This point sits beside the site of the Haymarket affair, on North Desplaines Street in Chicago.
Last reviewed 16 October 2026 · A two-minute read · 730–2017
The short answer
North Desplaines Street in Chicago marks the site of the Haymarket affair, where a bomb thrown at police during a labor rally on May 4, 1886, killed seven officers and at least four civilians. Eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy, four were hanged, and a bronze sculpture dedicated in 2004 now stands near where the bomb exploded.
May 1886
A bomb thrown at police killed seven officers
The Haymarket affair took place at this site, now marked by a bronze sculpture on North Desplaines Street. Workers had struck across Chicago that spring, demanding an eight-hour workday. On May 3, police shot and killed two strikers outside the McCormick Harvesting Machine plant. Local anarchists called a rally for the next night at Haymarket Square, right where this point stands.
On the evening of May 4, a crowd gathered to hear speeches. Rain was already thinning the crowd when police moved in to break it up. As officers advanced up Desplaines Street, someone threw a bomb into their ranks. It killed seven police officers and wounded dozens more. Police opened fire into the crowd, killing at least four civilians.
Eight anarchists were arrested and charged with conspiracy. None of them had thrown the bomb, and only two had even been at the square that night. Seven were sentenced to death anyway. One killed himself in his cell before his execution. Four others were hanged on November 11, 1887.
Six years later, Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the remaining defendants. He said the trial itself had been a miscarriage of justice. The case helped make May 1 into an international day honoring workers, observed in countries around the world to this day.
1927 to 1969
A streetcar and a bomb both destroyed the police statue
The site stayed a working street long after the trial ended. A streetcar jumped its tracks on May 4, 1927, the bombing's 41st anniversary, and crashed into an early monument here. The motorman later said he was "sick of seeing that policeman with his arm raised."
The earlier monument was a statue of a policeman, raised with his hand up to halt traffic. It kept drawing anger for decades. On May 4, 1968, vandals threw black paint on it during protests against the Vietnam War. The following year, just before Chicago's "Days of Rage" protests, someone placed a bomb between the statue's legs and destroyed it.
1992 to 2004
The city landmarked the site and dedicated a sculpture
In 1992, the city of Chicago named this spot a Chicago Landmark. The designation recognized the Haymarket affair's place in labor history, not any single building still standing here.
In 2004, the city dedicated a new bronze sculpture on North Desplaines Street, close to where the bomb went off.
Now
Restaurants and a bar now line the old square
Today the sculpture stands alone on this stretch of North Desplaines Street, in Chicago's West Loop. The old commercial square that once stood here has become a quiet corner lined with restaurants. Grace (restaurant), once among the city's most expensive tables, operated about 200 feet away until it closed in 2017. Blackbird (restaurant) and Avec (restaurant) sit a short walk south, and Kumiko (bar), a Japanese cocktail bar, operates a few blocks north.
The Haymarket Martyrs' Monument, where four of the executed men are buried, stands miles away in Forest Park and carries its own federal landmark status, separate from this street corner.
Chicago's own history holds a darker day than this one.
A bronze sculpture marks the Haymarket bombing on North Desplaines Street, where a West Loop restaurant row has replaced the old market square.
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Deep time
Far below the streets, the bedrock here is Silurian-age dolostone and limestone, formed in a shallow sea more than 420 million years ago.
Era background — not a record of this tile · Macrostrat
Medieval
730–1634
Radiocarbon testing at a site about 1.2 kilometers away (11CK4) produced dates ranging from the Bronze Age through roughly AD 1634, showing people occupied this stretch of the Chicago River valley for thousands of years before the city existed.
The Chicago and North Western Railway Power House, now on the National Register of Historic Places, stands a few streets northeast and once supplied electricity for the railroad's operations.
On May 4, 1886, an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police dispersing a labor rally here, and the blast and gunfire that followed killed seven officers and at least four civilians.
Eight anarchists were charged with the Haymarket bombing, convicted of conspiracy though only two were even present, and four were hanged on November 11, 1887, before Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the rest in 1893.
Chicago designated the Haymarket site a city landmark in 1992 and dedicated a memorial sculpture there in 2004, after an earlier police statue on the spot had been bombed by radicals in 1969.
On May 4, 1886, someone threw a bomb at police who were breaking up a labor rally, killing seven officers, and the gunfire that followed killed at least four civilians. Eight anarchists were later charged with conspiracy, and four were hanged in November 1887.
What was here before the current bronze sculpture?
An earlier monument stood on the spot: a statue of a policeman with his hand raised to halt traffic. A streetcar crashed into it in 1927, it was vandalized with paint in 1968, and it was destroyed by a bomb in 1969 before the current sculpture was dedicated in 2004.
Who was punished for the Haymarket bombing?
Eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy even though only two had been present at the square that night and none had thrown the bomb. Seven were sentenced to death, one killed himself before execution, four were hanged on November 11, 1887, and Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the rest in 1893.
Is the Haymarket site a Chicago landmark?
Yes, the city designated the Haymarket site a Chicago Landmark in 1992, recognizing its place in labor history rather than any surviving building, and dedicated a new bronze sculpture there in 2004.
What restaurants are near the Haymarket memorial today?
Grace, once a two-Michelin-star restaurant, operated about 200 feet away until it closed in 2017. Blackbird and Avec sit a short walk south, and Kumiko, a Japanese cocktail bar, operates a few blocks north.