John R. Walsh News Depot, Western News Co. (1865)
Life Span: ~1860-1864 (Reynold’s Block, 1871)
Location: Corner Madison and Custom House Place, Corner Madison and Dearborn (1864)
Architect: TBD
- Halpin & Bailey’s City Directory for the Year 1863
Walsh John R., news agent and bookseller, 98 Madison, cor. Custom House Place, bds. 351 Indiana
Chicago Tribune, June 22, 1864
Temporary Removal.—John R. Walsh, well and widely known in the news trade, has removed temporarily to the store No. 102 Madison street, three doors west of his old stand, while the latter, on the corner of Madison and Dearborn street, is being built up with an elaborate store, which Mr. Walsh is to occupy, on its completion. He is enterprising, and well deserves his success.
- Madison and Custom House Place
About 1860
- John Walsh’s Newsstand Entrance.
Madison and Custom House Place
About 1864
Chicago Tribune, July 22, 1864
- Reynold’s Block
John Walsh’s original store stood on the corner of Madison and Custom House—so named by Mr. Walsh. The front of his store, can be seen in this cut of the front line of Reynolds’ Block.
- Western News Co. Store Interior
Reynold’s Block
John Carbutt
About 1865
Chicago Evening Post, March 12, 1867
—Mr. John R. Walsh, the enterprising newsdealer and one of the most successful and popular business men in the city—altogether estimable as a man as well as a merchant—was married yesterday evening to Miss Mary Louise Wilson, lately a teacher in the Haven School.
- Reynold’s Block (Western News Company)
October, 1871
- Reynold’s Block
SW Corner Madison and Dearborn Streets
Created by E. Whitefield for the map-making concern of Rufus Blanchard
1862
Chicago Tribune, Dec. 19,1905
- John R. Walsh’s news depot with the Custom House/Post Office behind it. In 1865, Walsh’s building was replaced by Reynolds’ Block.
Old friends of John R. Walsh said yesterday, that his keenness to possess millions first was manifested when he conducted a small news stand at Madison and Dearborn streets on the present site of the Hartford building in 1860. The building faced what was known as Postoffice alley, a little back from Dearborn street. The postoffice is shown in the distance being the large stone building over on the Monroe street frontage. Mr. Walsh’s rise as a business man dated from his acquisition of the small one story frame building store. It was a resort for the politicians and small merchants of that day, who came in the next few years to get the war news.
- John Walsh’s News Depot (Reynold’s Block)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1869
There are two photos, and I suspect that the caption of the second has been misplaced immediately below the first caption, underneath the first photo. The second caption is, “SW corner of Madison and Dearborn Streets, circa.1869”. and that is consistent with the same photo, slightly cropped, as it appears in the 1928 book, “Pictured Encyclopedia of the World’s Greatest Newspaper”, published by the Chicago Tribune.
Assuming that the caption is misplaced, then there really are two very different locations on this page. The first would be the title area of “Gambler’s Row” by present day Printers’ Row, and the second is the loop location of Dearborn and Madison.
Oh, wait, now I’m really confused. The two pictures *DO* seem to be of the same location: see the arrangement of the posters of the building on the left of the “alley” or whatever that is. Bu both the caption and that old Trib book identify this as Madison and Dearborn, which is a goodly distance from Harrison, Polk and present-day Printer’s Row.
Here’s a close a close up of the bookstore http://imgur.com/a/lcgs6