Chicago's Haymarket: A Funny Bone of Union, Tussle, and Few

This Chicago square, best known as the site of the 1800s market, has roots as deep as an old-timer's tale. Famous for the Haymarket Affair of 1886, it set the spirit of labor in motion, a scuffle between rebellious workers and the police that left a few names missing, on both sides. With trials rearin' their heads, the American labor scene caught wind of the fire. Through the years, this square hosted protests, riots, and ruckus enough to give a weathered traveler a run for their money, from the 1886 trouble to the Days of Rage in 1969.

The coppers' statue, stuck up in 1889, ain't in sight at its original stand, vanishing into thin air during the Days of Rage in 1969 and 1970, and all that's left now is a plaque pointing toward the speakers' wagon's ex-location. The square's spruced up with a mix of monuments these days, like a statue of a woman watchin' over a reclined worker, popped up in 1893, standin' for the hardships heaped upon the working class. The initial five defendants and another, meet their ends at the German Waldheim Cemetery, where a memorial for the seventh defendant, Michael Schwab, can also be found. Lastly, a bronze plaque, set into the sidewalk in 1992, honors the site of the speakers' wagon, memorializin' the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument's birth.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata