The street at that time ran north to the Chicago River and south to the city limits.

As recently as the 1920s, North Michigan Avenue (especially the Magnificent Mile) was referred to as "Upper Boul Mich".

[3] Paris's Boulevard Saint-Michel is the original Boul Mich. North of the Chicago River today's Michigan Avenue was known as Pine Street.

In 1926, after years of clogged automobile traffic, the water tower and pumping station were separated by realigning Michigan Avenue to run between them.

In the Great Fire of 1871, all buildings on Michigan Avenue from Congress Street north to the river were destroyed.

Immediately after the fire, the character of Michigan remained residential, but the street no longer was directly on the lake shore, as after the Fire, wreckage from the burnt district was used to fill in the inner harbor of Chicago, beginning the landfills that by the 1920s had moved the lake shore more than a quarter-mile east of its original shoreline, creating space for an expanded Grant Park.

It contains a mixture of upscale department stores, restaurants, high-end retailers, office buildings and hotels, and caters primarily to tourists and the affluent.

At the northern edge of this district can be found the One Magnificent Mile building; Chicago Landmark East Lake Shore Drive District, an extremely expensive and exclusive one-block area of real estate running east from North Michigan Avenue and facing directly onto Lake Michigan; and the on-ramp to northbound Lake Shore Drive.

On the upper lever, tall office buildings and hotels line both sides of the Avenue, until Millennium Park.

In 2009, the Chicago Cultural Mile Association was created to bring "awareness of the unique strengths and diverse offerings available to visitors"[12] in this portion of Michigan Avenue.

South of Cermak Road is the Motor Row District, a historic strip along Michigan Avenue that was home to many early 20th century automobile "palaces."

Michigan Avenue continues through the South Side and dead ends at 63rd Street, just north of a rail yard and parking lots.

It then continues south to 89th Street where it dead ends once again for a housing subdivision and a railroad line.

Millennium and Van Buren Street stations are located east of Michigan Avenue serving the Metra Electric and South Shore Lines.

The avenue is also traversed by a multitude of bus routes and taxi cabs primarily in the Downtown and Magnificent Mile areas.