Proudly referred to as Chicago's "front yard," Grant Park is among the city's loveliest and most prominent parks. The site of three world-class museums -- the Art Institute, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium -- the park includes the museum campus, a 1995 transformation of paved areas into beautiful greenspace. Grant Park's centerpiece is the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain, built in 1927 to provide a monumental focal point while protecting the park's breathtaking lakefront views.

Hours: Daily - 8:00 am to 11:00 pm
from mid April to mid October, depending on weather

Every hour on the hour, for 20 minutes, the fountain produces a major water and light display. The center jet shoots 150 feet into the air.

Cost: Free

• The fountain opened on May 26, 1927
  
• Edward H. Bennett designed the fountain to represent Lake Michigan with four sea horses, built by Marcel Loyau, to symbolize the four states that touch the lake: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Bennett attributed the design specifically to the influence of the Latona Basin in Louis XIV's gardens at Versailles.
  
• The fountain runs from 8:00 am to 11:00 pm, daily.
  
• The Fountain operates from mid April to mid October, depending on weather.
  
• Every hour on the hour for 20 minutes the fountain produces a major water display. The center jet shoots 150 feet into the air.
  
• Beginning at dusk, every hour on the hour for 20 minutes the fountain's major water display is accompanied by a major light and music display. The final display of the evening begins at 10:00 pm

• The fountain is constructed of Georgia pink marble.
  
• The fountain has remained intact except for a brief theft of two carved fish heads from the fountain, weighing several pounds each. The fish heads were recovered when a salvage place was offered the pieces and the buyer thought they looked very familiar and reported them.
  
• The water displays are powered by three pumps:
  - Pump 3: 75 horsepowers for 1,600 gallons of water a minute
  - Pump 2: 190 horsepowers for 5,500 gallons of water a minute.
  - Pump 1: 250 horsepowers for 7,000 gallons of water a minute
  
• The fountain has 134 jets in the following configurations:
  - 36 jets point upwards from the top basin, including a central jet to produce a 150-foot geyser
  - 34 jets at the consoles
  - 12 jets in the upper trough that arc into the top bowl.
  - 12 jets in the inner trough that arc into the upper trough.
  - 12 jets in the lower trough that arc into the inner trough.
  - 8 jets spout from the sea horses' mouths
  - 20 isolated jets
  
• The fountain's water capacity is 1.5 million gallons. Depending on wind conditions, major displays use approximately 14,100 gallons of water per minute conveyed through 134 jets. Water is re-circulated from the base pool after the basins are filled and not drawn from the outside except to replace losses from wind and evaporation.
  
• The bottom pool of the fountain is 280 feet in diameter, the lower basin is 103 feet, the middle basin is 60 feet and the upper basin is 24 feet. The lip of the upper basin is 25 feet above the water in the lower basin.