The Gold Coast neighborhood grew in the wake of the Great Chicago Fire. In 1882, millionaire Potter Palmer moved to the area from the Prairie Avenue neighborhood on the city's south side. He filled in a swampy area which later became Lake Shore Drive, and built the Palmer Mansion, a forty-two room castle-like structure designed by Henry Ives Cobb and Charles Sumner Frost. Other wealthy Chicagoans followed Potter into the neighborhood, which became one of the richest in Chicago.
Historical images of Chicago's Gold Coast can be found in Explore Chicago Collections, a digital repository made available by Chicago Collections archives, libraries and other cultural institutions in the city.[6]
Residents of the Gold Coast are zoned to Ogden School for grades K-8,[10] while for high school they are zoned to Lincoln Park High School.[11] Any graduate from Ogden's 8th grade program may automatically move on to the 9th grade at Ogden, but students who did not graduate from Ogden's middle school must apply to the high school.[12]
The Latin School of Chicago is also located in the Gold Coast and is one of the nation's most prestigious K-12 private schools.
Notable residents
Gold Coast has a long tradition of being home to some of the nation's wealthiest and influential residents. These include:
J. B. Pritzker – businessman, venture capitalist, politician and current Governor of Illinois
Lori Greiner – inventor, entrepreneur, and television personality
^Don DeBat and Gary S. Meyers. "Manhattan transfer–Streeterville and the Gold Coast : Second plushest neighborhood in U.S. has it all". Chicago Sun-Times. January 13, 1989. 15.
^"Map." Gold Coast Neighbors Association. Retrieved on December 21, 2016.
^Home. Ogden International School of Chicago. Retrieved on October 10, 2018. "Head of Elementary: [...] Grades K-4 East Campus 24 W. Walton St. Chicago, IL 60610"
^"Admissions". Ogden International School. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2020. Graduates of 8th grade at Jenner Campus can automatically enroll in 9th grade at Ogden's West Campus. If your child graduated from a different middle school [...]