we were staying nearby and i did a morning run loop through here. Really interesting to see the older industrial side of the city, not sure i'd say it's a must see but an interesting stop by if you're in the area

Honestly was expecting more than just a rusty old gate. A couple of plaques but not much else to engage with. Felt like a quick photo stop more than an actual attraction. If you’re nearby it’s okay but don’t go out of your way for this one.

I remember Chicago's Union Stock Yards. In the 1950s, when my friends and I used to attend major league baseball games at Comiskey Park. We could smell the odor emanating from the nearby meatpacking industry that was described as the hog butcher of the world from 1865 to 1971. Today, all that is left is the Union Stock Yard Gate. Located on Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street on Chicago's South Side, it was the eastern entrance to the famous Union Stock Yards, which occupied over 475 acres to the west, and is the only significant structural element to survive. It was designed a Chicago Landmark in 1972, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and acclaimed a National Historic Landmark in 1981. The plaza surrounding the gate also includes the city's principal memorial to its firefighters. The gate is a limestone construction with a central main arch flanked by two smaller arches. The main arch is 16 feet wide and 17 feet high with the surmounting truncated hip roof giving the structure a total height of 32 feet. One of the side arches retains an iron grillwork gate of a style that both of side arches would have originally had. The gate, designed by the notable architects Daniel Burnham and John W. Root, and an accompanying gatehouse (since demolished) were the only substantial buildings to survive a fire that leveled the stock yards in 1934. Restored in the 1970s, after the stock yards were closed, the limestone gate now stands as one of the few reminders of Chicago's past dominance in the meatpacking industry. Over the center arch of the gate is a bust of Sherman, the favorite bull of Union Stock Yards founder John B. Sherman.

I remember the way it was in the 1950s, when the Union Stock Yards on Chicago's South Side was still the meatpacking capital of the world, when it was known as the hog butcher for the world, when you you could smell the steers and hogs while watching a game at nearby Comiskey Park, when my uncle was a foreman at one of the largest meatpacking companies. Located on Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street, you can get a clear view of the gate while driving on Halsted Street. It is the only surviving structural survivor of the Union Stock Yards, which were established in 1865 and closed in 1971. During that time, the Union Stock Yards became an integral part of the popular culture of Chicago's history. The gate, the eastern entrance to the Union Stock Yards, was designed in 1875 by architect James Wellborn Root and built in 1879. It is a limestone construction with a central arch flanked by two smaller arches. The main arch is 16 feet wide and 17 feet high. Over the arch is the famous bust of Sherman, the favorite prize-winning bull of John B. Sherman, who was founder of the Union Stock Yards and Transit Company. The plaza surrounding the gate also includes Chicago's principal memorial to its firefighters with a statue with the names of all Chicago firefighters ever killed in the line of duty engraved on its base. The gate was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designed a Chicago Landmark in 1972 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1981.

Yes, there is unfortunately not much left. But since it is a very big part of Chicago history and one of my great grand uncles who immigrated to Chicago from Germany worked there. So I really wanted to stop by.