twice weekly to allow sailboats to pass between Lake Michigan and inland boat yards where they are stored for the winter. Decoration In 1928, sculptures depicting scenes from Chicago's history were added to the outward-facing walls of the four bridgehouses. The sculptures on the northern bridgehouses were commissioned by William Wrigley Jr. and made by James Earle Fraser: The Discoverers depicts Louis Joliet, Jacques Marquette, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri de Tonti; The Pioneers depicts John Kinzie leading a group through the wilderness. The sculptures on the southern bridgehouses were commissioned by the Benjamin F. Ferguson Monument Fund, and are by Henry Hering: Defense depicts Ensign George Ronan in a scene from the 1812 Battle of Fort Dearborn; Regeneration depicts workers rebuilding Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The bridge is also bedecked with 28 flagpoles, usually flying the flags of the United States, Illinois and Chicago. On special occasions other banners may be displayed. McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum The southwest bridgehouse has been converted into a museum, with its entrance off the Chicago Riverwalk. The McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum is a 5-floor, museum that opened on June 10, 2006; it is named for Robert R. McCormick, formerly owner of the Chicago Tribune and president of the Chicago Sanitary District. The Robert R. McCormick Foundation was the major donor that helped to provide the $950,000 cost of the formation of the museum. It is run by the Friends of the Chicago River, and includes exhibits on the history of the Chicago River and the bridge. Visitors are also allowed to access the bridge's gear room; during the spring and fall bridge lifting, visitors can see the bridge gears in operation as the leaves are raised and lowered. Due to its small size and tight access stairway, only 79 people are allowed inside the museum at any one time. In July 2019, the museum welcomed its 250,000th guest. Chicago Tribune cultural arts writer Steve Johnson called the museum's gear room, where the DuSable Bridge mechanics can be viewed working, "a little chamber of heaven for infrastructure nerds." See also Historic Michigan Boulevard District List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Illinois Multilevel streets in Chicago References Notes References Bibliography External links McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum 1920 establishments in Illinois Bascule bridges in the United States