LaSalle Street Blue Hour Panoramic...

Pictured here is LaSalle street, which is the heart of the financial district here in Chicago. The street was nicknamed "The Canyon" due to the tall, steep buildings that lie on both ends of the relatively narrow street, with the Chicago Board of Trade Building as the abrupt end of the apparent box canyon. LaSalle was one of three streets in Chicago to have a tunnel under the Chicago River, the other two being Washington and Van Buren. Constructed in 1869-71 and originally open only to private vehicles and pedestrians, the 2000 foot long tunnel alleviated interruptions from bridge openings due to heavy river traffic. It also served as an escape route during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In the 1880's, the LaSalle tunnel was turned over to cable car companies since they couldn't span the bridges that opened. More improvements were made in 1906, when the tunnel was deepened and widened. It reopened 5 years later to electric street car traffic in 1911. The tunnel was closed permanently in 1939 to make way for subway construction, which now continues to be the heart of Chicago's mass transit system.

The original file of this image is 41 megapixels and has a native resolution of 9441 x 4261...

LaSalle Street Blue Hour Panoramic...

Pictured here is LaSalle street, which is the heart of the financial district here in Chicago. The street was nicknamed "The Canyon" due to the tall, steep buildings that lie on both ends of the relatively narrow street, with the Chicago Board of Trade Building as the abrupt end of the apparent box canyon. LaSalle was one of three streets in Chicago to have a tunnel under the Chicago River, the other two being Washington and Van Buren. Constructed in 1869-71 and originally open only to private vehicles and pedestrians, the 2000 foot long tunnel alleviated interruptions from bridge openings due to heavy river traffic. It also served as an escape route during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In the 1880's, the LaSalle tunnel was turned over to cable car companies since they couldn't span the bridges that opened. More improvements were made in 1906, when the tunnel was deepened and widened. It reopened 5 years later to electric street car traffic in 1911. The tunnel was closed permanently in 1939 to make way for subway construction, which now continues to be the heart of Chicago's mass transit system.

The original file of this image is 41 megapixels and has a native resolution of 9441 x 4261...