Chamber of Commerce III
Life Span: 1890-1928
Location: SE corner Washington and LaSalle Streets
Architect: Edward Baumann & Harris Huehl
- Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1899
Chamber of Commerce Bldg.—Washington se. cor. Lasalle.
Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Chamber of Commerce Bldg.—138 Washington se. cor. Lasalle.
Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Chamber of Commerce Bldg.—133 W. Washington se. cor. Lasalle.
Chicago Tribune, January 13, 1889
CHICAGO’S SKYSCRAPERS
Interesting Facts About Three Tall Buildings.
Beauty and prominence were the high aims of ancient architecture; for this the labor of many men for many years was thrown into a single structure. From the modern economic standpoint such labor was buried, since it never became self-aggrandizing in the form of capital. Chicago utilitarians are not given to apostrophizing the shades of Greeks and Romans or to making burnt-offerings to by-gone ideals—Chicago is notably fireproof—and although lines of beauty in arches and columns are all very well, the man of business is not to be deterred from getting what he would call his money’s worth by any frivolous objections made by devotees of the esthetic. Leaving out of account the Auditorium, which is the most admirable modern structure in the world, the three most notable buildings now going up in Chicago are the Tacoma, the Owings, and the new Chamber of Commerce Building, and in justice to builders and architects they must be viewed as nothing more nor less than huge money-making schemes. In what may be called commercial architecture, in which space, light, convenience, and safety are the essentials, Chicago already leads the world, and these three new structures will place it still farther ahead of all rivals.
Work upon the third of Chicago’s “skyscrapers” has not advanced far enough to attract any notice from passers-by. Yet the thirteen-story building which is rising upon the site of the old Chamber of Commerce will be a more imposing structure than either the Tacoma or the Owings Building, and in the opinion of many people will be vastly more pleasing to the eye. It will also justly claim to be the highest office building in the city, for its cornice is to be 182 feet from the sidewalk, or only two feet lower than the top of the gable upon the Owings Building. Its top floor, therefore, will be on a higher level than the fourteenth of the Owings. The new Chamber of Commerce Building, covering 93×181 feet at the southeast corner of La Salle and Washington, will be of iron throughout, although externally it will have the appearance of stone, the iron frame being covered with terra cotta backed with brick. Immense stone foundations, pyramidal in form, have already been said, and upon these, just inside the walls, are placed the iron columns that will carry the superstructure. Heavy cross walls and steel girders will secure stability to the outer walls. The interior will be lighted not merely by windows in each of the four sides, but also by means of a large light-well in the centre. Almost no attempt is anywhere made at ornamentation. This is fortunate, for such attempts in buildings of this character usually produce artificial and unpleasing effects. The new Chamber of Commerce Building was planned solely for the comfort and convenience of businessmen, and Hannah, Lay & Co., the owners, were inspired by good sense when they decided that the exterior should be simple and unpretentious. The building will cost some $700,000, and cannot be finished before the spring of 1890.
The Standard Guide to Chicago For the Year 1891:
This structure occupies the site of the old Chamber of Commerce which was erected immediately after the fire and which was occupied by the Board of Trade until the great commercial edifice at the foot of the street was completed. The new Chamber of Commerce building is in many respects the finest commercial structure in the world and certainly one of the grandest office buildings in the United States. The property upon which it stands cost $650,000, and the building itself has cost Messrs. Hannah, Lay & Company, the owners, over $1,000,000. Standing upon the mosaic floor on the first story in the center of the building, throwing back your head and looking up, you will see twelve balconies with their bronzed railings rising in perfect symmetry above you. Away at the top and crowning this grand central court is probably the largest skylight in the world. It is a plate-glass arch thirty-five feet wide and 108 feet long, and its weight is supported on iron and copper frames which rest upon iron trusses. The frame is bronzed and finished handsomely.
Through this mammoth window in the roof a perfect flood of light penetrates the central court, so that tbe interior of the building is almost as brightly illuminated as the exterior during the day. As you look up, if your neck will bear the strain, you will notice that not a post or a pillar is visible along the sides or between the twelve balconies, other than those at the north and south ends, the intervening stretch being perfectly clear and free from obstruction.
The twelve balconies are supported on the cantilever principle. There are 500 office rooms in this structure, every one of which is perfectly lighted. The thirteenth floor is finished as handsomely as the first. You will notice that the marble used in the wainscoting ivom vop to bottom is perfectly matched, the grain running through from slab to slab as perfectly as it did in its native Italian quarry. All of this marble was quarried in Italy and finished in Belgium for this building. The mosaic floors contain billions of separate marble blocks, and present a beautiful as well as a novel sight to the visitor. The ceiling of the main entrance is a charming bit bf mosaic work ; the bronze railings and elevator shaft gratings are all highly finished.
- Chamber of Commerce III
Eight passenger cars and two great freight cars are constantly moving up and down between the thirteen stories of this magnificent structure. the time consumed in the trip being a minute and a quarter, counting stoppages. Looking down, the people on the floor of the court below seeth like pigmies. The height makes us dizzy and we move away from the bronae railing fearing that the natural but unaccountable temptation to throw ourselves over it may gain the mastery of us. The Chamber of Commerce building is a ciiy within-iitself. There are more people doing business inside its walls than you will find in many prosperous towns, and the amount of business transacted here daily equals that done in some of the most pretentious communities in the country. Every branch of commerce and nearly every profession is represented here. We can spend a couple of hours here very pleasantly, strolling along the different balconies and taking observations of the multitude of people who are constantly streaming into and out of the elevator cars.
Rand McNally Bird’s Eye Views of Chicago, 1893
⑦ The Chamber of Commerce Building,
At the southeast corner of Washington and La Salle streets, has an extended description elsewhere. It is 185 feet long on La Salle and 95 feet wide on Washington, 190 feet high, in 13 stories and basement, and has 8 passenger elevators, that carry 30,000 people in 10 hours. The 600 offices of this structure are occupied by professional men of all kinds, and some great financial institutions here have their Western offices among them the Equitable Life Assurance Association of New York. There are 4,100 electric lamps, miles of bronze railing, acres of tiling and mosaic, and 3,300 tons of steel in the edifice, which is one of the principal high steel buildings of the city, and a sightto be seen. It was erected in 1890, at a cost of over $1,000,000.
Chicago Central Business and Office Guide 1922
This magnificent fireproof structure is one of the grandest in Chicago, presenting as it does an exterior of thirteen stories of solid masonry and an inner frame of iron lined with fireproofing material. The intcrior is lighted by one of the largest skylights in the world, and the ofiices circling as they do around one grand central court, which is crowned by this huge plate glass skylight, have light and ventilation facilities un surpassed. Situated in the very heart of the business center, convenient to all stations on the Union loop and passed by both North and West side electric lines, the location is one of the best. The building has entrances on both Washington and La Salle streets, and has excellent elevator and janitor service modern in every particular. U. S. mail chutes on every floor, and free collection service. Messenger call boxes in every office, and situated in the basement is one of the finest safety deposit vaults in the city.
The building has become head quarters for the majority of contractors, builders, and brick, stone, lime, cement and building material men of all kinds in the city.
For further information, apply to the Agent, Office Room 822. Tel. Mam 1195.
- Chamber of Commerce
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1906
This building was wrecked in 1928 to make way for the 33 N. LaSalle Building, also known as the American National Bank building.
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