Beautiful monument and location overlooking the river!

You will find a bronze bust of the Founder of Chicago, Haitian born Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, just past the Michigan Ave (Du Sable Bridge) crossing of the Chicago River at Pioneer Court. This is the work of local sculptor, Erik Blome (2009) and depicts a middle-aged Du Sable who is recognised for being the first permanent, non-indigenous settler in what would later become the city of Chicago. The bust location is very near to where Du Sable built a homestead around 1780. He would live there until 1800. There is a National Historic Landmark plaque marking this spot which you can find just a few meters from the Du Sable bust. It is worth having a look-see as well if you are interesting in history and monument and landmark viewing during your travels.

I didn't see this the first few times I passed it. I finally saw it during my last visit and when I read the plaque below the bust I was shocked at how little and hidden away this is. This man played a rather significant role in Chicago's history and yes he gets the most famous center city bridge named after him, but his monument is something you could miss repeatedly while walking past it. I'd like to take a poll of Chicago residents who could even locate this monument. Chicago should be making a bigger deal about this person and this location of significance!

I visited this site in July -- there were a lot of people passing by, and stopping at this monument -- the bronze bust of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the first settler in the area and the founder of Chicago. Everybody stopped and read the commemorative plaque, many took photos of the monument and with the monument.I liked the sculpture of DuSable very much, it looks very proper, it also projects a very strong image of a historic figure, and has a powerful cultural meaning.The monument, created by the Chicago artist Erik Blome, was placed on the edge of The Pioneer Court Plaza (4 River Esplanade), very close to the DuSable Bridge (The Michigan Avenue Bridge). This is an excellent place for any historic sculpture. However, the grandiose dimensions and overpowering presence of the surroundings (large historic buildings, modern skyscrapers and high-rises), a heavy traffic on the bridge (quite often, a heavy human traffic!) may affect the visual perception of the sculpture. I am glad, I saw this monument myself.

When I first became acquainted with Du Sable High School's basketball team in 1954 and later covered Du Sable basketball teams in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s while working for the Chicago Daily News and Chicago Sun-Times, I didn't know who Du Sable was. Along the way, I got educated on the subject. Today, Du Sable is everywhere. For those who don't know, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable was the Founder of Chicago, the city's first citizen, a fur-trading entrepreneur of African descent who was the first permanent, non-native resident of Chicago. The Du Sable monument, a large bronze bust situated on a granite pedestal, was created by Chicago-born sculptor Erik Blome and erected in 2009 at 401 North Michigan Avenue, or 4 River Esplanade, in Pioneer Court, on the north bank of the Chicago River, in the shadow of the Equitable Building. It is on the site where Du Sable founded his trading post and established his homesite in 1779. Pioneer Court was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Aside from the homesite and monument, Du Sable also is remembered by other city landmarks: Du Sable High School, a harbor, a park, the first African-American history museum in the United States and the Du Sable Bridge, once known as the Michigan Avenue Bridge, which is adjacent to the monument and homesite.