W. D. Kerfoot

W. D. Kerfoot
Life Span: 1871-1053
Location: No. 89 Washington Street, near Dearborn
Architect: TBD

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1874

Kerfoot William D. & Co.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1875
Kerfoot William D. & Co. (William D. and ————) real est. and loans 90 Washington

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1880
Kerfoot William D. & Co. (William D. and William A. Merrigold) real est. and loans 90 Washington

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1884
Kerfoot William D. & Co. (William D. Kerfoot, William A. Merrigold and George Birkhoff jr) real est. and loans 90 Washington

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1887
Kerfoot William D. & Co. (William D. Kerfoot and George Birkhoff jr) real est. and loans 85 Washington

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1892
Kerfoot William D. & Co. (William D. Kerfoot and George Birkhoff jr) real est. and loans 85 Washington

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1899
Kerfoot William D. & Co. (William D. Kerfoot and George Birkhoff jr) real est. and loans 85 Washington tel Main-2773

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Kerfoot William D. & Co. (William D. Kerfoot and George Birkhoff jr) real est. and loans 85 Washington tel Central-2773

Chicago Central Business and Office Directory, 1908
Kerfoot W D & Co 85 Washington C2773

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Kerfoot William D. & Co. (William D. Kerfoot and George Birkhoff jr) real est. and loans 58-60 W Washington tel Central-2144

Chicago Tribune, October 16, 1871

Mr. W. D. Kerfoot.
Chicago (Oct. 13) Despatch to the Cincinnati Inquirer.
To Mr. W. D. Kerfoot, real estate dealer, formerly of Cincinnati, belongs the credit of putting up the first building the burnt district, at No. 89 Washington street, the site of his former block. To-day this building of rough boards, covering an area of about twenty square yards, and one story high, is up, and the windows and doors are in. Over the door appears the following legend: “W. D. Kerfoot, real estate dealer, No. 89 Washington street.” On another part of this building is painted in rough characters this characteristic sentence: “Lost all but wife and children and energy.” In another place is pained ” Kerfoot’s Block,” in large letters.

Mr. Kerfoot gives the following graphic account of his escape from the fire with his wife and children:

Being the owner of a horse and carriage which I used to go to and fro from my business, when I became satisfied that my house would soon be enveloped, I brought my horse and carriage before the house, and placed my wife and children in it. There was then no roam for me, to I mounted the back of the animal and acted as postillion. While driving through the flame and smoke which enveloped us on all hands, I came across a gentleman who had his wife in a buggy, and was between the thills hauling it himself. I shouted to him to hitch his carriage on behind mine, which he did, and then got in beside his wife. I then drove forward as fast as I could, for the flames were raging around us. After proceeding a short distance another gentleman was found standing beside the street, with a carriage waiting for a bore, which was not likely to come. I directed him to fasten on behind the second cariage, which he did, and in this way we whipped around.

The Land Owner, January, 1872

ENTERPRISE OF CHICAGO LANDMEN.
We present, in this connection, an illustration of that remarkable enterprise which characterizes most of our real estate men, the new office erected by Wm. D. Kerfoot, Esq., on the site of the one destroyed in the fire, immediately after the smoke had cleared away, and before the smoldering ruins had cooled.

Mr. Kerfoot was so unlucky as to reside on the north side, and consequently his home was swept away, as well as his office at 98 Washington st. Caring first for his family, he next procured lumber, and erected the “Kerfoot block,” which we illustrate, put out his sign, bearing the expressive words, “All gone, but wife, children and energy,” and announced himself ready for business. Mr. Kerfoot was agent here for the estates of several non-resident owners. When they reached Chicago they were surprised to see him up and at work in their interests. He is now transacting business in this hastily improvised office, where he will continue until the old block is rebuilt.

We give this as an illustration of the remarkable elasticity with which our citizens have rebounded from the great blow. It is the same indomitable and unconquerable spirit that built Chicago on the site of a swamp. It is able to rebuild it, and it will. There are no grumblers or fault finders here except in the one instance of disappointment and chagrin of the knavish doings of the insurance companies. Everybody, and especially our real estate men, wear a cheerful face, and have gone to work to rear again their fortunes, this time on a surer basis, profiting by the sad experiences of the past.

A. T. Andreas’ History of Chicago, 1884.

The first business structure erected on the ruins of former greatness was that put up by W. D. Kerfoot, the well known real-estate agent and operator. He lost all his worldly possessions of a pecuniary sort on October 9. On the morning of October 10, he repaired to the locality where he had formerly conducted business, on Washington, between Dearborn and Clark streets, and with the assistance of his clerk and his clerk’s father, had, before noon, erected a twelve by sixteen shanty of boards, and was ready to resume business Surmounting the structure was a board bearing the words, “Kerfoot’s Block,” and on the building a sign:

W. D. Kerfoot.
Everything gone but wife, children, and energy.

The ruined walls around were too hot to permit the building of the shanty within the line of the sidewalk, and it was put up a few feet from the pavement, in the middle of the street. Here it stood until October 19, when, the ruins around having sufficiently cooled, the Board of Public Works required Mr. Kerfoot to move his “business block” back, within the street line. He continued to do business here until the following June, when he removed to permanent quarters. The enterprise and pluck displayed in the erection of the board office did not a little toward reviving courage and drooping spirits. The comical features of the situation appealed to the humorous sense of the passers-by, and their attention was for a time diverted from their own losses and misfortunes. The office soon became a “halfway house” between the South and West Divisions, and a sort of general headquarters. In front of the building was placed a long board, covered with notices of removals, etc. a sort of extemporized city directory and this circumstance, added to the general character of the place, made Mr. Kerfoot’s office a general “Bureau of Information.” Hackmen, seeking to learn the address of the person at whose residence or place of business they should leave a passenger, drove by the building to get information which might be more easily obtained there than elsewhere.

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From Chicago’s First Half Century, 1833-1883
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WM. D. KERFOOT & CO.
CHICAGO REAL ESTATE AGENCY.
If architecture is “frozen music,” the accompanying illustration, which explains its own sharp” contrast, will sing eloquently and truthfully of real estate and loan brokers sans peuret sans reproeh— a house established twenty-one years ago, a house foremost in deals, a partnership of gentlemen—Messrs. William D. Kerfoot, William A. Merigold, George Birkhoff, Jr., No. 90 Washington street. The parties, estates, and corporations represented where are they not found? And wherever found, they are clients still or friends. Asked to name the real estate house of Chicago, who that is well informed would not say, “Wm. D. Kerfoot & Co.?”

Inter Ocean, June 8, 1872

Kerfoot & Co.completed Is on the day it was commenced, moved into it the next morning, and began business immediately. They have occupied it continuously ever since, but now propose to remove to new quarters on the same street. What shall be done with the first building in new Chicago? Relics of the destruction of the city have been collected, and will long be preserved. Doesn’t the first landmark of the wonderful restoration now in progress, the first illustration of the energy and pluck that are fast making “the burnt district” a tradition, deserve a better fate than to be itself destroyed?

W. D. Kerfoot to the Chicago Tribune, 1896:

We put up a board in front of the shanty with a sort of directory printed on it, and nearly everybody coming to the city consulted it to find where the people were they wished to see. The shanty was army headquarters for a time. All the surveys of the burnt district were made from that office, re-establishing the lot lines and street lines.

It is impossible to compare the city now with what it was then,” said Kerfoot, reminiscing about pre-fire Chicago. “There were no substantial buildings then, no fire walls, nothing over six stories high. Most structures were of wood. While it was a calamity at the time, the fire turned out a blessing in disguise, for it set Chicago ahead in building certainly fifty years.

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Chicago Tribune, January 11, 1953

By Al Chase
Wreckers will start May 1 to raze three Loop buildings, erected shortly after the great fire of 1871, to make way for modern parking facilities, Judson F. Stone, agent for the Nettie F. McCormick estate, property owner, said yesterday.

The trio of old timers is on the north side of Washington st., between the Reaper block, at the northeast corner of Clark st., and the Washington-Dearborn building, at the northwest corner of Dearborn st.

Total Frontage 120 Feet
They comprise the six story building at 58-60 W. Washington, the four and five story building at numbers 62 and 64, and the six story building at 66 to 70. They have a total frontage of 120 feet, various depths, and a total area of 16,000 square feet.

When demolition is completed about Aug. 1 the land will be occupied by Downtown Parking Stations, Inc., of which Nicholas R. Dispenza is president, for its 15th Chicago open air parking lot.

S. C. Chadwick, executive vice president, said the new parking facilities will provide space for 100 cars at one time. The parking corporation has accommodation already for about 2,500 cars in its various stations.

Leased for 10 Years
The new parking lot was leased from the McCormick estate for 10 years, with a cancellation clause enabling the land owner to improve the property with a new building if desired.

The eight story Reaper building, just west of the proposed new parking lot, at the northeast corner of Clark, was erected three years after the great fire by Cyrus H. McCormick, inventor of the reaper, and named by him the Reaper block. Originally it was six stories high, but later two more were added. The late Nettie F. McCormick, whose estate holds title to the land just leased, was the wife of Cyrus.

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