Forgotten Rail Yard Under Chicago s Largest Historic Building - Merchandise Mart

Claim your SPECIAL OFFER for MagellanTV here: https://try.magellantv.com/itshistory/. Start your free trial TODAY so you can watch, Vertical City, John Hancock Center, Chicago and the rest of MagellanTV’s history collection: https://www.magellantv.com/watch/vertical-city-rediscovering-great-heights-around-the-world?type=e&episode=john-hancock-center-chicago Did you know that Chicago has a massive building with its own zip code? That’s right, and in 1930, the Merchandise mart opened its doors to the world as the largest building in the world. The 4 million square foot area served such a large influx of visitors daily that it required its own L stop and connection to Chicago’s now abandoned 60 miles of underground freight tunnel. Perhaps what mystifies me most is that Merchandise Mart was built above a massive train yard and that, for many decades, sub-terrain freight train delivery was possible in the heart of Chicago. This near-century-old art deco masterpiece still stands on the bank of the Chicago river and serves around 20,000 people daily in modern times. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzIZ8HrzDgc-pNQDUG6avBA/join 03:11 - Why Merchandise Mart’s land has always been important to Chicago trade 06:13 - Construction of Merchandise Mart 07:03 - How big is Merchandise Mart? 07:50 - Merchandise Mart’s Grand opening 08:53 - Why Merchandise Mart is a “city within a city.” 10:06 - Tour of Merchandise Mart 14:05 - The History of Radio Broadcast at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart 16:37 - The Merchandise Mart Train station 18:29 - What happened to Merchandise Mart’s Rail Freight Yard 19:58 - What’s in the Merchandise Mart’s basement? 23:59 - Merchandise Mart’s connection to the Chicago Freight Tunnels 25:00 - The Chicago Flood was first noticed at Merchandise Mart 28:25 - How Merchandise Mart transformed the Chicago Loop IT’S HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash. » CONTACT For brands, agencies and sponsorships, please contact us at itshistory@thoughtleaders.io https://www.facebook.com/ITshistoryX https://www.instagram.com/ryansocash/ » CREDIT Sponsor - Magellan TV Scriptwriter - Ryan Socash Editor -Iryna Dukla Host - Ryan Socash Thumbnail Creative Commons https://flic.kr/p/9QQnHy H. Michael Miley » SOURCES https://www.facebook.com/groups/itshistory/ » NOTICE Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.