Rate Field
The last ballpark built before baseball went retro — and its predecessor's ghost is chalked into the parking lot next door.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Chicago offline.
Opened in 1991, Rate Field was the final MLB park built before the retro-classic wave transformed baseball architecture. It replaced the original Comiskey Park directly across 35th Street, but that field was not simply erased: a marble plaque on the sidewalk marks the old home plate, and the foul lines are painted into the parking lot that now occupies that ground.
What to look for
- Marble plaque on the sidewalk at 35th Street marking original Comiskey Park's home plate, with foul lines still painted in the surrounding parking lot
- The exploding scoreboard inside — a tribute to the original Bill Veeck installed at old Comiskey in 1960
- Arched windows on the front facade, one of the few design elements carried over from the demolished park
In the Armour Square neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, just west of the Dan Ryan Expressway at 35th Street — the spectator ramp across the street was deliberately shaped to echo the old first-base grandstand.
Rate Field is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Chicago, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Chicago pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Chicago
- Willis TowerIt held the world's tallest title for nearly 25 years after opening in 1973 — and the Skydeck is still the highest observation deck in the United States.
- Art Institute of ChicagoFour paintings you've seen your whole life — Nighthawks, La Grande Jatte, The Old Guitarist, American Gothic — hang in the same building.
- John Hancock Center (875 N Michigan Ave)A moving platform pivots you 30 degrees outward over the Magnificent Mile — 1,128 feet of nothing beneath your feet.
- Aon CenterWhen it opened in 1973 as "Big Stan," this 83-floor tower was the fourth-tallest building on Earth — and clad entirely in marble.
- United CenterThe Bulls hardwood floor is literally assembled over the Blackhawks ice and taken apart game by game — two teams, one frozen surface, shared by puzzle.
- Soldier FieldThe NFL's oldest stadium lost its National Historic Landmark status because of the renovation meant to save it.