The original, odd, quaint, queer, Dutch, Mexican, Spanish fortress on Prairie Avenue

By the time the Glessners moved into their new house at 1800 South Prairie Avenue on December 1, 1887, the design had been both praised and vilified by neighbors and other passers-by. Frances Glessner carefully recorded all these comments in her journal as she became aware of them, and John Glessner felt they were so significant that he repeated them 45 years later while penning his The Story of a House.

From the time of its groundbreaking on June 1, 1886 until completion exactly eighteen months later, the house was also the subject of a number of articles in Chicago newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Inter-Ocean, the Chicago Herald, and the Chicago Evening Journal. Reviews here were also mixed, although not quite as mean-spirited. Journalists often seemed simply confused in attempting to explain what the architect and owner were trying to express in the unusual design, but admittedly these columnists presumably had no architectural training.

In celebration of the 135^th anniversary of the completion of the house this month, we share some of our favorite excerpts from these newspaper accounts. At least eight have been identified, dated between June 1886 and November 1887.  The three earliest articles were pasted into Frances Glessner’s journal; four later articles were added to a scrapbook maintained by the Glessners which included articles on many topics. One additional article, published just a few weeks before they moved in, may have been seen by the Glessners, but does not appear to have been saved by them.

COSTLY DWELLING-HOUSES.
An Apartment Building on One Corner of Eighteenth and Prairie and a House with No Front Windows on the First Floor on the Other.
Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1886

“On the southwest corner a very old style residence, but a new one in Chicago, is to be put up. It will be two stories high and have a frontage of 76 feet on Prairie avenue and 160 feet on Eighteenth street and cost $60,000. The owner is J. J. Glessner, who emigrated from the West side. It will be constructed after plans by the late H. H. Richardson. There will be no windows on the street fronts except in the second story, the first floor being lighted and ventilated from an interior court, the entrance to which is through a gated archway opening onto Prairie avenue. No one will be able to get in from the outside unless he forces the stout iron gate. The house will in appearance resemble dwellings to be seen in Spain and Mexico.

“It was jokingly said that this castle is to be built in anticipation of the day when the rich will have to keep out of the way of Anarchists and other bloodthirsty individuals who believe in a division of property, but the real object of the designer was not only to get greater privacy but also to have a novelty in the way of a house.”

NOTES: This article also described a proposed seven-story apartment house across the street from the Glessner House, designed by Burnham & Root. The $250,000 project never materialized, and a few years later, William Kimball acquired the site and built his French chateau, which still stands. There are, of course, many windows on the first floor, but it is unclear what information the journalist would have had from which to write his description. The “stout iron gate” refers to the porte cochere entrance for the carriages, a heavy oak paneled door with elaborate wrought iron trim. The reference to Spain is accurate; Richardson was influenced by Romanesque buildings seen in Spain during his 1882 trip to Europe. The oversized voussoirs in the arch over the front door being the most direct “appropriation.” The mention of “Anarchists” is very timely, as the article appeared just a month after the infamous Haymarket riot. 

A Dwelling-House of Novel Design on the Corner of Eighteenth and Prairie.
Chicago Tribune, June 6, 1886

“Ground has been broken at the southwest corner of Prairie avenue and Eighteenth street for the erection of a private residence which, when completed, will show a very decided departure from the conventional in American architecture. The design is by the late H. H. Richardson, and its peculiarity is owing more to the location of the lot and the desire of the owner to get a full southern exposure than to other considerations.

“The masonry work will consist of the Braggville, Mass. granite base and Georgia pink marble without trimmings, the latter being used in the construction of the first and second floors. The stonework and trimmings on the court elevation are to be of Lemont limestone, while the openings, all of which will have a southern exposure, will be numerous, as the building will be practically lighted from the court formed by the inverted ‘L” shape of the structure. When completed, which the contractors, Norcross Bros., are under contract to do by Aug. 1, 1887, the building will be the only one of its kind in the country, and, in addition to its unique design and handsome, substantial appearance, will possess all the features of quiet, and light, and convenience.”

NOTES: This article appeared in the Chicago Tribune just one day after the first article described, being contained within a longer series of short articles under the “Chicago Realty” section of the paper. Not included above is a detailed description of the exterior including an accurate accounting of the fenestration (the arrangement of doors and windows) confirming the presence of windows on the first floor. The most significant change the Glessners made to the design of the house after Richardson’s death was to abandon the use of Georgia pink marble and carry the Braggville granite from the base all the way up to the roof line.

(Title unknown)
Chicago Evening Journal, July 10, 1886 

“There seems to be a building boom just now.  Houses are going up on every available lot, despite the groans of the pessimist, who prophesies hard times and probable panics.  Richardson, the famous Boston architect, had before his death orders for several houses in Chicago, which in a few instances will revert to local architects willing to literally carry out his designs.  One of these is a home on Prairie avenue - that holy of holies where only the elect do dwell - for a wealthy West Sider.  This special elevation will be adapted from mediaeval architecture.  It will not have a moat and draw-bridge, because enough property could not be secured to admit of this protection, but upon the first floor no window will look toward the street, although the house will stand on a corner, it being the owner’s idea to have an inside court, made beautiful by all that art can devise.  Prairie avenue is a social street, and also a gossipy one, and it does not suit the neighbors that this newcomer should exclude all possibility of watching his windows and finding out what may be going on within-doors.  It has heretofore been the custom to call all householders together when a new house was projected, and consult with them before breaking ground; if the plans should not please the majority, suggestions were freely offered, and such alterations made as would render it most acceptable; and that this house is going up in spite of disapproval, has thrown the neighborhood into a state of stupefaction.”

NOTES: The pessimistic opening to the article again speaks to the ongoing turmoil following the incident at Haymarket Square two months earlier. The reference to the need of a moat and draw-bridge is comical but not unique. A few months later, a journalist writing in the Chicago Tribune noted, in describing Potter Palmer’s castle on Lake Shore Drive, that “there should be a deep moat around the castle, and access to the main door should be over a draw-bridge.” That reference is a bit more understandable, given that Palmer’s castle also elicited the description of the “castle plucked from a fishbowl.” The Chicago Evening Journal seems to be a bit more sensational than the more serious Chicago Tribune, devoting nearly half of the description to the negative response from neighbors. Did one of them perhaps provide a tip to the journalist of the unhappiness on the street? One can’t help but think of the “anonymous” editorial three years later criticizing the front addition to Wirt Dexter’s house just a few hundred feet to the north of the Glessners’ house, which echoed everything Pullman hated about Dexter (his next door neighbor) extending the house to the front lot line. Pullman’s dislike of the Glessners’ house is legendary, so maybe . . . ?

PALACE AVENUE.
Its More Plebian but Better Known Title of Prairie.
Chicago Inter-Ocean, January 2, 1887 

“Passing to the opposite corner, upon the south, and a most originally planned structure greets the eye. The architect was the late H. H. Richardson, of Boston. The same gentleman designed Mr. Franklin MacVeagh’s house upon the lake shore drive and the new Field store. This strange looking building elicits many comments from both residents and strangers. For solidity it is superior among the thousands of well built houses in the city. There is no dividing line between the outer walls of the house and stable. The windows upon the street and avenue are for the most part small and the roof is sloping. The house covers every foot of the frontage. The grounds within are not visible except from the house of the owner.

“The northern wall of the new house, adjoining upon the south is unbroken. The residence is said to be of the Spanish-Mexican type, and of convenient internal arrangement. Its late architecture had a National reputation. When finished the house will be occupied by the builder, Mr. John J. Glessner, Warder, Bushnell & Glessner, and will alone represent a large fortune.”

NOTES: The focus of this very lengthy article was to provide a detailed description of the many large homes and mansions on Prairie Avenue from Sixteenth to Twenty-Second streets. Richardson’s other Chicago projects – the MacVeagh house on Lake Shore Drive and the Marshall Field Wholesale Store – were both in the process of completion when Richardson died in April 1886. 

Title unknown
Newspaper and date unknown (probably April 1887) 

“A number of new houses will be tenanted in another month. Mr. Osborne Keith intends taking possession of his lovely home on Prairie avenue in May; the Glessner fortress is nearing completion . . . “ 

NOTES: Osborne Keith’s house (partially seen at far left, above) stood immediately to the south of the Glessner house. The more traditional verticality of that house emphasized the horizontality of the Glessner house. Fortress became the most common adjective to describe the Glessners’ house – combining in one word Richardson’s heavy massing, the rusticated granite, minimal window openings on the north side, and the incorrect assumption that the design represented the occupants concern regarding “Anarchists” and the current labor problem.

NEW THINGS IN TOWN
A Queer House Out on the Avenue
Reaper Man Glessner’s Dutch House in the Aristocratic Precincts of Prairie Avenue
Chicago Herald, undated (late 1887) 

“That is an odd house, surely, which the workmen are just now putting the inner and finishing touches upon at the corner of Eighteenth street and Prairie avenue, diagonally across the street from George M. Pullman’s mansion.  It is a unique house, in fact, it is the only one of the kind in America.  It is a typical Dutch house – a veritable ‘huis’ from Amsterdam – only it was designed by an American architect, built by American workmen of American materials, and stands in that hub of Chicago aristocracy and Americanism – Eighteenth and Prairie avenue.  The quaint house appears all the more quaint amid its surroundings, where all is modern and United States and almost monotonously stiff in architecture and style. 

“Light for the dining-room, and for many other rooms in both stories, is taken from the court, which is one of the distinguishing features of the house, and a novelty in this country.  The problem which the architect had to solve in this house was not an easy one.  Given, a long, narrow lot – 75 x 160.  Wanted – a large, well-lighted house, with stable and yard.  See how nicely the plan suits the situation . . . The court, 40 x 100, rivals in beauty the best examples to be found in the old world. 

“It is a quaint house, and most people riding by give it a cursory glance and exclaim “how ugly!”  But it’s a home-like house, full of the means of comfort and content, and for his $60,000 Mr. Glessner will acquire not only the quaintest, but one of the best homes in all Chicago.” 

NOTES: This is a most interesting description of the house, and although terms such as odd and queer are used, the writer clearly understands the significance of the design, and the problem Richardson faced in bringing the maximum amount of light into the house. The origin of the Dutch attribution is unknown and appears to be unique to this article (and the one that follows, also from the Chicago Herald.) 

 Chicago’s Nest of Millionaires.
Chicago Herald, undated (late 1887) 

“’If you want to see the richest half-dozen blocks in Chicago,’ said an entertaining gossiper, ‘drive out Prairie avenue from Sixteenth street to Twenty-second. Right there is a cluster of millionaires not be matched for numbers anywhere else in the country’ . . . John J. Glessner, the reaper man, will soon move into his queer Dutch house with an inner court . . . How much wealth does this whole cluster represent? Well, this is only guess work, but I think that if all the men in that little neighborhood were to get together and sign a joint note for sixty or seventy million dollars it would make a pretty good note.” 

NOTES: The focus of this article is to describe the wealth of the residents of Prairie Avenue. It is worth noting however, that John Glessner is the only one listed for which anything is said about his house; the reference clearly having been pulled from the article above.

THE CITY IN BRIEF.
Miscellaneous.
Chicago Inter-Ocean, November 5, 1887 

“The handsome Glessner mansion on Prairie avenue will soon be ready for occupancy. It was one of Richardson’s last works, the plans being completed not long before that eminent architect’s death. It will be a Chicago monument to his genius.”

NOTES: The last known article written before the Glessners moved into their home provides the most generous compliment so far recorded, specifically to Richardson. A Chicago monument indeed – the design was praised by architects – and Richardson’s work went on to have a profound effect on Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and others. Decades later, when the house was fighting to survive, modernists like Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson were vocal in their respect for the house and the importance of its preservation. So, after all the negative comments were set aside, the true significance of the house was, in time, fully realized.

 

The Early History of Prairie Avenue - Part IV

Two weeks ago, we looked at the first four houses constructed on Prairie Avenue, all erected in the 1850s. This week we will examine building activity during the years of the Civil War, 1861 to 1865.

During an 1861 visit to Chicago, London Times reporter William H. Russell observed the early houses on the street while a passenger on the Illinois Central, noting “houses which must be the retreat of merchants and citizens of means.” Although the Civil War slowed construction activity in general, it is interesting to note that there were no less than nine houses built during that time frame in the 1600, 1700, and 1800 blocks of Prairie Avenue (none of which survive today).

1862

The first of the War-era houses was built in 1862 for the “Widow Grosvenor” at 1637 S. Prairie Avenue. It was the first of four houses constructed on the east side of Prairie Avenue; all the 1850s houses had been constructed on the west side. The widow was Cornelia (Bogart) Grosvenor, a native of Geneva, New York, born in 1809 and widowed in 1849, her husband having been a prominent attorney in that town. She came to Chicago and built her home, which was also occupied by her son Elisha William Grosvenor, a partner in the commission merchant firm of Grosvenor and Forsyth. 

Cornelia Grosvenor (1827 wedding portrait)

Only one known photo survives showing a portion of the house as originally built, it being a typical two-story brick Italianate style home. Her son married in Flint, Michigan in December 1865 and apparently left Chicago permanently. Within a year, his mother moved farther south and rented her home to the William Gold Hibbard family.

South side of the Grosvenor house as built, c. 1870

For many years it was the home of lumberman Jesse Spalding, who remodeled it in a severe manner to such a point that the original house design was completely lost within.

The Grosvenor house as remodeled by Jesse Spalding

The year 1862 also saw the completion of the home of Nicholas O. Williams at 1709 S. Prairie Avenue. He was the head of the firm of N. O. Williams & Co., dealers in hats, caps, furs, and buck goods. No known photos survive, but a description in the Chicago Tribune described the house, designed by W. W. Boyington, as being of brick and stone construction, with a cost of $10,000. It only lasted twenty years before being demolished for the new home of Palmer Kellogg, designed by Burnham & Root.

1863

A significant and long-standing house was built in 1863 for Wirt Dexter at 1721 S. Prairie Avenue, immediately south of the Williams home. The large frame home was described at the time as a “rambling” New England farmhouse, but also sported an Italianate style cupola to take advantages of the uninterrupted views all around. Dexter was a prominent attorney and served in a leadership capacity for many years with the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, including significant service in the years immediately after the Chicago Fire.

Wirt Dexter house prior to front addition, c. 1888 (Photo by George Glessner)

Dexter created quite a stir on Prairie Avenue in 1889 when he added a large brick addition to the front of his house, bringing it up nearly to the lot line. This especially annoyed next-door neighbor George Pullman who preferred large lawns in front of the homes. A later owner tore down the original frame house and moved the large brick addition back on the lot, but that, too, was demolished in the 1920s.

A more modest home was completed the same year at 1635 S. Prairie Avenue for Col. Robert Forsyth, who served as the general freight agent for the Illinois Central and later Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railways. Again, there are no known photos of the house, but a bit of information is provided by Addie Hibbard Gregory, in her book A Great-Grandmother Remembers. (Addie, age 8, moved into the Widow Grosvenor house in 1867 with her parents and siblings). Of the Forsyth house, she wrote:

“In the early days two of our neighbors, the Williamses and the Forsythes, had long bowling alleys in separate one-story buildings stretching down to the track of the Illinois Central, which followed the lake shore then just as it does today. The roofs of these alleys were arranged as pleasant places from which to view the lake . . . The grounds of the Forsythe home were most elegant. There was a fountain in the middle of the lawn which was surrounded by four white stone statues, and the narrow rectangular walks were made of small white clam shells.”

The house later passed through several owners and occupants and was demolished by the early 1900s.

1864

One house of note was completed in 1864, the large brick house at 1736 S. Prairie Avenue, for Granville S. Ingraham. Surviving photos show a third-story mansard roof which may well have been a later addition atop a more typical Italianate style house of the War period. Ingraham came to Chicago in 1856 and made a fortune as a wholesale grocer, later investing heavily in real estate. The 1870 census shows real estate valued at $225,000 and personal property of $100,000 (today the combined value would be well over $6 million). 

Granville S. Ingraham

Ingraham sold the house long before his death at his winter home in Pass Christian, Mississippi in 1892. It is best remembered today as the long-time residence of lead manufacturer Hugh McBirney.

Ingraham/McBirney house as it appeared circa 1890

More modest houses

Although most of the houses being built on Prairie Avenue at this time were substantial, a few modest houses made their way on to the street as well. These included a front-gabled home at 1812 S. Prairie Avenue (shown in the center of the image below) and a frame double house at 1726-1728 S. Prairie Avenue. 

1812 S. Prairie is the short house shown at center in this 1874 illustration

All of these were demolished in the 1880s and replaced with larger homes. Another home, built at 1630 S. Prairie Avenue, survived well into the 20^th century and had the distinction of being the smallest house on the street.

Calumet Avenue

Calumet Avenue, which lies one block east of Prairie Avenue starting at 18^th Street and then running south, developed a bit later than Prairie. Only one house is known to have been built by the War period and may have been constructed as early as 1859. This was the large brick home of Daniel A. Jones, built at the northwest corner of Calumet and 22^nd Street. Jones made his fortune in the packing and real estate businesses. He served for many years as the president of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, being first elected in 1869 and leading that organization through the critical years following the Chicago Fire.

Jones died in 1886 and his house was demolished in 1911, to make way for the American Book Company building, constructed the next year on the site from plans by architect N. Max Dunning. It was designated a Chicago landmark in 2008 and was recently restored as part of the Marriot Marquis hotel property.

J. Q. Hoyt

A small number of homes were constructed on nearby streets during this period. One worthy of note was the home of J. Q. Hoyt, built in 1863 at the southeast corner of Wabash Avenue and 23^rd Street. The Hoyt family referred to their home as “Florence Place.” Were it not for the wooden sidewalk around the property, the large Italianate style home with exuberant trim and stately cupola could easily be mistaken for a country home rather than an urban residence.

Florence Place, circa 1865

John Quincy Adams Hoyt came to Chicago in 1856, making his fortune in wholesale groceries, and entering local Republican politics, being a close friend of General Ulysses S. Grant, John A. Logan, and Stephen A. Douglas. He served as alderman for many years and filled the role of acting mayor during a portion of the Civil War, when Mayor Julian Rumsey was absent. In 1868, Hoyt moved to New York City, where he was instrumental in funding the elevated railroad system. (Within weeks after the Chicago Fire, the house was converted into a hotel, maintaining the name Florence Place. In 1874, it reverted to private residential use.)

The Hoyt family enjoying the front porch of Florence Place, circa 1865

Conclusion

There was a building boom on Prairie Avenue following the Civil War. It is estimated that by the time of the Chicago Fire in 1871, there were 40 houses standing or under construction. The fire completely bypassed the neighborhood, leading to a second wave of construction immediately following, led by those whose homes had been destroyed.

We will resume this story in 2021, the year in which the City of Chicago will commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the fire. Those articles will focus on the impact the fire had on the residents and their businesses, and more importantly, the extraordinary impact the residents had on rebuilding the city.

The Early History of Prairie Avenue - Part II

In last week’s article, we looked at events during the first half of the 19^th century that laid the groundwork for the six blocks of Prairie Avenue, between 16^th Street and Cermak Road, to evolve as an upper-class residential street. This week we will explore the first houses erected during the 1850s and learn a bit about the people who built them.

Staples house – 1702 S. Prairie Avenue

The first house on Prairie Avenue was constructed for John Nichols Staples. Born in Connecticut in 1809, he had lived for many years in Natchez, Mississippi with his wife and children. He came to Chicago in 1853 where he established himself as a real estate agent and stockbroker in the firm of Staples & Sim.

In March 1853, he purchased a large lot on the west side of Prairie Avenue with 284 feet of frontage facing Lake Michigan. Soon after, he began construction on his home, an imposing brick structure designed in the Italianate style prevalent at the time. It was said to have been the first brick house constructed in Chicago south of 16^th Street. As was the case with several of the early houses on Prairie Avenue, it featured a prominent central cupola or observatory, which at the time would have provided unobstructed views for miles in all directions. Another noteworthy feature was the unusually tall windows which provided easy access to the two-story wrap around porch, no doubt a delightful place to sit on a warm summer evening to enjoy the breezes off of the lake just a few hundred feet to the east.

LATER HISTORY: In the 1850s and 1860s, Staples sold off portions of his lot for the construction of three additional houses. In 1878, he sold his own home to Turlington W. Harvey, who significantly remodeled and enlarged the house two years later in the Second Empire style. It was acquired by John and Frances Glessner in 1899 and razed to make way for new townhouses for their children.

After Staples left Prairie Avenue, he moved to a new home at 3 Campbell Park, a small enclave of houses on the west side, north of Polk Street and east of Western Avenue. He died in 1898 at the age of 89 and was interred at Graceland Cemetery. Campbell Park Drive still exists today, minus the homes, and forms part of the Chicago Technology Park within the Illinois Medical District.

Pomeroy house – 1824 S. Prairie Avenue

Prairie Avenue’s second home was constructed for Samuel Barber Pomeroy. Born in 1828, he was a native of Massachusetts and came to Chicago in the early 1850s with his older brother Eleazer to establish a commission house, known as S. B. Pomeroy & Co. The brothers owned a large business block on the north side of the city, in addition to several grain elevators, dock property, and three grain-carrying vessels on the Great Lakes, one of which was named “S. B. Pomeroy.” They were both prominently connected with the Chicago Board of Trade.

In 1854, Pomeroy married Marion Hilliard and purchased his property on the west side of the 1800 block of Prairie Avenue. He is first listed in the city directory at his new Prairie Avenue home in 1858. The house was in the Italianate style, like the Staples house, but was more exuberant, featuring an elaborate bracketed cornice, front and side porches, and a large cupola.

LATER HISTORY: Pomeroy sold the house in 1863 to wholesale grocer Henry Hinsdale who sold it a few years later to fur dealer James Smith. In 1880, it was purchased by George B. Marsh and soon after received an entirely new stone façade. It was demolished in the 1940s.

Hitchcock and Galloway double houses – 1804-1808 S. Prairie Avenue

The Galloway-Hitchcock houses are shown in the right half of this illustration

Soon after the completion of the Pomeroy house, a pair of houses was constructed just to the north at the southwest corner of Prairie Avenue and 18^th Street. The north (corner) house was built for Dr. Horatio Hitchcock who had acquired his property in 1856. The house to its south was built for Andrew Jackson Galloway who purchased his property in 1858, just before construction began.

Horatio Hitchcock was born in New York in 1814 and came west to Will County in 1840. He moved to Chicago in 1849, making him one of the earliest physicians in the city, and he was remembered for his work among the cholera victims through the 1850s. He died in his Prairie Avenue home in January 1880 and was interred at Oak Woods Cemetery.

Andrew Jackson Galloway was also born in 1814 but in Pennsylvania, although he grew to adulthood in the new state of Indiana where his family moved when he was six. After receiving a degree in civil engineering, he came to Illinois and was involved with some of the earliest work on constructing railroad lines in the state, as well as the Illinois & Michigan Canal. He came to Chicago in 1849 and two years later was appointed assistant engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad, overseeing acquisition and management of over one million acres of land and the construction of the railroad tracks.  He retired from the Illinois Central in 1855 and opened a real estate office in Chicago, A. J. Galloway and Co. He moved from Prairie Avenue in the early 1880s and spent his final years in a home at 7600 S. Emerald Avenue, where he died in 1903. Like his neighbor, he was interred at Oak Woods Cemetery.

Andrew Jackson Galloway

The double houses constructed for Hitchcock and Galloway were typical attached houses of the period in the Second Empire style, sporting a Mansard roof at the third story. There are no known photographs of the house, only the sketch shown above, which was drawn in 1874.

LATER HISTORY: In 1885, John and Frances Glessner purchased the Hitchcock house; soon after, O. R. Keith purchased the Galloway house. In 1886, the buildings, not yet thirty years old, were torn down for new houses. It is interesting to note that the footprint of the Hitchcock house was quite a bit south of 18^th Street; as such it would have stood largely in what is now the courtyard of the Glessner house. The O. R. Keith house, designed by Cobb & Frost, was razed in 1968.

It is believed that the four houses described above were the only ones completed on Prairie Avenue during the 1850s. They were all situated on the west side of street to face toward the lake, the shoreline of which was cut off by the newly laid Illinois Central Railroad tracks.

In those early days, the houses were not identified by address. An early listing for Andrew Galloway, for example, simply listed his home as being on Prairie Avenue, two doors south of Old (the original name for 18^th Street). Street numbering was initiated in the 1860s using a different convention that was then replaced by the current numbering system in 1880.

Gurley house – Indiana Avenue

One block to the west, the first house on Indiana was completed in 1855 for Jason Gurley. He was born in Vermont in 1807 and came to Chicago on an exploratory visit in 1833, the year Chicago was incorporated as a town with a population of only 300 residents. After spending a few years in Ottawa, Illinois, he came to Chicago in 1837 to take up management of the Mansion House Hotel. He went into the real estate business where he made his fortune. In 1851, he constructed Metropolitan Hall at the northwest corner of Randolph and LaSalle, described as the “largest and most pretentious public-room in the city at the time of its erection.”  Among his real estate holdings was a large tract of land which he subdivided in 1856 as Gurley’s Subdivision; today it includes the 2100 blocks of State, Wabash, Michigan, Indiana, Prairie, and Calumet.

There are no known photos of the Gurley house, which stood at approximately 1906 S. Indiana Avenue, however a description of the house in the June 25, 1855 Chicago Tribune provides a detailed account of its construction and appearance:

“A frame dwelling house, two stories high, on Indiana avenue, for Jason Gurley, Esq. The design is for an Italian villa and is to be built in every particular in the most complete manner. The building is to be brick lined between the framework . . . A very handsome observatory is intended to adorn the building, which will command a wide and expansive view of the lake and prairie. The design is by Mr. Boyington; J. M. & E. Price, masons; McWilliams & Grannis, carpenters. The cost of this building will be about $10,000; and it will be completed this fall.”

The mention of the brick lining between the framework is a reference to what was known in the 19^th century as brick insulation or brick nogging. This technique was often used in balloon-frame houses where the exterior clapboards were simply nailed on to the studs. The void between the clapboards and the interior plaster walls could make the house cold in the winter, thus the brick served as insulation and an early form of fireproofing. The bricks were not structural.

An example of brick nogging

Gurley and his wife Selina had no children, but he was very close with his three nieces who married the three Keith brothers, all of whom eventually built substantial homes on Prairie Avenue (including the O. R. Keith house referenced above). He moved to Palatine during the Civil War while Edson and Susan Keith took up residence in his former Indiana Avenue home. Gurley returned to their home and died there in April 1865 at the age of 59; he was interred at Graceland Cemetery.

In next week’s installment, we will look at the very different development of Prairie Avenue south of Ringgold Place (now Cermak Road) as well as the few additional homes built in the area during the years of the Civil War.

The Early History of Prairie Avenue - Part I

The heyday of Prairie Avenue as Chicago’s most exclusive residential street is generally framed by the dates of the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871 and the turn of the twentieth century. The history of the area, however, goes back much further, predating the subdivision of the land between present day 16^th Street and Cermak Road in the 1850s. In this first article examining Prairie Avenue’s early history, we will look at the events that set the stage for the construction of the first house in 1853.

The earliest history of Prairie Avenue is tied to Fort Dearborn, which was located nearly three miles to the north along the Chicago River at what is now Michigan Avenue. During the War of 1812 with Great Britain, the soldiers and civilians at the fort were ordered to evacuate for the safety of Fort Wayne in the Indiana Territory. On August 15, 1812, the party left the fort, traveling south along the shore of Lake Michigan, which was much closer to the future location of Prairie Avenue than it is today. Upon arriving at approximately 18^th Street, a brief battle took place with the native Potawatomi who were attempting to preserve their ancestral lands. There were many casualties on both sides and Fort Dearborn was burned soon after.

A cottonwood tree standing at the time of the battle became a symbol of the event. It stood on the north side of 18^th Street east of Prairie Avenue until it was felled during a storm in May 1894. The illustration below shows the tree in the 1880s, with the coach house of the George Pullman house visible at left. It also clearly shows that Prairie Avenue was most definitely lake front property.

In 1833, Dr. Elijah Harmon, the second person to establish a medical practice in the town, purchased 138.24 acres of land from the U.S. government, paying the standard rate of $1.25 per acre. He built a modest cabin on his property, which extended from the present boundaries of 16^th Street on the north to Cermak Road on the south, and from State Street on the west to the shore of Lake Michigan on the east. 

Future Prairie Avenue resident Silas B. Cobb arrived in Chicago that same year, and in 1900 was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune. While seated in the home of his daughter at 2027 S. Prairie Avenue, he gave a vivid impression of what the future Prairie Avenue neighborhood would have been like at the time:

“Instead of a flourishing village, the Chicago pioneer found mud, swamp holes, and hogs. Coyotes and prairie dogs swarmed everywhere . . .Two blocks away on Michigan avenue, where the steeple of the Second Presbyterian Church stands high in the air, Mr. Cobb remembered that he once waded through a swamp hole and figured that the ground never would amount to anything, even for farming.”

Harmon moved to Texas in 1834 and the next year, Henry and Caroline Clarke purchased the northernmost 20 acres of his tract, paying $100 per acre, an excellent return for Harmon on his investment. In 1836, the Clarkes built their Greek Revival home, which survives today as the Clarke House Museum at 1827 S. Indiana Avenue. In 1837, the city of Chicago was organized, and present day Cermak Road was established as the southern boundary of the city, making Clarke House the oldest surviving building within the original city limits. Despite being part of the city, Clarke House sat isolated in the country, well over a mile south of the nearest building. Residents of the city would drive out on Sundays along an old Native American path (now Michigan Avenue), to see the majestic house set amongst the scrubby landscape by the lake.

The Clarkes remained largely isolated through the 1840s. Their only immediate neighbors were the dearly departed. In 1833, sixteen acres of land had been acquired for a municipal town cemetery, reserved for Catholic burials. The present boundaries of that cemetery would be Cermak Road on the north, 23^rd Street on the south, Prairie Avenue on the west, and the lakeshore on the east. (Today that site is occupied by the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and portions of the convention center). The cemetery operated until 1847, when all the bodies were supposedly relocated to the city cemetery in present day Lincoln Park. As late as 1897, however, bodies were still being found when construction was underway for new buildings.

In 1849, a devastating cholera epidemic swept through Chicago, which led to the founding of the Chicago Orphan Asylum. This charitable institution provided relief for the many afflicted immigrants who left behind children, but no family or financial structure to support them. In 1854, the Asylum completed its new building at 2228 S. Michigan Avenue.  By the time it moved to larger quarters at South Park Avenue and 51^st Street in 1899, it was estimated that more than 6,000 children had been served by the institution.  (The new building, located at 5120 S. King Drive, was designated a Chicago landmark in 2009).

Chicago Orphan Asylum, 2228 S. Michigan Avenue

The cholera epidemic also claimed the life of Henry Clarke, leaving his widow with six children and a house that had never been completed. In 1850, Caroline Clarke subdivided 17 acres of her land, retaining only a 3-acre parcel around the house, which sat on the east side of Michigan Avenue. Clarke’s Addition to Chicago was created in anticipation of the continued growth of the city to the south, evidenced by the extension of Michigan Avenue beyond the Clarke property and the daily trips of the State Street stagecoach south to the city limits.

Ironically, this subdivision marked the beginning of Prairie Avenue, but Prairie Avenue did not exist in the subdivision. Due to the proximity of the lake, the lots along the east side of Indiana Avenue were simply extended east to the lake shore. It was not until after the Civil War that this block was subdivided yet again, inserting the 1600 block of Prairie Avenue, and configuring the lots as we know them today.

Another important event at this same time was the chartering of the Illinois Central Railroad, which took place in 1851. The railroad reached an agreement with the city to run its tracks along the shore of Lake Michigan, viewed as a practical way to preserve the shoreline. The Illinois Central was the longest railroad in the world when it was completed in 1856. The main line extended from Cairo to Galena, but a branch line extended from Centralia (named for the railroad) to Chicago. Three trains daily ran between downtown Chicago and Hyde Park, providing easy transportation in and out of the city. (It survives today as the Metra Electric Line, with a station at 18^th Street).

Illinois Central train at the foot of 18th Street, c. 1888 (Photo by George Glessner)

In 1852, a city resolution created Prairie and Indiana Avenues as far south as present day Cermak Road. Although the north-south streets always bore their current names, the east-west streets were named differently as follows:

16^th St.:          North Street

17^th St.:          New Street

18^th St.:          Old Street

19^th St.:          Cross Street

20^th St.:          Bridge Street

21^st St.:          Commerce Street

22^nd St.:          Ringgold Avenue

These streets started using their current numeric names in the 1860s when subdivisions farther west adopted that naming convention, although consistent street names across the city were not universal for many years.

1858 map - 16th Street at top; State Street at left; Cermak Road at bottom

During the 1850s, several new subdivisions were laid out south of Caroline Clarke’s property, as investors purchased land in anticipation of development and rapidly increasing land values. In 1853, the southern boundary of the city was extended to 31^st Street. All the pieces were now in place for the first residents to purchase lots and build their homes. In next week’s article, we will look at those neighborhood “pioneers” and the houses they built.

Prairie Avenue and Louis Sullivan - Part II

In the Chicago periodical, The Economist, of February 15, 1919, there was an article on Louis H. Sullivan. Artist Frank G. Logan had just been awarded a $500 prize for his painting of the famous architect. It then listed some of his most famous building designs, most in partnership with the deceased Dankmar Adler. The article ended by saying “Mr. Sullivan is now in his sixties and has retired from active practice.” That last phrase was somewhat premature.

Frank G. Logan's portrait of Louis Sullivan

Sullivan’s fortunes (his commissions, finances, and personal life) had been declining steadily since the start of the new century. As this was happening, his practice by apparent necessity transitioned from skyscrapers and grand theaters to the small bank buildings across the Midwest. He was still receiving accolades from around the world, but that renown was not transferring into work in the U.S.

When the 1919 article ran, his last constructed work had been the 1916 Peoples Savings & Loan Association Building in Sidney, Ohio. Then he lost a design competition for a high school in Owatonna, Minnesota in 1917. And the body blows kept coming.

He finally decided to finally divorce his wife, Margaret. They had been married in 1899. She had left him by 1909 and fled to New York City. In August 1916 he filed on the grounds of desertion and the divorce was finalized on January 29, 1917.

Chicago Tribune, August 4, 1916

He lost his chief draftsman, Parker Noble Berry, to private practice in the first half of 1917. There was no work to keep him. Then Berry perished on December 16, 1918. The Spanish Flu got him at the age of 30.

A further blow was the loss of office space on the 16th floor of the Auditorium Building’s tower. Adler & Sullivan, Architects had moved into custom offices on the 16^th and 17th floors in 1888. From the tower’s vantage point they could view all their downtown. It was where Sullivan trained Frank Lloyd Wright and George Grant Elmslie, among others. He was there until through midyear 1917.

After that, Louis Sullivan spent his remaining work years at two locations on Prairie Avenue, in what is now the Prairie Avenue Historic District. He was provided office space (which may have been no more than a drafting table) at the American Terra Cotta and Ceramic Co.’s sales office at 1808 S. Prairie Avenue. That was arranged through Kristian Schneider of the firm, who had long been the modeler for Sullivan’s ornamentation.

1808 S. Prairie Avenue (Cobb & Frost, 1886)

The three-story house with a granite front at 1808 sat next to the Glessner House. It was designed by Cobb & Frost for O.R. Keith in 1886. Keith sold it to Stanley Field (nephew of Marshall Field) in 1901 for $45,000. But by 1917 it was being leased for commercial purposes.

As Spring 1919 began, things turned for the better for Sullivan. Two commissions came his way. The first was a remodel of the First National Bank of Manistique Building in Michigan, for which he created drawings in May. The second was announced in June. It was for a new Farmers and Merchants Union Bank Building in Columbus, Wisconsin.

Farmers and Merchants Union Bank, Columbus, Wisconsin

The Columbus work would keep him busy into early 1920. Sullivan was so very proud of this design that he called it a “jewel box” and the name stuck and eventually referred to all eight of his bank projects. He had help from draftsman William C. Presto, who was on loan from architect George C. Nimmons’ office. Still, the rest of 1920 must have been an especially somber year.

Entering the final few years of his life Louis Sullivan received only two more building commissions. In 1921 he was asked to design a memorial for the Eddy family in Glenwood Cemetery, Flint, Michigan. Patriarch Arthur Jerome Eddy, a 60-year-old Chicago lawyer, author, art collector and art critic, had died unexpectedly on July 21, 1920 in New York City. In the middle of his partnership with Adler, Sullivan had designed three mausoleums – Ryerson (1889), Getty (1890), and Wainwright (1892) – that were then and still are considered masterpieces. He sketched up not just a tomb but an elaborate, modern enclosure that the family, however, chose not to build.

At the beginning of December 1921, Sullivan announced he moved his architectural office to another old Chicago mansion at 1701 S. Prairie Avenue. Actually, American Terra Cotta’s move there necessitated him to follow. 

The American Contractor, December 3, 1921

The house had been designed by William Le Baron Jenney in 1868 for William Hibbard, partner in the wholesale hardware firm of Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. (remembered today for its “True Value” brand name).

1701 S. Prairie Avenue (William Le Baron Jenney, 1868)

Sullivan’s last realized design was completed there. It was not an entire building, but only a façade. This time it was William Presto who hired Sullivan for his decorative abilities. The project was the William P. Krause Music Store & Flat at 4611 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. Of course, Schneider would model all of Sullivan’s terra cotta.

Krause Music Store, 4611 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

He had no more “office” from then on. In his “spare” time he wrote. Sullivan’s autobiography, written in the third person and oddly titled The Autobiography of an Idea, was published posthumously in 1926. His writings included another book, Democracy: A Man-Search, that was finally published in 1961. He prepared sketches for a monument for the National Terra Cotta Society in 1921 and again in 1923, though nothing was ever built.

By now in failing health, he found the energy to draw 20 full-page plates of fanciful architectural details that went into his book, A System of Architectural Ornament, According with a Philosophy of Man’s Powers, published by the American Institute of Architects just before his death in April 1924.

Two weeks later, architect N. Max Dunning wrote a letter recounting Sullivan’s final days, to Dankmar Adler’s son Sidney, who was to convey the information to Sullivan’s brother. Dunning closed by noting:

“All of Mr. Sullivan’s possessions are sealed up in boxes in the possession of Mr. Albert Sheffield, c/o American Terra Cotta Company, 1701 Prairie Avenue, Chicago, and can be gone over by any properly authorized individual.”

Guest author:

Michael N. Plei is a national civil engineer who started a hobby over six years ago to trace Adler & Sullivan's work and its connection to the history of Chicago.