Maxwell Street Market

Maxwell Street Market was Chicago's open-air heartbeat — nine square blocks of pushcarts, haggling, and hot Polish sausage where new immigrants built their first American dollar.

Established in the 1880s by Jewish, Black, Italian, and Mexican vendors and made official by city ordinance in 1912, the market became something bigger than commerce: a stage. Bluesmen like Muddy Waters and Little Walter plugged their guitars into the streetlamps of Maxwell Street, amplifying the Delta sound into the electric Chicago blues that changed American music.

The city closed the historic market in 1994 to make way for UIC's expansion, scattering the vendors east to Canal Street and later to Desplaines Avenue.

A piece of the old market for the wall — understated enough for any room, specific enough to mean something to anyone who knows.