Search Results for: tribune tower

Young Men’s Christian Association Building

Young Men’s Christian Association Building, Association Building, Central Y.M.C.A. Building, 19 S. La Salle Building
Life Span: 1893-Present
Location: La Salle street and Arcade court
Architect: Jenny & Mundie

Lakeside Business Directory of the City of Chicago, 1899

Young Men’s Christian Assn. Bldg.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Young Men’s Christian Assn. Bldg.—153 and 155 Lasalle.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Young Men’s Christian Assn. Bldg.—19 S. Lasalle.

Chicago Tribune, September 4, 1892

Description of the La Salle Street Skyscraper Now in Construction.
Complete details of plans for the Young Men’s Christian Association building on La Salle street at the corner of Arcade court have been worked out by Jenney and Mundie. The street front is a square tower 173 feet high to top of cornice, and 228 feet to the peak of roof. The main portion, containing the auditorium, gymnasium, and association offices, is in the rear of the tower on Arcade court and is 81×121 feet. The three lower stories of the La Salle street tower are of gray granite. Above the granite the material is terra cotta, as near the color of granite as practicable.

The tower roof is covered with red tile. The basement is used for the working department of the building, containing six boilers, the machinery for eight elevators, the electric light light plant, house pumps, and ventilating apparatus. In the basement will also be three bowling alleys on Arcade court, and the body of the great swimming tank, 22×71 feet, that is entered from the first story at the level of the floor.

The corner room on the ground floor, containing 2,800 square feet of floor space, will be fitted up for an elegant banking office. The entrance hall to the offices and to the auditorium is about twenty feet wide and leads to four elevators for the offices and to a grand staircase, ten feet wide, for the assembly-rooms and for the auditorium. The rest of the first story is devoted to the great bathing establishment, including a swimming tank, eight feet deep at one end and four feet at the other. This tank is built of steel plates, riveted together, and lined with white china tile.

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The second and third stories contain the parlors and principal rooms of the association, the general and private offices, the library, reading-room, recreation-room, lecture hall, and the great auditorium, which will be a beautiful, well-proportioned, and convenient room, with a seating capacity of 205 in the parquet, 420 in the parquet circle, and 344 in the balcony. The fourth and mezzanine floor of that part of the building in rear of the tower is occupied for baths and lockers for the use of those patronizing the gymnasium. The fifth and sixth flors are the gymnasium.

The appointments and fittings of the athletic portion of the association rooms are the best that are known and have been selected by experts. The architects and the general secretary visited all the best association rooms and the finest athletic clubs in the country and consulted with those best informed before planning the building. It is intended that this portion of the building shall excel anything of the kind in the country.

The seventh floor is occupied by class-rooms. The tower, or front part of the building, on the fourth to the seventh floors, and all of the floor space on the eighth to the thirteenth floors, will be divided into offices of good proportions.

Rand McNally & Co.’s Bird’s-Eye Views and Guide to Chicago, 1893

⑬. The Y. M. C. A. Building Covers the site of Farwell Hall, in the rear of 150 Madison Street, fronting La Salle Street on the east side at Arcade Court (an alley) . This splendid building is like the Athletic Club’s steel building on Michigan Boulevard. The lot is irregular, but has 54 feet front on La Salle, and is 187 feet deep on Arcade Court, with greater width in the rear. The structure is 190 feet high, with 12 stories and basement. Its interior is described in our chapter on “Notable High Buildings.” It was erected in 1893, at a cost of $850,000. The skeleton steel method of architecture is here followed, nothing depending on outer walls. Farwell Hall had a notable history. It burned before the Great Fire; it burned in the Great Fire; it was demolished to make way for this steel skyscraper.

Chicago Tribune, September 19, 1918

Board of Trade I

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Board of Trade District

Board of Trade
Life Span: 1882-1929
Location: Jackson and LaSalle Streets
Architect: William W. Boyington

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1885

Board of Trade.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Board of Trade Bldg.—Jackson boul. opp. of La Salle.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1911
Board of Trade Bldg.—141 W. Jackson boul.

Chicago Tribune, December 30, 1880

Board of Trade Building Proposal.
Are you aware that some of your critics object to the Board’s moving down to Biler avenue?

That’s mere bosh. In the first place, Biler avenue is south of these improvements. The Board of Trade men will congregate on Sherman and Pacific avenue, north of Van Buren street, and then up La Salle street to Randolph, thereby making La Salle the Wall street of Chicago. In the next place, the whole neighborhood will soon undergo a complete transformation, physically and morally, just as any other section would when business-men flocked to it and property became so valuable as to attract capital and induce investments.

Chicago Tribune, December 13, 1882
Program of Today’s Exercises
Today will mark an important epoch for the Chicago Board of Trade, it being the date fixed for the laying of the new corner-stone of the new building. The arrangements are all perfected, and the weather will be the only doubtful factor. The exercises themselves will be brief and simple, as the time of year forbids any elaborate display. The building itself is now well advanced, and but a few turns of the wheels the derrick will be required to swing the stone into place. The board will be adjourned at noon in the Chamber of Commerce, and a procession formed under charge of Gen. Joseph Stockton as Marshal, with I. P. Rumsey, P. P. Oldershaw, and J. W. Rumsey as assistants. The line will be headed by the band of the First Regiment and Company K of the same command, which is composed exclusively of employees of members of the Board of Trade. Some other militia companies are expected to take part. Then will come the Presidents and ex-Presidents of the organization, city and county officials, members of the board, and also members of the Produce and Stock Exchange. The route will be from the Chamber of Commerce east to Dearborn street, thence south to Jackson street, and west to the foot of LaSalle street. The exercises at building will be opened by prayer by Bishop Cheney, followed by music. President Dunham will then deliver an address, followed by an oration by Secretary Randolph. The stone will then be lowered into place after the usual box has been placed therein. The people are to unite in singing “America,” and the exercises will close with the “Doxology.” Owing to the short distance to be traveled it has been decided not to use any carriages in the procession, and the exercises will be made as simple and impressive as possible. It was originally decided to postpone the exercises from day to day should the weather prove unpropitious, but the arrangements are so far advanced now that the stone will undoubtedly be laid today in spite of the elements.

Description of the New Building.
The building whose corner-stone is to be laid today, is, as already stated, located on the block bounded by Pacific Avenue, Jackson, Van Buren, and Sherman streets. It is to be a happy combination of utility and elaborate ornamentation, and standing as it does at the foot of La Salle street, will be one of the most notable sights in the city. The site is one of the most commanding in the city, fronting as it does Jackson street, directly at the head of La Salle street. The style of architecture is what is popularly known as modern Gothic, liberally treated to meet the grand proportions such a building requires. The design in the main is not an exceedingly ornate building, yet from its magnitude and the necessary multitude of details there will be prominent, bold-relief figures and features which, when executed of granite and dispersed in the various parts of the building, will form one grand whole of harmonious, plain, and ornamental surfaces, combined to produce the boldest, picturesque building in this country, and so entirely unlike the ordinary style of such puclic buildings that the city will be proud of its having been built.

The Main Building.
The design is for a building quite out of the beaten track in its general appearance. The main facade is on Jackson street, fronting La Salle, and is crowned by a centre tower thirty-two feet front, projecting four feet from the main front wall of the building, and rising to a height of 240 feet. This tower is relieved in its various sections by offsets, belts, corbels, cornices, etc., and is topped out with singular lines to a lookout balcony 200 feet above the sidewalk, tapering into a prominent pinnacle forty feet high, which supports a flagstaff thirty-five feet in height. The altitude from the street level to the top of the pole is 300 feet.

The height from the sidewalk to the top of the cornice is 108 feet. At the top of the tower is poised a statue of Mercury. The tower projects from the main building about six feet, and the main entrance at its base somewhat further. The entrance or portico, is thirty-two feet wide and forty-six feet high supported by great granite columns on each side. The corner pavilions, flanking the tower, are carried up some distance, and project about four feet from the main structure.

The two front cornices of the main or La Salle front of the structure are finished with pavilions twenty-two feet square, terminating in high roofs considerably above the main building. The two sides of the structure are more plainly treated, but are very bold in their general subdivisions and various details.

One of the most imposing features on the exterior will be deeply cut panel balustrades, surmounting the sides over the centre of the main hall portion of the building, which will be fifty-six feet long and twenty-nine feet high, braced on each side with huge carved brackets resting against two large Griffin figures. In the centre of this tablet there will be a group of nine mammoth statue figures, in different attitudes, representing trade and commerce, with the various implements of art and agriculture, all cut in bold relief from solid granite. These will adorn both the Pacific avenue and Sherman street fronts. There will be several other prominent statue figures cut in granite in different parts of the building.

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The main or Board of Trade part proper will occupy the whole width of the lot, 173 feet nine inches in width by 160 feet deep, leaving ground 173 feet nine inches by sixty-five feet for the adjoining office building. The floor surface of the great trading hall is 23,000 feet. The ground floor will be only one step above the sidewalk. The grand entrance will be in front of La Salle street, through the centre tower. A large hallway and commodious vestibule are first passed through, from which there are to be two imposing granite stairways leading to the main hall floor. On each side street and from the court there will be similar but less pretentious entrances, together with two commodious flights of iron stairs, and four large elevators leading to the top of the building. The office portion is to be nine stories high, or 150 feet above the sidewalk. The main hall portion of the building will range somewhat less in height on the sides, but the front will be aboit the same height.

The ground floor is to be used for banks and offices with fire-proof vaults to each. The second floor will contain

The Main Exchange.
and Call Board rooms, and official, committee, and lavatory rooms. The main hall will occupy 171 feet ab 155 feet, with galleries at each end. The Call Board will be 70 by 80 feet, with galleries, and will occupy the height of two stories, or thirty-five on the east and south side of the building. The President-Secretary, clerks, and committees will occupy the west and south portions of the two stories opposite the Call Board. Above this there will be six stories of offices in the south end or office portion of the building. The main hall will be 80 feet high, with a glass ceiling of 70 by 80 feet. The walls of this portion of the building will be alternately adorned with large windows and massive marble columns, upon which there will be ponderous capitals, cornices, and brackets richly treated, and interspersed with appropriate frescoes. The building is to be practically fire-proof, as all the modern appliances of fire-proofing are to be used in its construction.

The office building in the rear and adjoining the Board of Trade quarters is in the same style externally as the main portion. Excepting space in two stories for a Call-Boars room on one side and Board of Trade official rooms on the other, this part will be divided into offices. It will be run up nine stories, with a large interior skylight in addition to the numerous windows on the outside.

The ground floor under the main hall will be devoted to offices and banking rooms and to a large hall for the delivery and settlement clerks. All the private offices on this (the first) floor and those in the office portion of the building on every story are equipped with fire-proof vaults.

The Interior.
The Board of Trade hall is to be very elaborate in style. The walls between the windows will be relieved by large granite columns with a rich arch-covered cornice above, reaching to the ceiling, which is seventy feet from the hall floor. This will be crowned by the ceiling light, eighty by eighty-eight feet, which is stained glass, and will be set up in a clove-story rising eighty-fice feet above the floor level. The building will be fire-proof in all its essential parts. The doors and casings are to be hardwood—mahogany, walnut, maple, and oak—and the walls and ceilings frescoed in oil in entirely new and artistic designs.

The hall, additionally lighted by very high windows (30 x 16 feet)has a colonnade running completely around it on three of the sides, the beautifully molded pillars (iron and marble castings) standing well out., and the north, where the rostrum is, being set in the wall.

The larger and more important of these supports, as well as ornaments, are fully eighty feet high and three feet and a half in diameter, the richly foliated and capped shafts not remotely suggesting rows of forest kings of the palm order. The columns rise in marble bases, corresponding in fineness and durability with the high marble wainscoting. The mural allegorical paintings and other decorations—some details of which have yet to be determined—will be as appropriate and artistic as the talent of connoisseurs can make them.

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The ceiling will be in huge, broad panels, with an arched skylight in the centre portion, filled with ornamental stained glass. The skylight will have another light of equal size above it on the roof. Through these two lights will be the natural means for ventilation. The important windows are to be of plate glass, manufactured expressly for this use, and the transoms, as also the main tower window, are to be of cathedral stained glass, rich in conventional or specially significant devices. The rich effect of the noble hall is heightened yet more by the mosaic suggestion of the floor, which, like that of the offices throughout, will be of white maple, this hardest of woods, being finished with various other hard woods of enlivening color—ash, butternut, cherry—while the floors of all passageways and corridors on the first two floors will be laid in tiles of marble. At each corner of the great hall will be s room for private consultation, and near these will be telegraph counters to additionally accommodate those sending messages from the hall.

The hall is to be reached by a double stairway nine feet in width, and four elevators. There are

Two galleries in the room, The one at the north end extends entirely across the hall, about twenty feet from the floor, the rostrum leading from the middle being sixteen feet above. Opposite, or at the south movement was set on foot which resulted in the organization of the Chicago Board of Trade. A meeting was held March 13 of that year at the office W. L. Whiting, the call for which was signed by Wentworth, Byer & Chapin, George Steele, L. H. Magle & Co., Beef & Church, John H Kinzie, Norton, Walter & Co., DeWolfe & Co., Charles Walker, Thomas Richmund, Thomas Hale, and Raymond Gibbs & Co.

Chicago’s First Half Century, 1833-1883, The Inter Ocean Company, 1883

The corner-stone of the new Chamber of Commerce was laid with appropriate ceremonies Dec. 13. 1882, and since then the walls of the magnificent building have gone up with marvelous rapidity, but this new temple of trade is on such a grand scale that it will be another year before\ it is brought to completion and ready for the machinery of commerce.

The new building, of which a cut is here given, fronts on Jackson street and extends back to Van Buren, occupying the full width of the block between Sherman street and Pacific avenue. It will have a frontage of 175 feet and 225 feet in depth. It is in the modern Gothic style, built of Fox Island granite. The grand tower is 32 feet front, and is to be 300 feet high, the masonry extending 225 feet and toe remaining 75 feet of iron. At the height of 225 feet there will be a clock dial on each of the four sides of the
tower, twelve feet in diameter.

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A MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE.
All the external entrances to the building will have large prominent doors, finished with polished red granite square columns. The external ornamentation is to be on a scale never before equaled in the city, and this will be one of the finest buildings used for commercial purposes in the world, costing $1,500. 000.

One of the brightest pages in the history of the Board of Trade was the unwavering support it gave the country in the hour of its greatest need. The echo of the first gun awoke the loyal sons of the Board of Trade, and they rallied for the defense. Grain and pork and beef and stocks were forgotten for the flag, and the “boys on ‘Change” showed that they could fight with the same enthusiasm and with the same recklessness that they could buy on the market.

Three regiments of infantry and a battery of artillery were organized and equipped by the Board of Trade, who kept watch over them during their service of three years. They were allowed to want for nothing that money could buy. The board also raised $150,000 to help on the cause of the Union. Secretary Randolph, in speaking of the board, with which he has been connected in an official capacity for so many years, says:

That the men composing this body are, in general, possessed of unusual business ability, are remarkable for their quick perception of business possibilities, and are of untiring devotion to business affairs, will perhaps be freely conceded by all acquainted with tfteir habits and modes of conducting those affairs ; the best indications of their true manhood, however, are to be found in their generous treatment of the unfortunate, whether of their own numbers or of distressed humanity throughout the world.

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Transactions in the Millions.
As an estimate of the business done on the Board of Trade, it may be noted tnat the clearings alone amount to more than $2,000.000 a week. As this is but a small percent of the transactions, the actual business of the board amounts to millions of dollars every day.

Last year there was shipped from Chicago $90,388,000 worth of flour and grain, $100,939,000 worth of live stock, $117,592,000 worth of meats, lard, tallow, and dressed hogs.$l 1. 1 14,000 worth of butter and cheese, $24,778,000 worth of wool and hides, $9,358,000 worth of seeds and broom corn, $2,451,000 worth of distilled spirits, not including the tax, and $9,924,000 worth of miscellaneous products, making1 a grand total of $372,544,000 worth of products from this market, and all passed through the hands of these merchants and commission men on the Board of Trade.

But this does not begin to give an estimate of the business transactions which take place there. The wheat, corn, and other products are often sold and resold a dozen times in one day, and not only is business done by the 2,000 men on the floor, but many of them are acting as agents for men throughout the whole country. There is no place in the world where so much of this kind of business is done, and Chicago by right is called the trade center.

April 29, 1885 Opening Ceremonies

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9-10 a.m.
Music—Orchestra

10 a.m.
Call to Order—President E. Nelson Blake
Prayer—The Rev. Clinton Locke, D. D.
National Anthem—Keller By Orchestra

John R. Bensley, Chairman of the Real Estate Commission, will turn over the keys of the new building to President E. Nelson Blake, who will respond on the behalf of the Board of Trade.

Introduction—Third Act of Lohengrin—Wagner By Orchestra
Oration—Emery A. Storrs
Serenade—Sibl By Orchestra
Speeches—Delegates from Abroad
America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee)—Hauser By Orchestra

Chicago Tribune, April 19, 1885

A WONDERFUL MAGNET. A Building that Attracts Chicago’s Millions
Immediately upon the location of the new Board of Trade Building being decided upou, property adjacent to it enhanced in value to such an extent that to one unacquainted It would seem fabulous. Changes that have been made are unsurpa7sed in this or any other city. The costly edifices far surpassing the present ones and equal to any in the world, have been thoroughly fitted and finished in an incredulous space of time. These buildings are being rented by our most prominent financial institutions, and they in turn made their quarters as pronounced as the buildings they occupy. These buildings—namely: the Royal Insurance Co., Gaff, Parker, Memory, Insurance, Imperial, Open Board of Trade, Sheppards, McCormicks and Pacific—offices all have the finest appointments, and required of contractors first-class work. The Hall’s Safe and Lock Company have tarnished all of these buildings with their burglar and fire-proof security, and also the following bankers and commission men with their burglar-proof work : Continental National Bank, Bank of Montreal, Corn Exchange Bank, Chicago Trust & Savings Bank, Eggleston & Son, Armour & Co., F. G. Kammerer, and others. The Hall’s Safe and Lock Co.’s work is always in demand where first-class security is desired. Their work is used by nearly every financial institution of this country..

Chicago Tribune, January 21, 1894

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For half an hour yesterday afternoon 1,000 people stood in front of the Board of Trade tower and apparently expected that lofty structure to shortly take a tumble to the earth. The spectators looked at the big cracks which the sinking tower has caused on the north side of the building. Meanwhile they stretched their arms skyward, poked up their umbrellas excitedly, and explained the whole matter to eager listeners who approached the scene. It was only after a severe gust of rain that the throng dispersed.

The excitement was caused by the falling of a piece of granite from the coping. It weighed no more than one pound, but was taken as evidence of the unsafe condition of the tower. The announcement made in The Tribune a few days ago of the decision of the Board of Directors to pull down the tower emphasized the importance of the falling stone. The cracks in the walls show that the tower is sinking, and experts have been at work to estimate the degree to which it renders the building unsafe. Opinions differed yesterday as to the significance of the falling of the piece of granite. It might mean that it was due to the disturbed condition of the building or that the piece had merely become detached by the ordinary causes of frost.
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E. W. Kohlsaat saw the piece of stone fall. Mr. Kohlsaat was just across the street talking to a friend abut the probability of a 325-foot high granite tower taking a tumble. While he was speaking he noticed the piece of stone strike the pavement. The coincidence was such that he took the trouble the piece of granite to Secretary George Stone and told him that the building had begun to tumble down. The attention of President Raymond was called to the matter, and W. W. Boyington, the architect of the building, shortly after called at President Raymond’s office to learn the extent of the damage.

“I do not attach any importance to the matter,” said President Raymone. “There are other parts of the building from which pieces of stone have dropped, and there is no reason to believe that this is anything more than the ordinary scaling which happens to stone. Pieces have dropped from my own residence, and this occurrence seems to me to be no wise different. No,” he added, “we shall take no steps for additional inspection, as I do not think it necessary.

Architect Boyington said:

There is no danger of this tower falling. It leans now about nine inches to the north. It has leaned over four and one-haslf inches at the time it was constructed. It can’t fall until the center of gravity is displaced, and that would mean a settling and leaning oif ten feet.

There are a great many brokers in the Board of Trade Building who cannot be induced to feet that the tower is as safe as the architect avers it to be, and for that reason they intend to have it taken down. The crowd that stood out in the rain yesterday to look at the big cracks had no technical knowledge of the building, but every spectator was certain the thing could not stand much longer. In corroborating this view amusing testimony was furnished. On the east side of the tower there is a lightning rod running from the ground to the apex. Half a block away this rod cannot be distinguished from a crack in the wall, and there were those looking on who declared that the lightning rod “crack” furnished indisputable evidence of the sagging of the tower.

Chicago Tribune, February 25, 1894

The work of taking down the Board of Trade tower will begin tomorrow morning. The officials hope to have the changes completed by May 1, but it is said if the last scaffolding is removed by June 1 the board will be fortunate. C. H. Rutan, the architect who planned the changes, returned to Boston last night. The first thing to be done will be the erection of a big protection over the skylight above the main floor of the board, and a protection will also be built over the sidewalk. In addition to this there will be a large platform fifteen feet wide constructed entirely around the tower. This is to guard against the possibility of any of the material getting away from the workmen and crashing down through the skylight. The most danger is from the slate on the roof of the tower. As soon as the top one is taken off the rest become loosened, and a slight gust of wind night send a shower of slate down in the traders. The gilded schooner at the top of the flagstaff on the tower will come down first. R. P. Lamont of the contracting firm of Shailer & Schnigiay, which will do the work, said yesterday that the removal of the ship was the most difficult feat of all. The schooner is of iron and is eleven feet long, being at the top of a hollow iron flagstaff six inches in diameter and fifty feet high. He had spent much time in studying how it was to come down. He has decided to begin in the tower about ten feet below the apex and remove the roof and frame work. Upon this space a derrick will be erected, one arm of which will reach to the ship and flagstaff. No attempts will be made to loosen the ship from its flagstaff, but they will be lowered in one piece. After it is down the schooner will be newly glided and be placed in the exchange room as a souvenir of the lost tower. The heavy bell which has been striking out the hours these many years will be lowered from its place in the tower to the seventh story. The next thing to come down will be the clock, which will be placed about the level of the present roof. The diameter of the present dial is twelve feet. It is all right where it is, but when it gets 100 feet nearer the sidewalk it will look like a small farm, and a dial of about half the diameter must be used. Practically no new material will be required in the changes. Everything will be cleaned off down to line some thirty feet below the present dial. Then the old material which formed the construction of the tower above the roof will be replaced at the roof level. The Board of Trade appropriated $30,000 for the change, and this is about the amount of the contract. “From rough estimates I have made,” Mr. Lamont said, “I should say that the weight of the tower will be reduced between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 pounds by these changes. That is as near as we can get at it. The architect thinks with this great weight gone the danger from the tower settling will be removed. I think the building will look nearly as well without the tower as with it.”

Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1894

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Sailors climbing the mast of a derrick at the top of the Board of Trade tower yesterday attracted hundreds of spectators on Jackson and La Salle streets. The contractors were engaged in the difficult task of taking down the big gilded schooner at the top of the tower. The ship, which looks from the ground to be a toy affair, is of iron, over eleven feet long, and rests on the top of an iron mast six inches in diameter. The ship cannot be removed from the top of the mast, but the two must be taken down together. A derrick has been erected about ten feet from the apex of the spire, and one arm was swung alongside the golden ship. Sailors then went up to fasten the ship and mast securely to the derrick. Three hundred feet from the sidewalk the sailors climbed about fearlessly and succeeded in securely fastening the ropes; then they crawled down, and tomorrow morning the ship will be lowered and placed in the exchange hall as a souvenir of the lost tower.

The InterOcean, March 12, 1894

The gilded ship on the Board of Trade tower that has so long o’ertopped the masts that ornament our odoriferous river has come down from its aerial perch and will be dry-docked in Exchange Hall. Speculators out of luck can now see their ship come in without extra charge.

The InterOcean, March 14, 1894

The large ship that has been on the top of the Board of Trade tower for nine years was placed on the Exv=change floor, near the south entrance, where the vessel men make their headquarters. In the morning they had a christening as the boat had no name. They called it the Hugh McMillan, in honor of the popular agent of the Western Transportation line. The affair was a very pleasant one and the usual bottle was broken to do it up in real ship shape. After mid-day, when McMilan had left the floor, those who staid until the close took down the sign board and were ready for another christening, but no available master of ceremonies was found.

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CBOT Looking up LaSalle towards Jackson – 1894

The building on the left would be the The Grand Pacific Hotel. The building on the right is The Royal Insurance Building. The portion of this building along Lasalle housed what’s listed as the Maller’s, Gaff, and Counselman Buildings.

Building center has engraving “Erected in 1883” (the building was completed in 1885). Crane at top of building dismantling the original bell tower completed in 1885. The clock has already been removed but the bell is barely noticeable through the two arched openings.

Scaffolding can be seen in center of building and a construction barrier along the front of the building with advertisements on it. One ad promotes deposit vaults for silverware papers & jewelry. The other visible ad is for Revell’s Furniture Store at Wabash and Adams. A sign on the Pacific Hotel Column, says “Grand Pacific Café”.

On the sidewalk just off center left, is a man in full top coat with top hat and cane. Next to him is a light post with the name “Quincy” at the top. Ahead of him is a man in common clothes, both men walking toward Jackson. In the center almost in front of the entrance is a large wagon driven by 2 horses and one driver. On the west side of the street a single horse driven covered wagon with a single driver.

Chicago Tribune, March 14, 1929

NEW BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING PLANS ARE GIVEN CITY APPROVAL
Plans for the new board of trade building, a forty-eight story structure which will rise on the site of the old building at Jackson boulevard and La Salle street, were approved, yesterday, by Building Commissioner Christian P. Paschen in a conference with architects and contractors. At the conference were Henry Ramsey of the Board, of Trade, Samuel P. Arnot, president or the Board of and Frank Carroll of Holabird & Roche were present. Work on the building is expected to begin immediately and completed May 1, 1930.

Mr. Paschen characterized the plans the most exact in detail that had ever come before him.

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History Tallest Buildings in Chicago

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NOTES
After the clock tower was removed the “tallest building in Chicago” record was then held by the 302 ft tall Masonic Temple. Built on caissons surrounded by muck, the trading house was rendered structurally unsound in the 1920s when construction began across the street on the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The 1885 building was subsequently demolished in 1929, and the exchange temporarily moved to Van Buren and Clark while a new building was constructed at the LaSalle and Jackson site.

Mr. Arthur W. Cutten, known as the “Corn King”, has asked for the two large statues, representing Labor and Commerce, which stood above the Jackson Boulevard entrance.” Cutten got the statues and supposedly had them transported via wagon to adorn the land of his “Sunny Acres Farm” in Glen Ellyn. Eventually these statues were cleaned up and were in prominent display at Forest Preserve District of Dupage County, and now they stand in a little plaza next to the current Chicago Board of Trade.

Between demolition of this building and completion of its successor on the same site, the Board of Trade occupied a temporary building at 447-511 South Clark Street which was demolished in 1947 when Congress Parkway was widened.

Montauk Block

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The Montauk Block
Life Span: 1882-1902
Location: 111 to 117 Monroe St.
Architect: Burnham & Root

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1884

Montauk Blk.

Andreas Alfred T.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1885
Montauk Blk.—111 to 117 Monroe
Graceland Cemetery Co. 56 Montauk blk.

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904
Montauk Blk.—111 to 117 Monroe

Peter and Shepard Brooks were developers of a few buildings in Chicago. They were;

The Rookery

Monadnock Building

Marquette Building

Chicago Tribune, October 15, 1882
Montauk Block on Monroe street, between Clark and Dearborn streets, is now completed, and about three-fourths occupied.The building was designed by Messrs. Burnham & Root, and measures 146 feet from the highest point of the roof to sidewalk. In massive and fire-proof construction it is without an equal in the West. This building demonstrates that the day of dark offices near the street is past in Chicago. Contrary to the general rule in the past if there be a choice in offices it is in favor of the upper stories, where a fine view, sunshine, light, air, and quiet are only possible, while swift elevators furnished with every safety appliance make such offices just as accessible as those upon the lower floors. We venture to predict that in the future no first-class office building less than eight stories in height be built in Chicago.

The building—one of the most extraordinary examples of masonry ever produced in this city and in fact the finest in the West is entirely of brick, and, such is its height, and because of its uniformity of color, appears as an enormous brick set on end. The color is a dark-red, without a shade of variation in color in the whole surface, The Hydraulic Pressed Brick Company of St. Louis, who, through their Chicago agent, Mr. J. J. Lockwood, located at 109 Lake street, furnished the brick, have in it built a monument to their great industry in this city. And it is deserved, for since the great fire no other brick concern has furnished the material to so many of Chicago’s prominent buildings, and so great is the demand for the St. Louis pressed brick that enormous shipments are made to all parts of the United States, from Minnesota to Texas, while in Chicago there are beside the Montauk Block, some of the most extensive business blocks being inclosed in this incomparable material. St. Louis has thus materially aided in the up-building of our city, and in this great sample of what her best brickyard can produce she has an enduring monument to her industry in this her rival city. Mr. J. J. Lockwood, the genial agent of the company, has through his untiring zeal accomplished this thorough introduction of St. Louis brick and has been thoroughly identified in the great building contracts which have made the rebuilding of Chicago a wonder to civilization. It may be said in this connection that Mr. Lockwood is also agent for and deals largely in Baltimore, Philagielphia, Trenton. and all grades of first-class brick, both plain and ornamental, line specimens of which the reporter examined at his office

Blending in color with the brick work the architectural finish is made through a judicious use of terracotta cornice and other ornamentation. The Northwestern Terra-Cotta Works—True, Brunkhorst & Co.who—supplied this material, are supplying large quantities to almost every public building and private residence now in process of construction, and such is the popularity of terra-cotta and the possibility of molding it to harmonize with the general design that no building, whether of brick or stone, is considered perfect without a finish of this tasteful and harmonious material, of which the ornamentation of the Montauk Block is an excellent example.

No wood timbers are used, the girders and columns all being of iron of the best quality, and placed by the Union Foundry, who doing more than any otner concert) in the West of this character of work, can best supply the best pattern of ironwork for the purpose intended.

Much of the fireproof nature of the building is due to the hollow tile partitions placed by the Ottawa Tile Company. The owner of the building not only expresses himself as well pleased with their work, but the fact of this company’s popularity is attested by large contracts in this city and abroad. The company also placed a Keene’s cement base around the walls of the rooms and fireproofed the tank-rooms and ventilators On the roof, showing everywhere a capability for effective and creditable fireproof construction.

A noticeable feature of this building is the plumbing. Mr. E. Baggot, the well-known gas-fitter and plumber, who placed the plumbing, designed to make it not only most perfect in material, but healthful and easy of access. This was accomplished by placing all the pipes outside the walls, and not concealed, according to the usual method. This is certainly an improvement, and like the ventilation, also a part of Mr. Baggot’s work, is almost a sure guarantee for the perfect healthfulness of the offices. This new departure of Mr. Baggot in the plumbing line has called to itself mach public attention, and is generally, as it is most justly, commended.

The steam heating, like the plumbing is peculiar to this building, the pipes being wholly visible. They are run through Ere and sound proof bushings in the floors, and connect with tile radiators. Messrs. Hay & Prentice, who placed this work, say it is the best heated and safest from any accident from the pipes of any building in which their popular system of heating has been placed. The entire system of radiators can be worked with less than one pound pressure on the gauge, so perfect is their adjustment.

The steam is supplied by two tubular boilers, the construction of which is something superior. These, as well as the tanks upon the roof for supplying water to the elevator and for fire purposes. were constructed by the Chicago Steam Boiler Works.

In the centre of the building is a court containing the halls and stairways. This is well lighted by a Hays patent skylight placed by Kniesly Bros. & Miller.

The hall-floor tiling. as well as the ornamental tiling around the grates, in the offices and some handsome brass grates and other fireplace accessories, are the work of Henry Dibblee.

The owner of the building is specially pleased with the durability and fire-resisting properties of the vault doors, 69 in number, preferring them to all others after carefully examining other doors. S. H. Harris put them in, and on time, too.

Of course, none but Hale’s hydraulic elevators are used. These are two in number, especially designed for high buildings, and are the same as those used in similar buildings in New York.

The Tenants.
The Graceland Cemetery Company were found occupying pleasant offices upon the ninth floor. During an interesting interview with Mr. Bryan Lathrop, the company’s President, the reporter was impressed with the novelty of the surrounding view, these being the highest business-offices in the city. Mr. Lathrop spoke enthusiastically of the beauty of Graceland and the recent improvements there, as well as the extension of the ground to almost twice their former area. Besides the completeness of the accessories in the way of picturesque lakes, velvety lawns, a beautiful variety of trees and well-trimmed shrubbery, thorough underdrainage, etc., which make this one of the finest cemeteries in the West, there is a large and growing fund in the hands of Trustees, of which Mr. Jerome Beecher is the Treasurer, which insures the perpetual maintenance of the cemetery. As one-tenth of the gross receipts of the cemetery go into this fund, which is entirely out of the control of the cemetery company, it seems that here the people have a security for the future , which is beyond all question.

Room No. 2, which is the east half of the ground floor, fronting on Monroe street, is occupied by Mr. George H. Rozet, the well-known real-estate agent. They are convenient and well-arranged offices.

Room 15 is occupied by Mr. A. F. Nagle, civil engineer and general Western agent for the Grinnell automatic sprinkler.

The Northwestern Department of the Hartford Steam-Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company occupy offices upon the fourth floor. The company place insurance upon all kinds of steam-boilers and cover all loss or damage to boilers and machinery arising from explosions. The Chicago agency, under the able management of H. D. P. Biglow, is rapidly gaining a notable place among our large insurance companies, and ranks first of its kind in the country.

The west half of the fourth floor, fronting upon Monroe street, is occupied by a combination of insurance companies under the general direction of Mr. P. A. Montgomery. As Secretary and General Agent this gentleman represents the Western Manufacturers’ Insurance Company and the Mutual Underwriters’ Union. This combination numbers eight companies in all, and their quarters in the Montauk have been well arranged. adapted to the many needs of the company in the transaction of business.

Suite No. 25 is occupied by John W. Marsh, who for many years has been prominent in real-estate circles and in the negotiation of loans upon real estate. In these new quarters Mr. Marsh has every facility for the transaction of his increasing business.

E. C. Cole, the prominent real-estate agent, occupies Room 29.

Messrs. S. Leonard Boyce and Lewis L. Palmer have their law-offices at Room 33 in this building.

G. P. Randall, the architect, is located in room 44 upon the seventh floor. The suite is large, and commensurate with his business.

A very handsome suite of fine offices on the seventh floor is occupied by A. T. Andreas, the publisher of atlases, historical works, etc. Two of these offices will be set apart exclusively for the use of the force engaged upon his History of Chicago, which is to be in several volumes, and on which, Andreas will employ the best of talent. In fact, all important subjects will be written under the supervision of citizens of Chicago who have made certain local subjects their study.¹

Suite number 47 is occupied by Messrs. H. S. & F. S. Osbourne, attorneys-at-law. It is one of the most elegant and completely arranged set of offices in the building having been especially arranged according to their instructions.

Messrs. Leonard Swett and Pliny N. Haskell, composing the law firm of Swett & Haskell, were found occupying a suite of finely-furnished offices upon the eighth floor. The offices are also occupied by Mr. Edward Swett.

The Montauk Building was the first major commercial building developed by the architectural firm of Burnham & Root. It was built o the site of the Chicago Museum.

Rand, McNally & Co.’s Bird’s Eye Views Guide to Chicago, 1890

⑧ The Montauk Building
At 115 Monroe Street, has a frontage of 90 feet and a depth of 180 feet. It is 130 feet high, in 10 stories, of steel construction, on heavy foundations, with thick walls. It has 150 offices, 300 occupants, and 2 passenger elevators. Erected in 1882, at a cost of $325,000; considered the first tall steel building (skyscraper) in Chicago. It has resisted two hot fires on its western wall. Here Burnham & Root, the architects, had their offices while they built the Rookery.

Chicago Tribune, June 20, 1902

bot

The First National Bank has made peace with the last of the tailor tenants in the Montauk block, and the work of tearing down the building, to make way for the first section of the bank’s proposed policy $3,000,000 building, will be begun immediately. No definite date is set for the completion of the section occupied by the Montauk, but it is hoped to have it finished by May of next year, when the bank will move in and the work of tearing down its present building, at the corner of Dearborn and Madison, will be commenced. D. H. Burnham & Co., who have prepared all the plans, will hasten the work as much as possible.

The exterior of the new building will be of granite, the exact hue not having yet been decided upon, but it will either be of gray or yellow shade. Some of the contracts have already been awarded.

montauk

From 1903-1965, the First National Bank Building occupied the site. In 1965, this was demolished to make way for First National Plaza (now called Chase Tower).

Journal of the Western Society of Engineers, October, 1904

When an engineer has made his computations and prepared the details for the foundation of a building, it may be said that the most important part of his labor has been accomplished. Before, how ever, the structural details of the foundation can be definitely determined, it becomes necessary to carefully and accurately compute
the weight units entering into the superstructure.

In no other city, perhaps, in America, has the question of foundation received so much careful consideration from engineers as right here in Chicago, on account of the nature of the sub-strata underlying the surface, upon which the weight of the structure must be proportionately distributed.

The necessity for a system of floor construction that was light and strong arose just about the time that the high building era set in, and the hollow tile method was adopted as soon as presented, in order to reduce as much as possible the superimposed load on the foundations of walls and columns.

About twenty-four years ago, the Montauk Block was erected on Monroe street, from plans prepared by D. H. Burnham & Company, architects of this city.

The foundations of this structure were rubble stone; the exterior walls of the building solid masonry, of varying thicknesses, as called for by the building ordinances then in force.

This building was nine stories in height, and was considered at the time a “skyscraper.” Within a very recent period, this structure has been razed to make place for an eighteen- story modern steel skyscraper for the First National Bank.

When the plans were drawn for the Montauk Block, a great many different systems of fireproof floor construction were considered, to wit Brick arches, corrugated iron arches, filled in with concrete; solid concrete arches; Lime of Teil blocks and hollow tile arches.

As this was the first nine-story structure ever built, and higher than any other business building in Chicago, the merits and demerits of the different systems were carefully considered, and hollow tile arches were accepted for the floors of this building, for the reason that by the use of tile arches, the required vertical and horizontal strength was secured at a minimum dead weight of floor construction. The tile arches in this building were what is known as side “construction” arches; the soffits of the beams being covered with i-inch slabs of fire clay tile.

The spans between the beams, as I remember them, were about 5 feet, 6 inches. The beams were about 9 inches in depth, framed into girders, supported at intervals on cast iron columns.

I refer to this building particularly as I believe this was the first high building that proved a financial success to its owners, thereby stimulating the erection of similar structures, which has culminated in the present up-to-date thirty-story steel skyscraper.

The standard of construction adopted in the Montauk Building, for floors, is practically the standard of floor construction now in most general use for the erection of fireproof buildings.

There have been most important improvements, both in the form and the method of laying the arches, and also in the methods of de signing and assembling the steel parts; but, to all intents and purposes, this general system of floor construction is to-day in force and effect, and is accepted by architects and engineers as “The Standard.”

There are in use at this date, throughout the United States, in various buildings, embracing every description, from private dwellings to wholesale warehouses, over 200,000,000 square feet of standard tile constructed floor, equivalent to an area of almost 5,000 acres of floor surface.

Notes:

¹The first volume of Mr. A. T. Andreas’ History of Chicago from the Earliest Period to the Present Time has just issued from the press.—Chicago Tribune, March 1, 1884.

John Brown’s Fort Museum

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John Brown’s Fort Museum
Life Span: 1848-Present (1892-1895 in Chicago)
Location: East side of W(abash Avenue, Between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets
Architect: George O. Garnsey (1832)

Chicago Tribune, August 31, 1892

If what is claimed regarding the John Brown Fort Museum company is true, all promoters might well sit humbly at the feet of a group of Washington officials who have engineered the formation of the museum company, which will have its headquarters in the little building on the east side of Wabash avenue, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets. The methods employed by these people, or at least the success which has been attained, would make even the mouths of the promoters, who carried through the English brewery deal, water. They have formed a company with a capital stock of $150,000, and this stock has been issued on a basis of assets which, at the most liberal estimate, do not appear to represent more than $10,000 or $12,000.

Ex-Congressman A. J. Holmes is the President of the John Brown Museum company. Maj. Lockwood, Chief of the Weather Bureau, is the Secretary, and J. H. C. Wilson is Treasurer. Among others interested in the project are W. W Dudley of Washington City, L. T. Michener of Indianapolis, Senator B. Perkins of Kansas, John Boyd of the Norfolk Steamship line, Prof. A. J. Smith of the Maryland Agricultural College, and ex-Congressman Henry Libby of Virginia.

As the story goes the issue of $150,000 in stock has been placed among department clerks through Washington, of course, on the representation of great possibilities in the way of earnings. A number of Chicago men have interested themselves in following up the history of the John Brown Fort Museum idea and believe that the scalp which has been made by some one is altogether too excessive. In fact if the conditions are as stated the formation of the company is on a most unconscionable basis. L. Mannsse, the optician, says that about two years ago he was in communication with a man in Wilmington, Del., for the purchase of the engine-house known as John Brown’s fort with the idea of forming a museum here. The building, with the relics in connection with it, was offered to a syndicate represented by Mr. Manasse for $3,000, and it was understood that a cash offer of $2,500 would take the property. The building is not at all large, being 25×16 feet and fourteen feet in height. In addition there was the gallows on which John Brown was executed, which had been rebuilt first from a gallows into a porch and later on back into its original form. It was thought at the time that the entire building could be taken down and shipped on two cars, and that the entire cost of taking the building down, bringing it to Chicago and rebuilding it would be $1,000. The museum company owns, to be sure, the leasehold of. the Wabash avenue lot and the building of unique design thereon. The building is estimated by a contractor to represent about $4,000, and as the lease was only recently made at full ground valuation, the leasehold interest cannot be considered worth anything. According to these figures the company has $8,000 worth of tangible assets on which to base a stock issue of $150,000. Allowing that the figures given are too low, and that the market for John Brown’s relics has become better in the last two years, an estimate of $15,000 would leave a profit apparently to the promotors of something like $135,000.

Chicago Tribune, October 17, 1892

John Brown’s Fort on Wabash avenue, near, Thirteenth street, was informally opened for the press of Chicago Saturday ceding. In the middle of the building stands the historic old strurture, so familiar to visitors in years gone by at Harpers Ferry, and known to the world as John Brown’s fort. Col. S. K. Donavin of Columbus, O., told the visitors the story of the raid and the capture of Brown. He was on the spot at the time as a newspaper correspondent, and interviewed Brown within a few moments after his capture. The fort has been rebuilt exactly as it stood at Harper’s Ferry. The old, rusty iron doors remain wide exposing the interior and showing the portholes in the brickwork through which Brown and his band used their guns. Surrounding the fort are hundreds of glass cases containing interesting relics of slavery days and war time including many memento relics, and rare portraits of Brown and his admirers. Among the relics are some of great historic value, such as the first United States flag that hung over the Speaker’s desk in the House of Representatives at Washington in 1862, which established a precedent that is followed to this day. But under this flag many Southern members of the House refused to take the “ironclad” oath, and were sworn in under the “modified” oath. Ex-Congressman Holmes of Iowa is President of the new enterprise, which is fostered by a number of Washingtonians prominent in government circles. Yesterday the exhibit was opened to the public..

Rand, McNally & Co.’s Bird’s-eye views and Guide to Chicago, 1893

⑧ John Brown’s Fort,
Nos. 1339-1343 Wabash Avenue. The outer building is 50 feet in height, 80 feet deep, having a frontage of 75 feet. The old fort within is a low 1-story brick structure, containing 2 rooms and surmounted by a wooden tower 12 feet high. It was originally constructed as a part of the United States arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, W. Va.; during the war it was occupied as a hospital by both the Federal and Confederate armies. Brown’s personal rules, pikes with which he proposed to arm the negroes, personal letters, accouterments, swords, portraits, etc., of prominent generals, and many other relics of the great war are shown in connection with the old fort. It was removed from Harper’s Ferry August, 1892, and erected in Chicago September, 1892.

Standard Guide to Chicago, John Flinn, 1893

John Brown’s Fort.
Location 1341 Wabash Avenue.
The little brick building which John Brown defended as a fort bravely but hopelessly in 1859 against the combined forces of the government and the State of Virginia. Enclosed in a frame building that is of a novel design, this almost sacred relic of days just preceding the civil war, may be seen. The fort was moved here principally through the instrumentality of Ex-Congressman A. J. Holmes, of Iowa, who has served as Sergeant-at-arms of the House. The building was purchased by a syndicate after much difficulty, as the people of Harper’s Ferry were unwilling to part with it. Before the removal, the building was torn down with the utmost care, the various parts being boxed separately. Upon its arrival in Chicago it was erected with equal care and the supervising architect is authority for the statement that the slightest difference can not be found in the construction of the building since its removal. It is a plain, substantial one-story brick building with a gable roof and open belfry. It was part of the United States gun factory and arsenal, built at Harper’s Ferry in 1832. Its dimensions are 25 feet long, 15 feet wide, and the walls are 14 feet high. There are two large square windows in each end, and semi-circular transoms over each of the wide doorways, both of which are on one side. Large double doors of wood with heavy iron plate fronts once swung open for the men who toiled for Uncle Sam in the little building. In the war one set of the doors was taken away, but the other set remains, almost rusted from its hinges. The building is divided by a solid brick wall into two rooms. The smaller John Brown used as a prison during all his fighting in the larger one.

Chicago Tribune, June 27, 1893

Minstrels in John Brown’s Fort.
A new management has undertaken to make the John Brown fort a more profitable enterprise. Wax figures, made to look as real as life, will be placed in it to represent the scene of the capture of John Brown and the death of his son. The fort has been moved back to leave the structure entirely clear, and in future it will also serve as a stage setting for a minstrel troupe to depict scenes of Southern life during the slavery days. They will sing songs and dance in plantation style and illustrate the capture of the fort.

Chicago Tribune, August 19, 1893

To Foreclose on John Brown’s Fort.
In the Superior Court Louis T. Michener, as trustee, has filed a bill to foreclose a mortgage of $14,668 against the John Brown Fort company. The concern has been conducting a musenm on Wabash avenue for several months. The bill alleges the exhibition has been a failure, and that it has been compelled to close its doors.

The company is said to possess considerable as sets, and a receiver is asked for to take charge of tne property.

Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1895

IGNOBLE USE OF JOHN BROWN’S FORT.
It Will Be Turned into a Stable by a Big Department Store.
The famous John Brown fort at Harper’s Ferry, in which the most celebrated abolitionist of slavery days fought and died, and whose memory is still warm in the hearts of thousands of colored people of his country, is soon to meet a fate that is unworthy of such an interesting relic and memento in the history of the United States. The building in which it now stands on Wabash avenue, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, has been leased to A. M. Rothschild, the projector of the new department store soon to open at State and Van Buren streets, as a stable for delivery wagons and horses, and in carrying out the terms of the lease the famous old fort is about to be moved in such a manner that it will become a part of the stable. It, however, may yet be saved from an ignoble fate.

It will be remembered that the fort was brought to Chicago by a syndicate of men from Washington, D. C., who believed that it could be made a great World Fair attraction, giving them fabulous returns for their investment. But like many another “castle in the air,” built upon anticipated results of the Fair, it was a flat failure. This was found out the first day the fort was opened to the public as an exhibition at 50 cents a ticket, and as an exhibition it closed a few days later. Shortly afterwards a receiver was appointed for the company, which, in the meantime, had invested about in the enterprise, and the receiver tailing to pay the rent of the ground by the terms of the contract the lease was canceled and the improvements on the property, including the old fort, reverted to the owner of the land, Charles L. Hutchinson, President of the Corn Exchange Bank. Mr. Hutchinson is naturally patriotic and does not want to see the old relic go to decay. He has no use for the old structure, but he would like to see it preserved. Although plans have been made to convert it into a stable, Mr. Hutchinson will alter those plans If any park in Chicago will accept and care for the relic.

This statement came from John C. McCord yesterday, who is representing Mr. Hutchinson in the disposition of the property and who closed the lease with A. M. Rothschild.

Mr. McCord said:

Mr. Hutchinson appreciates the value of this little old engine-house as one of the most interesting relics of an important event in the history of this country, and would gladly see it preserved as it should be. It is not his desire that it should become a stable. He appreciates that the proper place for it would be Its oi home at Harper’s Ferry, from which it was so ruthlessly wrested, but this would require an expenditure of a great deal of money. Now that it is in Chicago, he believes it should be cared for here, and offers It as a free gift to any public park that will accept and care for it. It is a structure that will not require a custodian and but little money to place it in position. It is now house-movers’ blocks and about to be turned around according to the plans we have drawn for a stable. But in the hope that the little building will be saved this fate I have ordered all work stopped for a few days and also that the building be kept intact.

This offer has been called to the attention of prominent Grand Army men, who are talking about the advisability of circulating a petition among the veterans of Chicago asking one of the park boards to accept the relic.

Chicago Tribune, August 22, 1895

Historic Engine House Is to Be Taken Back to Harper’s Ferry.
The materials composing John Brown’s Fort are to be taken back to Harper’s Ferry, W.Va., early in September. Brought here before the World’s Fair, the enterprise proved unsuccessful. After a brief existence full of vicissitudes the historic engine-house fell from the Sheriff’s into the wrecker’s hands. It made way for the stables of a department store. Now Harper’s Ferry is to have its own again, as a contract has been signed bv T. Cummins, No. 335 Wells street, to remove the material and reerect it on the original site.

Public-spirited people contributed the necessary funds in response to Miss Kate Field’s appeals. The contribution of the Baltimore and Ohio railway takes the form or free transportation.

Locations:
It has been moved four times: in 1891 to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1895 to the Murphey Farm near Harpers Ferry, in 1909 to the campus of historically black Storer College in Harpers Ferry, and in 1968 by the National Park Service to its present location in lower Harpers Ferry, near its original site.

Auditorium

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Opera in Chicago

The Auditorium
Life Span: 1889-Present
Location: Northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Congress Street
Architect: Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan

Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1904

Auditorium Building

Auditorium Hotel

Auditorium Hotel Annex

Chicago Tribune, September 21, 1889

On Wednesday, the 2d day of October, the copestone of the great Auditorium building is to be laid with Masonic ceremonies, under the auspices of the Grad Lodge of the State of Illinois. This event will mark another important step in the life of a building which has already become historic and which, in its manifold character as containing a hall, theater, hotel, and hundreds of offices, is destined to play an important part in the daily life of Chicago during the next generation. Vastness and solidity are the characteristics of this new landmark of Chicago, which cannot fail to impress every beholder. It is a stupendous monument of western enterprise, creditable alike to its public spirited projectors and to the city of which it forms a prominent feature.

It is not necessary here to dwell at any length upon the genesis and development of the work now so nearly completed. More than three years have elapsed since the project which was to result in giving Chicago the largest and finest hall in the world first took definite shape. It was not until January, 1887, that the work of clearing the ground was begun. Three residences, a large skating rink, and the old Hotel Brunswick had to be demolished. The excavations for the foundations were carried to a uniform depth of twelve feet below the sidewalk, while the trenches extended to a depth of seventeen to twenty feet. It required the removal of over 30,000 cubic yards of loam, sand, and clay before the building operations could be begun. The sand was from three to six feet in depth, and below this lay a bed of soft clay extending over the entire site of the proposed structure. Upon this the foundations were laid at vast expense.

Building operations proper were commenced June 1, 1887. For the foundations of the main building two transverse layers of twelve-inch timber were first put down. Above these was paced a mass of concrete, in which was imbedded railroad bars and T beams.

The Giant Tower.
The tower foundations, covering an area of 69×100 feet, required special treatment. A mass of timber two feet thick was surmounted by a five foot thickness of concrete. In this were imbedded three layers of railroad bars, one of fifteen inch T beams, and one of twelve inch T beams. It was believed by many that the construction of a tower of such dimensions in connection with the building was impracticable, and it was predicted that at the line of junction between the tower and the main building there would be a series of cracks and fissures, resulting from unequal settlement of the foundations. To guard against this the architects, Messrs. Adler and Sullivan, adopted the expedient of loading the foundations of the tower with a weight equal—foot for foot—with that borne by the completed portion. Heavy loads of brick were placed on these foundations, and, as these proved inadequate to sufficiently depress the masonry, 800 tons of pigiron were used. As the tower rose gradually above the line of the main building the superincumbent weight was removed and replaced by masonry. The result of this work was entirely satisfactory and the predicted trouble failed to make itself felt in any way. The settlement was uniform throughout the building, although the tower weighs 15,000 tons in itself. Probably there is no building in the city standing on a more solid basis than the Auditorium. The vast weight is so spread as th bear equally on the solid foundation, and there is not the divergence of a line at the junction with the tower.

The building covers one and five-eighths acres, and has a frontage on Congress street of 362 feet, on Michigan avenue of 187 feet, and on Wabash avenue of 161 feet, making a total street frontage of 710 feet. The walls from the foundations to the street level are of block rubble, laid in Portland cement. Above this the walls are of sewer brick laid in cement and mortar, and to make the walls more homogeneous and capable of resisting possible irregularities of settlement strips of band iron are built in at the levels of the different stories. The exterior walls of the first story are of granite, and those of the second story of brick faced with granite. Thence to the roof, 146 feet above the sidewalk, the walls are of brick, faced with Bedford limestone. The main entrance to the Auditorium proper is on Congress street. A series of arches open upon a spacious hall, on either side of which will be the ticket offices. This entrancehall is finished in marble, with pillars of the same material and a magnificent mosaic floor. The Wabash avenue entrance to the elevators is profusely decorated with marble panels of great beauty.

Unique Points in Construction.
Many Interesting points arose during the construction of this unique and enormous structure. Among the noticeable feats of engineering accomplished were the carrying over the stage of four stories of rooms and two stories of iron rigging lofts. These are supported by four iron trusses, each having a clear span of 110 feet. The banqueting hall is carried over the body of the Auditorium building by the two iron trusses, each of 120 feet span. On the Wabash avenue front and the Congress street corner the first floor is devoted to stores, and all above these are offices. The ninth and part of the eighth story are occupied by the Chicago Art and Music. On the tenth floor are the offices of the architects and other officers of the building. The rooms on the other floors are spacious and fitted with all modern improvements. Many are already occupied by musicians and other professional people, and it is expected that the building will become the art centre of Chicago. Its great height places it above both the smoke and the noise, while the view from the upper floors extends over the whole city.

The tower—240 feet high—is a feature in itself, and its six stories devoted to office purposes will include as many rooms as are to be found in many individual office buildings. There are nine passenger and four freight elevators in the building, all operated by hydraulic power. The tanks for this purpose are on the fifteenth story of the tower. There are eleven of these. Those for the elevators have a capacity of 28,000 gallons, while the house tanks contain 18,000 gallons. An artesian well, which has already been sunk to a depth of 1,200 feet, will furnish 150 gallons of water per minute for the use of the hotel. There are elevators in the tower as well as in the main building, so that access can readily be had to the highest point.

For the Signal Service.
On the flat roof of the tower there is now in constrcution a room 9×18 feet and thirty feet high, built of iron and tile. This is for the accommodation of the signal service corps, and it is designed to show electric signals for the guidance of mariners from the top of this structure. From this observatory the view east, south and north is magnificent. Unfortunately the outlook to the west is ruined by the smoke. The sand dunes at Michigan City are plainly visible on a clear day; and Grosse Point to the north and Sheffield, In., to the south lie in plain view. But on the west all beyond the line of the river is wrapped on sable gloom. Through the smoke the great spire of the Jesuit church on West Twelfth street looms up, and occasionally a glimpse may be had of the county hospital tower and the spire of the Jefferson Park church. Otherwise the great west division is a blank wilderness of houses smothered in Cimmerian darkness. Wabash avenue can be traced its full length, and northern limits of the city can be clearly made out, but nothing can be seen of the Union Depot or of Madison street beyond the river. Possibly on a Sunday or holiday a western view might be obtained, and in that case a magnificent panorama would be spread before the sight-seer.

The Auditorium Hotel.
The Auditorium hotel is to be opened Dec. 2. Messrs. Breslin & Southgate of New York will have charge of it, and they expect to open it, with the exception of the great banquet hall, that day. The hotel aoccupies the Congress street and Michigan avenue fronts. It will have over 400 rooms for guests, besides an entire floor devoted to the use of the help, and another floor over the stage which contains the kitchens. The main office of the hotel, on Michigan avenue, occupies 75×90 feet on the ground floor. The reading room, 30×35 feet, adjoins this. On the Congress street front there is a restaurant 30×96 feet, and a café and bar 30×64 feet. Above the latter is a billiard room of equal dimensions and a barber shop 35×35 feet. There are two elevators at each entrance. The hotel parlors on the second floor over the office open upon a magnificent loggia overlooking the lake front park. The floor of this is of mosaic, the supporting pillars of scagliola. There are 100 rooms with baths, and on all the floors except the tenth the stationary washbowls are placed in closets. From every piece of plumbing work a pipe leads to a ventilating shaft which is supplied with air by means of fans.

The dining room of the hotel is on the tenth floor, and is 45×172 feet. The ceiling is finished as a barrel vault with ornamented arched ribs, divided into cassettes, in the middle of each of which is an incandescent electric light, The whole building, hotel, offices, and auditorium, is lit by electricity. The culinary department of the hotel is over the theater building and entirely apart from the hotel proper. This and the servants’ quarters are reached by bridges extending over the inner court, at a height of 120 feet from the ground. The ventilation of the hall and hotel is provided for by two immense shafts, through which fresh air can be supplied and vitiated air removed at the rate of 10,000,000 cubic feet per hour. The furnishing and fitting up of the hotel, its parlors, reading room, offices, and other adjuncts have been contracted for and will be on a scale worthy of the building. Every convenience and luxury that modern ingenuity can supply will ben incorporated in the rooms. The café, bar, and billiard rooms are to be fitted up regardless of cost.

The electrical department of the Auditorium building is on a scale commensurate with the magnitude of the stricture. The dynamo room of the hall contains six engines and six dynamos, with a capacity of 5,000 sixteen candle lamps, besides furnishing 115 horspower of electric motors fir the ventilating fans. There are five engines and five dynamos for the hotel department, with a capacity of 4,600 sixteen candle lamps and 140 horsepower for motors. The hotel will be run both on the American and European plan, rooms being furnished either with board or without it, as may be desired.

The Great Auditorium.
Public interest in this great building centers in the hall or auditorium, the finest room devoted to public purposes in the world. Even when in its incomplete state it was utilized for the meeting of the National Republican convention last year its magnificent proportions impressed all who saw it. It is still in the hands of the wotkmen, and much yet remains to be done before it can be ready for operatic purposes. The managers believe that the vast amount of work remaining to be done will be completed by the time appointed and that by December it will be ready for use. The hall covers a space 120×266 feet. Its main entrance is on Congress street, the gallery entrance on Wabash avenue and on the alley to the north. The seating capacity of the hall is 5,000, and an by ingenious arrangement of movable ceilings, or more properly irin curtains, the upper galleries can be entirely cut off, and the seating capacity reduced to 4,200 to 3,500, as may be desired. The main floor, including the forty-two boxes, has 1,800 seats. There are no proscenium boxes, the space usually taken up by them being devoted to the great organ. There are about 1,700 seats in the main balcony and 750 in each of the two galleries. The stage, 70 feet deep and 110 feet wide, is larger than that of the Drury Lane and only inferior to the stages of La Scala at Milan and the Grand operahouse in Paris. There aee two iron curtains, by the use of which the stage opening can be reduced to 75 or to 47 feet. The entire place is fireproof and the stage can be completely cut off from the autitorium at a moment’s notice.

Run By Hydraulic Power.
Curtains, stage, and everything else in the theater are operated by hydraulic power, there being sixteen hydraulic jacks, four of which are telescopic, under the stage. Stage in this case should be plural, for there is a double arrangement, by which one stage can be set while the other is in use, and the transfer made instantaneously. This is not after the style of the Madison Square theater, where the one stage is above the other, but is modeled after the leading theater at Buda-Pesth, considered to be the most convenient in existence. All the scenery is hung oover iron sheaves, with iron cables and iron counter-weights, there being over ten miles of cable used. The seats will be opera chairs upholstered in amber plush, and in the galleries every one will have a chair.

A special feature of the hall will be its spacious lobbies. These are four in number—80×120, 60×120, 40×120, and 20×120 feet. In the basement are two smoking-rooms, and there and on the second floor will be the cloakrooms and retiring-rooms for the ladies. The seating arrangements are such that a full view of the stage can be had even from the highest seat in the upper gallery, and the acoustics of the hall are pronounced perfect. The arches of the roof are treated in gold and ivory, and this is the leading feature of the decoration throughout. Over the proscenium arch figure pieces are being painted by Mr. Holloway, while the side panels will be filled in with landscapes by A. Fleury. The paintings so far completed are of a superior kind and will attract much attention.

An Immense Organ.
The organ will be situated in the northeast corner and is to be a four-manual, with 175 stops and 7,371 pipes and bells. The largest pipes are thirty-two feet in height. The organ will cost $50,000 and the builder, Frank Roosevelt of New York, has been instructed to furnish the finest and most complete instrument ever made. It will have a complete set of cathedral bells and chimes and will be operated by hydraulic power, the keyboard being located in the orchestra. There will also be an echo organ at the west end, near the ceiling, and a movable organ on the stage. The scenery has been made in Austria, and is said to be of the highest grade of artcistic excellence.

Since the original plans were prepared there has been added provision for a smaller hall. This will be used for purposes of rehearsal. It is situated on the seventh floor, behind the upper gallery of the Auditorium, and will seat comfortably over 500 persons. The seats are arranged in amphitheater form, and the hall will be used for many purposes.

Four Millions Invested.
This great building has cost a large sum of money. The ground upon which it stands was worth $600,000 before a brick was laid upon it, and its present value, owing to the appreciation in real estate caused by the improvements in this location, is given at $1,000,000. The original estimates of the cost of building had to be revised as the plans were altered and improvements suggested. It is estimated the cost of construction will be fully $3,000,000, making a total investment of $4,000,000. The capital stock is held by Chicago people, and the great enterprise is emphatically Chicago’s own. There are 15,000,000 of brick and $350,000 worth of iron in the building, and its construction has furnished employment for thousands of laborers and mechanics. Even yet a small army of men are employed on the hall and the hotel, and a great deal of work still remains to be done. But the architects and contractors express themselves confident that the whole building will be ready for use by December, when the Auditorium will be publicly opened with ceremonies befitting its dignity and usefulness. The much needed street improvement on the Congress street front is to be pushed as rapidly as possible, and it is hoped that by the time of opening an approach worthy of the great structure will be had. The means of exit from the hall are, however, ample as it is. The staircases are broad and the lobbies spacious beyond even the requirements of the building. In the whole structure there is absolutely nothing to burn. Iron laths and hollow tiles compose the floors, and except for doors and minor fittings there is no inflammable matter in the building. Notwithstanding the great height the stairs have been so arranged that a climb even of a dozen stories is scarcely felt. All the stairways are of great width, there are no sbrupt turns, and the different parts of the hall debouch upon separate exits, so that neither fire nor panic can bring about a catastrophe.

The Formal Opening.
It is intended to ave the formal opening of the Auditorium Dec. 9, and the occasion will be made a national one, the President of the United States being expected to preside. Arrangements have been made for (Adelina) Patti, (Ernesto) Nicolini, and other distinguished artists for the initial operatic performances, and the lovers of music are promised a season of opera as has never before been enjoyed on this continent. The grand hall will play a prominent part in the meetings and congresses antecedent to and in connection with the world’s fair, and it affords for national conventions a gathering place unequaled by any other building in existence. By throwing the stage into the hall seats can be provided for 9,000 people, and during the last Republican national convention there were 11,000 persons in the hall at one time. In the official report of that convention the hall was characterized as being in all respects the best ever provided for a national convention.

Inland Architect, July, 1888

Interior of The Auditorium, 1890

Interior of The Auditorium, About 1890

cunard
How the Mauretania would look if placed next to the Auditorium Hotel and Annex. The ship was used for the British Cunard Line and was the fastest ship upon her first launch. She was used from 1906 to 1934.

opera

Construction of The Auditorium, 1889

The great audience room was thrown open to the public on the evening of December 9, 1889. The occasion is not likely to be forgotten by those who were fortunate to secure admission.

The following programme was given:

Triumphal Fantasie

Address, Hon. Dewitt C. Cregier, Mayor of Chicago.
Address, Ferd. W. Peck.

Cantata, Frederick Grant Gleason.
Composed for this occasion and sung; by a chorus of five hundred voices under the direction of William L. Tomlins.

Address, President Harrison.

Address, Hon. John S. Runnells, of Chicago.

Home, Sweet Home, Madame Adelina Patti.

INTERMISSION
America, Apollo Club.

Concert Fantasie, Op. 33, F. De La Tombelle.
Composed expressly for the dedication of the Auditorium organ, Clarence Eddy.

The Heavens are Telling, Josef Haydn
Apollo Club.

Address (Dedicatory), Hon. Jos. W. Fifer, Governor of Illinois.

Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah. Handel
Apollo Club.

The presence of President Harrison gave a national color to the festivities. Patti received a tremendous ovation when she stepped in front, on the arm of Manager Milward Adams, and as the last note of “Home, Sweet Home” watted through the space the demonstrations were extraordinary. When midnight came the vast audience dispersed and the most brilliant scene ever enacted in an American theatre remained fixed forever in their memory.

A remarkably prosperous season of Italian opera followed, under the management of Henry E. Abbey, which lasted four weeks. Next to the appearances of Patti was, perhaps, the debut of the renowned Tamagno, the tenor in Verdi’s Othello, the first complete performance of which was given in America during this season. A few weeks later the same company returned for a supplementary ssason of two weeks, and the success of the first series was repeated. The Apollo Club gave its first concert on December 25th. A grand charity ball, attended by the wealth and fashion of the city, was held on the 9th of January, 1890.

The Illini, January 26, 1905

Ben Hur
Towering triumphantly as the most massive and picturesque as well as the most impressive dramatic spectacle in the history of the world, Ben Hur will seek new honors at the vast Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, on Monday evening, February 6th , when a limited engagement will be inaugurated . Never before in the history of Chicago amusements has an announcement of a theatrical production created such a sensation, for it means something new to the public to see a dramatic spectacle on such a colossal scale.

It is the intention of the Klaw & Erlanger Co., who directed the management of Gen. Wallace’s great play, to use every inch of space that the big Auditorium stage admits of, in arranging the scenic environment. When it is taken into consideration that the stage of the Auditorium theatre is the largest in the world, there can be no question about the stupendousness of the staging. Over 400 persons are to appear in the interpretation, and in the great race scene, which is the “theatrical” feature of this great religious romance, five chariots drawn by twenty horses will be utilized in the struggle for supremacy between Ben Hur, Messala and the other contestants.

The advance sale of seats for the Ben Hur engagement will open on Thursday morning, February 2nd. Mr. Mllward Adams, manager of the Auditorium, will give prompt attention to orders for seats through the malls, It accompanied with remittance and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
for reply.

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, June, 1888

Auditorium Interior During Republican

Ticket 1888 Republican National Convention

Addendum

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuted on October 16, 1891, and made its home in the Auditorium Theatre until moving to Orchestra Hall in 1904.

The opera company renting the accommodation moved to the Civic Opera House in 1929, and the Auditorium Theatre closed during the Great Depression. In 1941, it was taken over by the city of Chicago to be used as a World War II servicemen’s center. By 1946, Roosevelt University moved into the Auditorium Building, but the theater was not restored to its former splendor.

In 2001, a major restoration of the Auditorium Theatre was begun to return the theater to its original colors and finishes.