Architectural mystery letterbox
Somewhere in the Chicago suburbs, Cook County, Illinois
Accessible by public transportation (CTA or Metra)
Easy, great for families. No poison ivy. No snakes.
Film canister microbox. You must bring your own stamp pad and pen.
Placed (for the third time) April 13, 2003, by yooperann
(wfisher47@attbi.com) (who would love a report).

In 1898 the man who would become the world's most famous architect
established his first studio in his home in this leafy suburb.
Before he left town for more famous studios in Wisconsin and Arizona,
he designed more than 25 buildings, leaving the town an architectural
legacy that draws tens of thousands of visitors every year.
One of the architect's most beautiful buildings, only a block away
from the Home and Studio, is the Frank W. Thomas House, built in
1901. Across the street from the Thomas House is this town's only
statue of this famous son. Although the architect was very short
(and unappreciative owners of his buildings sometimes complained that
doors and ceilings were built more to his height than to theirs) it
still hardly seems fair that the bust is set in a rock only about
three feet off the ground. Your search for the letterbox begins
with this statue.
Just to the right of the statue a wrought iron gate leading into a
park. Go into the park and take the path to your right. Follow the
path past the wildflower gardens. You will come to a majestic tree,
of the species obvious for the community (and no, it's not a
gingko). The tree rises five or six feet from a huge trunk, and then
divides into two before continuing skyward. Continue past the tree to
the northeast corner of the park.
As you leave the park turn and walk with the fence on your right. Go
past an intersection of two fences. Your fence will then make a
right angle turn to the north. Stop and tie your shoe, or look for
whatever it is you dropped, right at that turn. The box is fastened
to the underside of the bottom fence rail just after the turn. THIS
PARK IS HEAVILY USED. PLEASE BE DISCREET AS YOU FIND AND REPLACE THE
BOX!!!!!