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See How Downtown Looked 53 Years Ago With Cool Video From 1964

By Kelly Bauer | January 20, 2017 11:15am

DOWNTOWN — A newly released video shows Chicago's Downtown as it looked 53 years ago — complete with then-unfinished Marina City towers.

The four-minute video shows people walking along the lakefront, the Art Institute, Buckingham Fountain and Marina City (then under construction, now a landmark), among other sights. Also on display are old-fashioned marquees and flashing signs.

A Reddit user shared the video, saying his or her great-grandfather had taken the video while in the city for a wedding in 1964.

Back then, Chicago was home to more than 3.5 million people and was the second-largest city in the United States. It was also the year Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Soldier Field at the Illinois Rally for Civil Rights and the Beatles first played in Chicago (at the now-demolished International Amphitheater).

Watch the video: