Marshall Square has a long history in Chicago, named for a resident from the earliest days of Chicago, James A. Marshall.  The square includes several landmark buildings: a theater that was originally a vaudeville showcase (called the Marshall Square Theater); an architectural gem that was once a high school named in memory of 5-time mayor Carter Harrison, which is now known as Saucedo Scholastic Academy; a bronze statue paying tribute to early French explorers Marquette and Joliet.

Marshall Square is an enclave formed by a curve in one segment of Chicago’s famous Boulevard system (this section is called Marshall Boulevard), which comprises a 27 mile ring that encircles the city, and was the outskirts of the city in the 1890s.  Most of the Marshall Square area was built up around 1905 to 1920, with the high school opening around 1910, the theater in 1917, and many of the buildings along the Boulevard built between 1905 and 1912.  The Boulevard buildings have been cited by the city of Chicago as architecturally significant, and have been surveyed as part of an initiative to assign historic landmark status to the entire green Boulevard system.  Marshall Boulevard is unique along the boulevard in that this section does not have a “service drive”, so the homes on Marshall have only a vast green space separating them from the street traffic of the Boulevard itself, with no ‘service’ traffic or parking in front of the buildings.

Just north of Marshall Square, the boulevard runs through Douglas Park, a grand pastoral space which had been a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War, but was later turned into parkland, and landscaped so beautifully that it was a tourist attraction during the late 1890s into the 1920s, when the “Douglas Park” branch of the famous Chicago elevated system terminated at the south end of the park (at Marshall Boulevard).  Several bridges in the north lagoons date to the original dedication of the park, as well as structures in the south half of the park which were originally part of a large flower house which included a famous water lily garden.  Recent efforts to restore the park have included a lovely wetlands restoration near the lagoon and boathouse.  In recent years, the annual Riot Fest music festival has called Douglas Park its home.  Ogden Avenue, the old Route 66, bisects the park into north and south halves early in the trip wending its way to the West Coast.

Famous residents of Marshall Square include Mayor Anton Cermak, who formed the original multi-ethnic coalition that became known as the Chicago Machine; political author and newspaper columnist Mike Royko, who once worked as an usher at the Marshall Square Theater; jazz legend Benny Goodman, who attended Carter Harrison high school; and early NFL player and legendary Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet.