After detouring from my usual route south of the South Shore Cultural Center to visit several former synagogues in the South Shore area, I ended up riding diagonally south-east on South Chicago Ave, along the edge of the South Chicago neighborhood. At the 3-way intersection of South Chicago, 92nd and Exchange, there's a little triangle formed by the intersecting streets. A small monument to Christopher Columbus stands on that triangle. It looked like something I would expect to see in Grant Park or Lincoln Park, not on a relatively forsaken strip in South Chicago. As it turns out, according to a Museology web site, this monument was originally in the downtown area, but was moved to its current location in 1909.The fountain was a donation of John B Drake in 1892, apparently to commemorate the 400 year anniversary of Columbus coming to America. The artist was R. H Frank and it is fashioned in the Victorian Gothic style. According to this web site, the foundation has a recepticle holding two tons of ice and has ten faucets, each provided with a bronze drinking cup.
I rode east on 92nd and crossed the Calumet River there. As I approached the bridge, it was just closing after letting through a huge barge.
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