The famous exterior used in Hill Street Blues almost disappeared forever.
Many viewers searching for the Hill Street Blues filming location are surprised to discover that the famous precinct building is in fact the historic Maxwell Street Police Station on Chicago’s Near West Side.
In 2005 I travelled from London England to Chicago to visit the building that television audiences around the world had come to know as the Hill Street Precinct House. Years earlier, I had been among the 'HSB' fans, who had fought a long and hard on-line campaign to save the structure from demolition — and against the odds, the building survived.
The Precinct House At A Glance
- Real Building: Maxwell Street (former) Police Station
- Location: Chicago, Illinois
- Built: 1888
- Known for: Exterior of the Hill Street Blues precinct
- Status: Saved from demolition and restored
The old Maxwell Street Police Station one of television's most recognisable fictional police precincts.
The building used in Hill Street Blues was originally the old Maxwell Street Police Station located on Chicago's Near West Side.
Built in 1888, the station became one of the city's most famous police buildings and was associated with decades of Chicago history, prohibition gangsters, Police corruption, Al Capone, and often called "the Wickedest Police District in the World".
A Survivor
The Precinct House in 2005 lovingly restored, but still proudly showing its battle scars.
For fans of the series, standing outside the building was an extraordinary moment. It was instantly recognisable from the opening sequences of Hill Street Blues and represented far more than simply a television location.
The building had become part of television history.
The Campaign To Save The Building
When plans emerged that threatened the future of the structure, fans and preservation supporters from around the world became involved in efforts to protect it.
For many people, this was not merely an old police station. It was an iconic location connected with one of television's most influential drama series.
Thankfully, the campaign succeeded and the building remains standing today.
Today the restored structure remains one of the most recognisable surviving television locations associated with Hill Street Blues.
Seeing The Building In Person
For many fans, the precinct house was almost mythical — something seen endlessly during opening sequences and exterior shots, yet somehow difficult to imagine existing in the real world.
Standing outside it in Chicago in 2005 was genuinely emotional. Despite restoration work and redevelopment in the surrounding area, the building remained instantly recognisable.
It still felt like Hill Street.
Perhaps most importantly, it had survived. The campaign to preserve the structure had succeeded and one of television's most iconic police stations remained standing.
Standing On The Steps
For any long-time fan of Hill Street Blues, the front steps of the precinct house are instantly recognisable.
These were the same steps Frank Furillo walked down night after night while Sgt. Esterhaus delivered the famous briefing room warnings upstairs.
Standing there in person in 2005 was surreal. The building was no longer simply part of a television series — it had become part of television history itself.
Thankfully, because the preservation campaign succeeded, fans can still visit and experience the location today.
Standing on the famous precinct steps in Chicago during my 2005 visit.
The Mystery Of Morgan Street
Regular viewers of Hill Street Blues will remember the famous opening sequence showing the sign for Morgan Street beside the precinct building.
The famous Morgan Street sign beside the precinct building.
However, visitors to the real location quickly discover something curious — the building is not actually located on Morgan Street at all.
The real building stands near Maxwell Street on Chicago's Near West Side. The famous Morgan Street sign appears to have been added deliberately by the production team to create the fictional geography of Hill Street.
Like many great television productions, Hill Street Blues blended real locations with carefully constructed illusion.
For fans visiting the site today, discovering the differences between the fictional world and the real Chicago location only adds to the fascination.
Chicago became an essential character within the atmosphere of Hill Street Blues.
Chicago In The Opening Sequence
One of the reasons Hill Street Blues felt so revolutionary in 1981 was its extraordinary sense of place.
The opening titles mixed urban Chicago imagery, railway scenes, industrial backdrops, police activity, and the famous precinct house exterior into something that felt authentic and alive.
Even viewers who had never visited Chicago felt they somehow understood the city through the series.
Although much of the interior production work was completed in Los Angeles studios, the exterior Chicago footage gave Hill Street Blues a realism that few television dramas of the period possessed.
The atmosphere created by those opening sequences still feels distinctive decades later.
Finding The Precinct House
Located on Chicago's Near West Side, the building remains a destination for Hill Street Blues fans visiting the city.
A Building Worth Saving
Hill Street Blues changed television forever, and the old Maxwell Street Police Station became one of the most recognisable buildings in television drama history. Against the odds, both the series and the building itself have endured.
Today fans can still stand outside the precinct house, look up at those familiar windows and steps, and remember a television series that redefined what television drama could be.