Chicago Telephone Company Building, Telephone Building
Life Span: 1888-1967
Location: 203 Washington, Northeast corner of Franklin & Washington
Architect: Joseph Lyman Silsbee
Chicago Telephone Company Building
Rand McNally Bird’s Eye Views, 1892
① Chicago Telephone Company Building—Northeast corner of Franklin and Washington streets. In this handsome home of steel, granite, and terra cotta the great monopoly beholds the expiration of some of its important patents, but relies as firmly on the public concessions which those patents brought to its use and possession. This very elegant building stands at the descent into the Washington Street tunnel, the cynosure of thousands of West Side travelers.- It is 100 feet high, in 7 stories and basement, 40 feet on Washington Street, 90 on Franklin, and has 2 elevators for its employes. The granite arch and tiling at the entrance are notable. It was erected in 1888, and is occupied by the Chicago Telephone Company.
Chicago Tribune, February 14, 1899
Inter Ocean, June 18, 1899
TELEPHONE COMPANY’S BUILDING.
When Completed Will Be a Great Improvement to Washington Street.
The Chicago Telephone company’s building, when finished by the completion of the additions now in course of construction, will be a very notable improvement to Washington street. The building as it stood was substantial and ornate, but the addition of an other story to the corner structure at Washington and Franklin streets, and the building up of an additional frontage of forty feet, with eight stories to match, will more than double the aise and add materially to the appearance of the whole. The new part is expected to be completed before September. The size of the entire foundation is 80 by 90 feet. The upper two floors are to be used entirely by the operators of the local service. The top story is to have a vaulted celling, with high windows and a skylight. A switchboard, capable of serving 10,000 telephone instruments, is to be put into the operating-room. On the floor below, the seventh. the operators are to have their lockers, lunchroom, reading-room, toilet-rooms, and offices. On the sixth floor will be the toll-line switchboards. The other five stories are to be used a the general offices of the company The offices of the treasurer and the contract department are to be on the ground floor.
The president, general manager, and the superintendents are to be on the third floor, the auditing department is to be given the entire fourth floor, and the chief engineer’s department will be allowed most of the fifth.
Chicago Telephone Company Buildings, A Half Century of Chicago Building, 1910
Chicago Tribune, March 17, 1909
Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1969
A mini-park is going to be dedicated at 10 a.m. today by Illinois Bell Telephone company. The park, which is at Franklin and Washington streets, occupies the site on which the original Chicago Telephone building was built in 1888. The structure was razed in 1967.
The 180 by 82 foot public park will be named Vail Court in honor of telephone company employees who have received Vail awards for outstanding service. The awards were named after Theodore N. Vail, the first Bell System president.
Chicago Telephone Building
Greeley-Carlson
Atlas of Chicago
1891
Chicago Telephone Building
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1906
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