Fulton Market neighborhood guide
Development
Fulton Market’s food trade dates to 1850, when the city built the West Market Hall on a widened section of Randolph Street. In 1887 a group of 22 meatpackers completed twin buildings on Fulton Market Street. Most surviving Fulton Market buildings are brick commission houses, meatpacking plants, and warehouses of two to six stories, built between the 1880s and 1931. The Chicago City Council designated the Fulton-Randolph Market District a Chicago Landmark district in 2015. The city adopted the Fulton Market Innovation District plan in 2014; its 2021 update allows new residential uses north of Lake Street. New office, hotel, and residential towers now stand among the older Fulton Market buildings.
Parks & Recreation
Union Park, a 13.77-acre Chicago Park District park at 1501 W. Randolph St., sits at the western edge of Fulton Market. Established in 1853, Union Park has a fieldhouse, a swimming pool, tennis and pickleball courts, ball fields, and a playground. Mary Bartelme Park, with a dog area and play space, is just south at 115 S. Sangamon St.
Transit
Fulton Market is served by the CTA Green and Pink Lines at Morgan station, 958 W. Lake St., which opened in 2012, and at Ashland station, 1601 W. Lake St., near the western edge. CTA bus routes include 8 Halsted and 9 Ashland. The Ogilvie Transportation Center, served by three Metra Union Pacific lines, is east of Halsted Street, between Clinton and Canal streets.
Community Area
Nearly all of Fulton Market lies within the Near West Side, community area 28.
