14 Facts About Potter Palmer

Potter Palmer was an American businessman who was responsible for much of the development of State Street in Chicago.

Potter Palmer founded a dry goods store, Potter Palmer and Company, on Lake Street in Chicago in 1852.

Potter Palmer made the store much larger and more distinctive than other stores of the time.

Potter Palmer was the first owner to advertise with large window displays that included price comparisons.

When Potter Palmer's doctor urged him to get out of the business in 1865 because of ill health, he brought in partners Marshall Field and Levi Leiter.

In 1865, Potter Palmer went to his doctor complaining of being overworked and stressed.

Potter Palmer's doctor advised him to retire from actively managing his store at the age of 38.

In 1867, Potter Palmer sold his share of the partnership and went on vacation in Europe for three years before returning to Chicago to focus his efforts on his real estate interests, leasing a new building to his former partners in 1868 at State and Washington.

Potter Palmer built several buildings along State Street "on three-fourths of a mile frontage," including the Palmer House Hotel.

When his buildings were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire, Potter Palmer borrowed $1.7 million to rebuild, the largest amount lent to a private individual up to that time.

Potter Palmer reclaimed the swampland north of Chicago's commercial district, developing it into Lake Shore Drive.

Potter Palmer moved the city's main commercial district from Lake Street, which ran east and west, to State Street, which ran north and south, parallel with the lake the way Chicago's downtown is currently oriented.

In 1885 Potter Palmer built the castle-like Potter Palmer Mansion on Lake Shore Drive, leading to the establishment of the Gold Coast.

Potter Palmer is buried in Graceland Cemetery in the north side neighborhood known today as Uptown, Chicago.