Chicago's Century of Architectural Progress

Exactly ninety years ago, from December 1930 through February 1931, the Chicago Tribune ran a four-part series entitled “Chicago’s Century of Architectural Progress.” The timing was appropriate, as the year of 1930 had marked the unofficial centennial of Chicago, commemorating James Thompson’s first plat map of the future town and city on August 4, 1830. (Note: The map, shown below, laid out fifty-eight blocks around the juncture of the three branches of the Chicago River in an area bounded by State, Madison, Des Plaines, and Kinzie streets.)

Each of the four installments included a full page of pictures in the Tribune’s rotogravure section. The Committee on Public Information of the Chicago Chapter, American Institute of Architects, chaired by architect and urban planner Eugene H. Klaber (1883-1971), partnered with the Tribune on the project to make the selection of buildings and provide the narrative.

The four installments and supervising architect for each were as follows:

December 7, 1930
Chicago prior to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871
Earl H. Reed, Jr. (1884-1968) 

December 14, 1930
The Fire to the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893
Arthur Woltersdorf (1870-1948) 

January 25, 1931
The Exposition through the end of World War I in 1918
Harry Howe Bentley (1883-1968) 

February 8, 1931
Contemporary architecture
Thomas E. Tallmadge (1876-1940) 

The first installment included an article explaining the series, quoting Eugene Klaber:

“In the years since the great war, there has been a growing appreciation of architecture in Chicago. The man in the street, who previously hardly knew the names of the important buildings in the city, is today familiar with its principal architectural developments that are taking place. 

“He watches the loop as it grows; and the development of Grant park, of Wacker drive, of Michigan boulevard and the near north side engage his sympathetic attention. This change in attitude of the public toward architecture was greatly stimulated, if not actually fostered, by the competition for the Tribune tower. The worldwide response to this intriguing project, and the variety and excellence of the designs presented, caused endless comment. 

“What is less well known, is that the architecture of contemporary Chicago is but a link in a chain that stretches over more than a century. It is no sporadic manifestation. From the earliest days to the present day, it forms a continuous history. Various influences have affected the flow of architectural development from time to time, but it is nevertheless one continuous story. During that period, the architects of Chicago have manifested a constant and progressive spirit in the design of their buildings. Skeleton steel construction had its origin here, and the resultant architecture, as well as the original thinking of such men as Louis H. Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, have created a wave of influence that has spread throughout the world.”

Chicago Architecture 1871-1893

This article will look at the second installment of the series which includes a total of thirteen sites constructed between 1871 and 1893. Despite the enormous building activity that took place in the years immediately following the Fire, it is interesting to note that none of the sites actually predate 1880. Sadly, only four sites survive today – the Town of Pullman, Monadnock Building, Auditorium Building, and Glessner House.

The sites in the second installment were selected by Arthur F. Woltersdorf, a life-long Chicagoan born in 1870, one year before the Fire. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received training in the office of Burnham and Root before forming the partnership of Hill and Woltersdorf in 1894. Elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he wrote extensively on the theory and practice of architecture and served as editor of Living Architecture: A Discussion of Present Day Problems published in 1930. He died in 1948.

The sites are shown below with their original narrative; additional notes are included in parentheses following each entry: 

PULLMAN

“An industrial town planned in 1880 by S. S. Beman, architect. It was the forerunner by more than a decade of industrial town plans in America, incorporating recreational, sanitary, and aesthetic features for the life of this community. The buildings of red brick and gray stone reflected Victorian Gothic architecture of the time. (Drawing by Irving K. Pond.)”

(NOTE: Pullman was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, a Chicago Landmark in 1972 [expanded 1993], and a National Monument in 2015. The style of architecture is generally referred to as Queen Anne, with influences of Richardsonian Romanesque.)

THE MARSHALL FIELD WAREHOUSE

“Erected in the later 1880’s, it stood until 1930, living evidence of H. H. Richardson’s skill in handling simple masses with charm and great power. Historians of American architecture will not forget it.”

(NOTE: The building, known as the Marshall Field Wholesale Store, covered the block bounded by Wells, Quincy, Franklin, and Adams. Richardson considered it one of his most important contributions to American architecture and was saddened when he realized he would not live to see it completed. It was completed in 1887, razed in 1930 and replaced by a parking lot, when the wholesale division moved to the Merchandise Mart.) 

THE ART INSTITUTE

“The Art Institute, later the Chicago Club, by John Wellborn Root (Burnham and Root, architects), displayed Romanesque forms and proportions in a modern and masterly manner. The influence of Richardson is clearly evident. The disappearance of this structure was Chicago’s loss.” 

(NOTE: The building was completed in 1885 and was located at 404 S. Michigan Avenue [southwest corner of Van Buren]. Ownership of the building changed hands when the Art Institute moved into its present building in 1893. The interior of the building collapsed in 1928 during renovation. The old structure was razed and replaced by the current Chicago Club, with Granger & Bollenbacher serving as architects).

THE REVOLUTION OF THE SKYSCRAPER
(The next three buildings were treated together) 

MONADNOCK

“The Monadnock block, north section, dates from 1892. The power expressed in the simple soaring walls is the swan song of wall bearing floor construction for high buildings. Burnham and Root were the architects.” 

(NOTE: At sixteen stories, the north half of the Monadnock building, 53 W. Jackson, was the tallest wall-bearing building in Chicago. Holabird & Roche designed the south half in 1893, which incorporated a more traditional steel skeleton frame. The Monadnock was designated a Chicago landmark in 1973).

HOME INSURANCE BUILDING

“In the Home Insurance Building is the germ of the steel skeleton building, originating in 1884. Up to the second floor the walls are solid masonry. Above this, the floor systems are carried on cast iron columns in self-supporting masonry piers; the spandrel walls are supported by rolled iron beams, such as comprise the floor systems. The two top stories were added in 1890. W. L. B. Jenney was the architect.”

(NOTE: Located at the northeast corner of LaSalle and Adams, this was one of the most important buildings ever constructed in the United States. Although there has been considerable debate as to whether this can be considered the first true “skyscraper,” an analysis undertaken at the time of its demolition in 1931, to make way for the Field Building, confirmed that it was “the first high building to utilize as the basic principle of this design the method known as skeleton construction.”)

MASONIC TEMPLE

“In the Masonic temple, now the Capitol building, the skeleton building, with the date of 1891, appears in its full development. All walls are carried from floor to floor on the metal frame. Burnham and Root were the architects.”

(NOTE: The Masonic Temple, which stood at the northeast corner of State and Randolph, was the tallest building in the world. It remained the tallest building in Chicago until the 1920s when Chicago’s building regulations were amended to allow for taller buildings. The construction of the State Street subway resulted in its demolition 1939, as expensive alterations to the foundation would have been required. The Joffrey Tower now stands on the site).

GLESSNER HOUSE

“The J. J. Glessner house, last remaining example in Chicago of the work of Architect H. H. Richardson. Rugged exterior stone walls enclose stately rooms and a patio. It is destined to become the home of the Chicago chapter, American Institute of Architects.” 

(NOTE: The Glessners deeded the house to the Chicago Chapter (CCAIA) in December 1924, retaining a life-tenancy. After their deaths in the 1930s, the CCAIA did not feel it had the resources to renovate and maintain the building and returned it to the Glessner heirs. In the late 1970s, the CCAIA did rent the former children’s bedrooms on the second floor as its headquarters. Glessner house was designated a Chicago landmark in 1970 and a National Historic Landmark in 1976). 

BORDEN HOUSE

“Richard M. Hunt, designer of the Administration building of the 1893 World’s fair, was architect. Its design is inspired by chateaux of the Loire of the time of Francis I. Its stonework is exquisite.” 

(NOTE: The William Borden house stood at 1020 N. Lake Shore Drive [northeast corner of Bellevue Place]. Completed in 1884, it was one of the earliest houses on the Drive. After William’s death in 1906, it passed to his son John, a noted Arctic explorer, and was occupied by his wife, the former Ellen Waller, after their divorce. Their daughter, also named Ellen (and the ex-wife of Governor Adlai Stevenson II), operated the 1020 Art Center out of the house in the 1950s. It was demolished in 1962 to make way for The Carlyle apartments. Click here for images of the demolition taken by Richard Nickel).

McCLURG HOUSE

“The McClurg house is the work of Francis M. Whitehouse, architect, with Arthur Heun as the designer. Reminiscent of the Louis XII wing of Chateau Blois, its charming proportions and color still hold the passerby in Lake Shore Drive.” 

(NOTE: The house stood at 1444 N. Lake Shore Drive and was completed in 1892 for bookseller Alexander C. McClurg. [In June 1891, Frances Glessner noted in her journal, “Genl. And Mrs. McClurg called in the afternoon to see something about our house – to see if they could get any suggestions about their own building. We took them all over the house.”] It was later home to George M. Reynolds, chairman of Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust. In 1935, it was leased to the Republic of Poland as a consulate, which closed in 1941 after Poland was invaded by Germany. It was converted into apartments at that time and was razed in 1955 for construction of the current apartment building designed by Philip B. Maher known as 1440 Lake Shore Drive.)

COONLEY-WARD HOUSE

“On a visit to Chicago, President Taft pronounced this the best example of American residence architecture in the city. It is untrammeled by historic formalism, distinctively an American home. Pond and Pond, were the architects.” 

(NOTE: Built for Lydia Coonley, widow of the founder of the Chicago Malleable Iron Company, and later the wife of eminent geologist Henry Ward. The house stood at 1150 N. Lake Shore Drive [southwest corner of Division]. Pond and Pond received the commission in late 1888, and the house was completed in 1891. (Coonley’s son, Avery, later commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design his home in Riverside, Illinois.) She sold the house to Frank Logan in 1911. It remained in the Logan family until it was razed in 1955 for construction of the current high rise, known as 1150 N. Lake Shore Drive.

An amusing incident took place in January 1889, as recorded in Frances Glessner’s journal: “Sunday, Mrs. Coonley came over with a party of ten to ‘see the house.’ She brought her six children and four very ordinary young men – two of them architects, who said they knew the house by heart, had been all through it time without number – and were making Mrs. Coonley’s house as near like ours as they knew how. The whole call was most disagreeable.”)

BANQUET HALL OF THE AUDITORIUM HOTEL

“Adler & Sullivan were architects. This was an early Sullivan blossom in ornament and color after tryouts in loft and office buildings. The medal of the Societe central des Arts Decoratifs, awarded to Mr. Sullivan after the Columbian exposition, was the only French testimonial elicited for architecture.” 

(NOTE: The hotel’s 10^th floor dining room now functions as the Murray-Green Library for Roosevelt University. The Auditorium Building, completed in 1889 and located at the northwest corner of Michigan and Ida B. Wells Drive, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975, and a Chicago landmark in 1976).

SCHILLER BUILDING

“A new note in street architecture, introducing the tower dominant. An early application of ‘progressive recessions from base to pinnacle.’ Adler and Sullivan were the architects.” 

(NOTE: The Schiller, later known as the Garrick Theatre, was completed in 1892 at 64 W. Randolph Street. Designated an “honorary landmark” by the City of Chicago and considered one of Sullivan’s masterpieces, the significant effort to save the building turned to a salvage operation prior to demolition in 1961. The building and its preservation battle will be the focus of an upcoming exhibition at Wrightwood 659.)

GOLDEN DOORWAY OF THE TRANSPORTATION BUILDING OF THE WORLD’S FAIR

“American’s most gorgeous flower of architectural romanticism. Aglow with color, it stood apart from the classic formalism of the Court of Honor. The term Sullivanesque, after Louis H. Sullivan, creator of this doorway, applies to the style of the Banquet Hall, Schiller building, and doorway.”

 (NOTE: Sullivan’s displeasure with the Classical architecture of the Fair, in particular the Court of Honor, is well documented, including his famous comment, “The damage wrought by the World’s Fair will last for half a century from its date, if not longer. It has penetrated deep into the constitution of the American mind.” An exhibition featuring a plaster cast of the “Golden Door” and photographs of several of Sullivan’s taller buildings toured France, Russia, and Finland after the Fair. When built, the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park will occupy portions of the sites of various Fair buildings, including the Transportation Building).

Prairie Avenue in 1874

On Thursday June 19, 2014 at 6:00pm, Glessner House Museum Executive Director and Curator William Tyre will give a lecture entitled “A Look Back: Chicago and the World in 1874.”  The free event, sponsored by Friends of Historic Second Church, will take place at Second Presbyterian Church, 1936 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, and is being held to celebrate the 140^th anniversary of the completion of Second Presbyterian’s current church building.  Doors will open at 5:30pm for tours of the National Historic Landmark sanctuary before the program begins.

The Prairie Avenue neighborhood surrounding the church was a thriving residential neighborhood in 1874, and was home to many of Chicago’s leading business and social leaders.  The area was well established by the time of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and nearly 40 mansions had already been built on the six-block stretch of Prairie Avenue between 16^th and 22^nd streets.  Building activity increased immediately after the fire, as residents who had been burned out in the fire sought a new location where they could immediately begin building their new homes. 

The illustration at the top of the article appeared in the May 1874 edition of The Landowner, a monthly periodical focusing on the work of architects and real estate developers in and around Chicago.  The image includes eight of the most prominent houses on Prairie Avenue, and one street scene, and bore the following caption:

“Our artist shows in this issue a number of the beautiful houses on Prairie avenue, one of the most fashionable and handsomely built of all our South-Side thoroughfares.  No city in the world can rival Chicago in its residences, a fact which shows that this class of buildings has not suffered by the fire and the consequent turning of capital into the erection of business blocks.

“After all, one of the greatest attractions a city can offer is its homes, for to obtain them is the end of most men’s aspirations, for which they toil and sweat in the counting-room and at the various trades and professions.  Visitors who crowd to Chicago neglect to see the homes of our citizens, being wholly absorbed and astonished by the wonderful buildings put up since the fire in the burnt district.  They should not fail to visit such streets as Prairie avenue, where the home-life of our citizens of means is laid.”

The images, beginning at upper left were as follows:

Louis Wahl residence, 2026 S. Prairie Ave.

Prairie Avenue looking southwest at 18^th Street

Edson Keith residence, 1906 S. Prairie Ave.

Charles M. Henderson residence, 1816 S. Prairie Ave.

Marshall Field residence, 1905 S. Prairie Ave.

Robert Law residence, 1620 S. Prairie Ave.

George M. Pullman residence, 1729 S. Prairie Ave.

 Dewey residence, 1730 S. Prairie Ave.

(center) Daniel M. Thompson residence, 1936 S. Prairie Ave.

All of the residences pictured have been demolished.  Two of the images are of particular interest.

The view of Prairie Avenue looking southwest at 18^th Street is the only known image showing the southwest corner of Prairie and 18^th prior to the construction of Glessner House in 1886-1887.  Just to the right of center in the illustration is a three-story double-house with Mansard roof, occupied by the Hitchcock and Galloway families.  John J. Glessner purchased the double-house in March 1885, selling off the south portion of the lot to Osborn R. Keith, and retaining the remaining 75 feet of frontage for construction of his own house.

The other image of interest is that of the George M. Pullman mansion.  Although construction on the house had begun in 1871, it was still under construction in 1874, and in fact would not be ready for occupancy by the Pullman family until early 1876.  Comparing the illustration with a photo of the finished house, one can see major elements missing including the front porch facing Prairie Avenue and the porte cochere facing 18^th Street, as well as the iron roof cresting and other finishing touches.

Other building activity during the year included a large $10,000 addition to the William G. Hibbard house at 1701 S. Prairie Ave.  The original house had been built in 1868 with William LeBaron Jenney as architect.  Jenney was also the architect of the addition, seen in the second photo above.  As the house was located on the east side of the street, the back porches faced directly onto Lake Michigan which was just beyond the Illinois Central Railroad tracks that bordered the back of the Hibbard lot.

The home of Daniel Shipman was constructed in 1874 at 1828 S. Prairie Ave.  William W. Boyington, best remembered today for his design of the Chicago Water Tower, was the architect of this house, designed in the predominant Second Empire style of the day.  An interesting editorial about Shipman was published in the Chicago Tribune shortly after his death in 1906.  Shipman made his fortune in the white lead industry, but he and his wife left no children to inherit his fortune.  As a result, his estate was converted into a trust from which the earnings were paid yearly to five charities:

-Illinois Schools of Agriculture and Manual Training for Boys

-Chicago Home for Incurables

-Chicago Old People’s Home

-Hahnemann Hospital of Chicago

-St. Luke’s Free Hospital

The Tribune noted in reporting the disposition of Shipman’s estate:

“In felicitating the five admirable charities which have profited so gratifyingly by Daniel B. Shipman’s will it is interesting to remember that the provisions to be carried out would not have been possible had Mr. Shipman accumulated a large family of children during his many years of married life.  If heaven had blessed him with four, five, or six boys there would be every reason to suppose that the boys who attend the Illinois Schools of Agriculture and Manual Training  would not be the gainers by the liberal endowment fund provided by the terms of the will.  So here is an instance where many boys are benefited in place of a few. . . Perhaps it is not an unworthy thought that Providence may have decreed this charitable distribution and that ofttimes marriages are childless in order that worthy charities may be the substantial gainers.” 

Allen's Academy in 1874

The second home of Allen's Academy, completed 1883

The Prairie Avenue neighborhood was home to a number of private schools to which the residents sent their children.  One of the largest and most prominent was Allen’s Academy for Boys which opened in 1874 in a building at Michigan Avenue and 22^nd Street.  The principal, Ira W. Allen, had previously served as the head of Lake Forest Academy.  In 1883, Allen engaged the services of architect Charles Chapman to design a much larger building which was located on the south side of 22^nd Street (now Cermak Road) east of Prairie Avenue.  The school closed upon Allen’s retirement in 1892.

One of the most prominent  and important houses on Prairie Avenue was designed in 1874 for John B. Sherman, vice president and manager of the Chicago Union Stock Yards.  Located at 2100 S. Prairie Avenue the house was designed by a new architectural firm in Chicago – Burnham and Root.  It was the second commission the young architects had received into their office, and it was crucially important.  During construction, Daniel Burnham became acquainted with Sherman’s daughter Margaret, and by the time the house was finished in 1876, they had wed and moved into the new house.  Sherman was one of Chicago’s most prominent businessmen, and he used his considerable influence to secure numerous commissions for his son-in-law’s architectural practice  from his Prairie Avenue neighbors and Stock Yards associates. 

The house broke away from the predominant Second Empire style of Prairie Avenue and featured Ruskinian Gothic details including a hipped roof punctuated by numerous dormers of various sizes and shapes, stone banding delineating the floor levels, and a decorative second level oriel window addressing the prominent corner site.  Louis Sullivan, not usually known for his praise of other architects’ works, wrote (in the first person) about the house in The Autobiography of an Idea:

“There, on the southwest corner of Prairie Avenue and Twenty-first Street, his eye was attracted by a residence, nearing completion, which seemed far better than the average run of such structures inasmuch as it exhibited a certain allure of style indicating personality.”

Joseph Sears and his Prairie Avenue roots

On Sunday May 6, 2012, members of the Kenilworth Historical Society journeyed down to Prairie Avenue  for a private tour of the street and Glessner House Museum.  The destination was far from random.  Joseph Sears, the founder of the beautiful planned community of Kenilworth on Chicago’s North Shore, had been a long time resident of Prairie Avenue during its heyday in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.  Members were anxious to learn more about the community that Sears called home before moving permanently to Kenilworth in 1892.

Joseph Sears was born on March 24, 1843 and was educated in the Chicago public schools.  In 1868, he married Helen Barry and began working as superintendent of a new plant for N. K. Fairbank, manufacturers of lard, oil, soap, and candles.  Within five years he was admitted as a junior partner in the firm.

By that time Sears had already moved to the Prairie Avenue neighborhood, originally living in a house on Prairie south of 22^nd Street.  One of the attractions of the area no doubt was the Swedenborgian church, known as the “New Church Hall,” located at the southeast corner of Prairie Avenue and 18^th Street.  The church had been built there in 1872, after their previous building was destroyed in the Chicago Fire.  In 1879, Sears purchased a lot less than 100 feet south of the church property, and soon after hired Burnham and Root to design his home.  (Architect Daniel Burnham was a fellow Swedenborgian).  During construction in 1881-1882, Sears and his growing family rented a house at 1919 S. Prairie Avenue, now known as the Marshall Field Jr. house.  (It is one of only seven surviving mansions remaining on Prairie Avenue today).

In 1880, the church sold their property and moved to a more central location in downtown Chicago, where Sears continued to attend.  By coincidence, the church property was acquired by Sears’ business partner, Nathaniel K. Fairbank.  In 1892, William W. Kimball, manufacturer of pianos and organs, completed his Chateauesque style mansion on the site, and that mansion remains today as well, now used as the national headquarters for the U. S. Soccer Federation.

Shortly after completing his home at 1815 S. Prairie Avenue, Sears’ traveled to England, where he became entranced with the beautiful planned communities there.  He came back to the U.S. and purchased a large tract of land on Chicago’s north shore, where he soon after established the community of Kenilworth.  In 1892, he left Prairie Avenue and took up permanent residence in a new home at Kenilworth, where he lived until his death in 1912. 

When Sears moved to Kenilworth he brought an interesting item with him.  After moving into the Prairie Avenue home in 1882, he had a log cabin playhouse built for his children.  The structure was carefully dismantled and reconstructed at Sears’ Kenilworth home.  In 1945, the family dismantled it yet again and moved it to a new family home in Northbrook.  In 1968, it was dismantled for the third time and moved back to Kenilworth, where it can be seen today adjacent to the Kenilworth Club.

Sears leased his Prairie Avenue home for a number of years.  For much of that time it was occupied by Levy Mayer, a prominent Chicago attorney and general counsel for Armour, one of the largest meatpackers in the country.  In 1902, the house was sold to Arthur Meeker, the European representative for Armour.  Meeker had the house significantly remodeled from plans prepared by architect Arthur Heun.  After Meeker moved to the north side, the building was occupied by various publishing houses, including D. C. Heath and Company.  It was razed in 1967.