Liebenstein Building
Life Span: 1863-1871
Location: 167-169 Randolph. between LaSalle and Wells
Architect: Carter & Bauer
- D. B. Cooke & Co.’s City Directory for the Year 1859
Halpin & Bailey’s City Directory for the Year 1863
Liebenstein Henry, furniture, 167 Randolph, h. 138 3d av.
Halpin’s Chicago City Directory for 1864
Liebenstein Henry, furniture dealer, 169 Randolph, r. 138 Third av.
John C. W. Bailey’s Chicago City Directory for 1867
Liebenstein Henry, mnfr cabinet furniture 167 and 169 Randolph, h. 138 Third av.
Spiegel Joseph, salesman, 169 Randolph, h. 138 Third av.1
Edwards’ Annual Directory in the City of Chicago, for 1869
Spiegel Joseph, salesman, Henry Liebenstein, bds. 970 Wabash av.
Edwards’ Annual Directory in the City of Chicago, for 1870
Liebenstein Henry (Henry Liebenstein and Joseph Spiegel), furniture mnfrs 167 and 169 Randolph
Spiegel Joseph (H. Liebensten & Co.), r. 970 Wabash av.
Edwards’ Annual Directory in the City of Chicago, for 1871
Liebenstein H. & Co. mnfr. furniture, 167 and 169 Randolph
Spiegel Joseph (H. Liebenstein & Co.), r. 833 Prairie av.
Chicago Tribune, March 6, 1870
Taking the Load.
Messrs. H. Liebenstein & Co., Nos. 167 and 169 Randolph street, commence to morrow, selling their immense stock of furniture at prices which are reduced to the gold basis. The plan which they are adopting is one which should be pursued by all our merchants, and they doubtless will be compelled to. Parties wishing to purchase furniture should be sure to call on the firm that has begun the change.
Chicago Illustrated, July, 1866
- ① Briggs House (183-189 Randolph), ② Blair Hardware (179-181 Randolph), ③ Furniture Building (171-177 Randolph), ④ Liebenstein Furniture (167-169 Randolph, ⑤ Metropolitan Block (159-165 Randolph).
Alexander Hesler Panorama, 1858.
NOTES:
1 Joseph Spiegel, born in 1841, who is credited with starting the early furniture business that would eventually become Spiegel Inc. He began his new life in New York working in his father Moses’s dry good business.
Enlisting in the Union Army during the Civil War, he was taken prisoner and interned for many months in a Texas stockade. In 1865, as war drew to a close, Joseph Spiegel boarded a train to Chicago at the prompting of his sister Theresa who had promised him a job with her husband, Henry Liebenstein, a prominent furniture wholesaler. Joseph opened “J. Spiegel and Company” in a small space on Wabash Avenue featuring home furnishings from the Liebenstein factory.
With that auspicious start in this sprawling city on the move, Joseph Spiegel got busy learning the furniture business, assuming command of the business in 1870, marrying Mathilde Liebenstein (Henry’s niece), buying a home on Prairie Avenue, and producing three sons – Modie J. in 1871, Sidney in 1872 and Arthur in 1884.
