, Division Street and Ashland Avenue, north to Irving Park Road.

Today the area still retains its blue collar feel as much of surrounding Logan Square and Avondale undergo increased gentrification.

Bucktown is a neighborhood located in the east of the Logan Square community area in Chicago, directly north of Wicker Park, and northwest of the Loop.

Bucktown gets its name from the large number of goats raised in the neighborhood during the 19th century when it was an integral part of the city's famed Polish Downtown.

Bucktown is primarily residential, with a mix of older single family homes, new builds with edgy architecture, and converted industrial loft spaces.

In the 1890s and 1900s, immigration from Poland, the annexation of Jefferson Township into Chicago and the completion of the Logan Square Branch of the Metropolitan Elevated Lines contributed to the rapid increase in Bucktown's population density.

Anti-German sentiment during World War I brought about another name-change that left today's very Anglo-Saxon sounding names: McLean, Shakespeare, Charleston, and Palmer.

The local Puerto Rican community lent heavy support for the Young Lords and other groups that participated in Harold Washington's victorious mayoral campaign.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, a growing artists' community led directly to widespread gentrification, which brought in a large population of young professionals.

Adjacent to Kosciuszko Park's border with Avondale proper near the intersection of George Street and Lawndale Avenue is St. Hyacinth Basilica, which began in 1894 as a refuge for locals to tend to their spiritual needs.

A shrine, St. Hyacinth's features relics associated with Pope John Paul II, as well as an icon with an ornate jeweled crown that was blessed by the late pontiff.

In 1897, the Polish Franciscan Sisters began building an expansive complex on Schubert and Hamlin Avenues with the construction of St. Joseph Home for the Aged and Crippled, a structure that would also serve as the motherhouse for the order.

In 1928 the Franciscan Sisters further expanded the complex by building a new St. Joseph Home of Chicago, a structure that stood until recently at 2650 North Ridgeway.

Best known as the designer and builder of West Point, Kosciuszko fought in the American Revolution and was awarded with U.S. citizenship and the rank of brigadier general as a reward.

Residents utilized the grounds at Kosciuszko Park for bonfires, festivals and neighborhood celebrations, and for a time, even an ice skating rink that would be set up every winter.

Summertime brought the opportunity for outdoor festivities, peppered with sports and amateur shows featuring softball games, social dancing, a music appreciation hour, and the occasional visit by the city's "mobile zoo".

Yet the park that lent the neighborhood its name still serves its residents, where through play, performance, and even the occasional outdoor film screening it functions as the venue where the community can come together.

Palmer was an avowed abolitionist, friend and supporter of Abraham Lincoln, and, as the Military Governor of Kentucky in 1865–1866, aggressively commanded Federal forces to root out the remnants of slavery in that state.

[21] As the bicycle craze swept Chicago beginning in the mid-1880s, the then-called Palmer Place oval became a popular track for bicycle-riding "wheelmen", also known as "scorchers", who competed with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages.

[23] Palmer Square's location places its residents within walking distance to a growing number of shops, coffee houses, bars, and restaurants, in particular, on the major streets which form the borders of the neighborhood.

Easy access to the highways and the public transportation system also makes it a popular neighborhood for commuters to the Chicago Loop and for students who attend colleges nearby, such as DePaul University.

The neighborhood has easy access to four entrances to the Kennedy Expressway (routes I-90/94) and is served by the California and Western stations of the CTA's Blue Line for a quick ride to Chicago's downtown and O'Hare .