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Entries Tagged as 'burnham'

25 East Washington

May 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment

25 E. Washington Street, The Loop, Chicago

I’ve been to the dentist far too much in the past couple months. You don’t even want to get me started on the fillings I’ve had replaced, the multiple visits to get a crown redone and then when I thought it was all done, I had to go back because just a day later I chipped off a chunk of tooth and filling. Not fun.

One thing I do like, though, is the building my dentist office is in. It’s at 25 East Washington Street. The outside of the building is not too remarkable, even though it was designed by D.H. Burnham & Company and was completed in 1914. What I really like about the building is the main lobby. I love the ceiling. You just don’t see this kind of decoration on ceilings any more!

Union Station

January 8th, 2006 · 5 Comments

Union Station, West Loop, Chicago

I took these photos a few months ago when I went to Union Station to catch an Amtrak train to Wisconsin. From A View on Cities:

The Chicago Union Station is one of the last of the grand American railway stations. The station replaced the overcrowded Grand Passenger Station built in 1881 for a consortium of four railroads.

This consortium, headed by the Pennsylvania railroad wanted to Chicago Union Station create a new, large railway station befitting the city’s status as America’s railway hub. They wanted the station to make an architectural impact, similar to New York’s Grand Central Terminal and Washington’s Union Station.

Daniel Burnham, Chicago’s famous architect who was responsible for the magnificent Beaux-Arts Union Station in Washington, started drawing plans for the new railway station, but he died before the design was completed. His work was taken over by Graham, Anderson and Probst, later joined by White. They designed a complex incorporating two different buildings on either side of Canal street, connected to each other by a tunnel. Construction of the building started in 1913 and was finished 12 years later, in 1925.

The west side building contains the large waiting room, known as the ‘Great Hall’. The waiting room has a 112ft/34m high vaulted skylight, marble floors with long benches and marble walls with large Corinthian columns. According the the original plans, the building would also have 20 floors of office space, but only 8 were completed.

On the east side of Canal street was the concourse building. The glass vaulted concourse was modeled on the concourse of the now demolished Pennsylvania Station in New York. The concourse in the Chicago Union Station was demolished in 1969 and replaced by office buildings.

Although the station could handle as many as 400,000 passengers per day, about 100,000 passengers made use of the station during its heyday in the 1940s. The station has two sets of tracks, 10 leading northbound and ten southbound. It is estimated to be capable of handling more than 700 trains in a single day.

After the foundation of Amtrak, most of the train services were directed to the Union Station. After Dearborn Station was closed in 1971 and Central Station in 1972, the Union Station remained as the only passenger railway station in downtown Chicago. In 1992 the Union Station was renovated by the Lucien Lagrange Associates and in 2002, the building was (finally) designated a Chicago Landmark.

Also, Wikipedia has some great information.

Ried, Murdoch & Co. Building Clock Tower

November 10th, 2005 · 4 Comments

A couple weeks ago I was up in the Reid, Murdoch & Co. Building to view the Sox Victory Parade & Rally. What I didn’t show much of was the actual building and clock tower I was in. That, in itself, was pretty impressive and a real treat to experience, since normally people aren’t allowed up there. It seemed like something that would be in Open House New York.. if we had that sort of thing here.. but we don’t. Too bad for us.

After digging around a bit I found out that the building was constructed in 1914 and was designed by George C. Nimmons, who followed Daniel H. Burnham‘s Plan of Chicago. In the plan, developers were asked to consider the Chicago River front as a locale for new businesses because of the river’s aesthetic and commercial potential.

The building was originally built as a food processing company and warehouse. In this old photo, you can see that below the clock there used to be signs that said “Finer Foods.” The clock tower was originally a water tower that supplied the sprinkler system in the building. (Check out these photos of the building before the clock was in place.)

In 1915, the Eastland ocean-liner capsized and killed 812 people right across the river from the Ried Murdoch building, which was then used as a makeshift hospital and rescue center. (Check out these gnarly crash photos). Since the Ried Murdoch building was also temporary used as a morgue, some people say that it’s haunted and that “shortly after the accident pedestrians reported hearing cries of horror near the banks of the river.”

One more interesting historical tidbit: In 1926 LaSalle Street was widened and part of the west side of the building was taken off.

In 1955, the city of Chicago bought the Reid Murdoch building to use as municipal traffic court, to house the State Attorney’s Office, and for several other city departments. It was still used as traffic court til 1998 when Friedman Properties was selected to redevelop the building. On November 15, 1976, the city of Chicago gave the Reid Murdoch building landmark status. Today the building is almost all offices. On the first floor overlooking the river, is a restaurant that used to be Bob Chinn’s and is now Fulton’s on the River.

Tour of Graceland Cemetery

November 3rd, 2004 · 7 Comments

On Sunday I took a 2-hour walking tour of Graceland Cemetery. Even though it was Halloween, the tour wasn’t about ghosts or being spooky. It was more historical and I’m thankful for that. Our tour guide, Sylvia, ruled. She was really knowledgeable and friendly, even if she did tell really bad jokes.

When I got to Graceland’s entrance at Irving Park Road and Clark Street, there were probably a couple hundred people waiting for the tour. We were split up into groups of about 25, which was a perfect size. Graceland is the final resting place of many of the city’s most famous names – John Kinzie, George Pullman, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Marshall Field, to name a few.

Eli Williams’ wives are buried sequentially in front of him and his monument.

Eternal Silence, also called the Statue of Death, is a bronze figure before the polished black slab of granite by sculptor Lorado Taft. It was created in 1909 and marks the body of Dexter Graves, a hotelier who died in 1844.

The Crusader is another sculpture by Lorado Taft. It marks the grave of the newpaper publisher Victor Lawson, who in 1875 started the Chicago Daily News.

This pyramid marks the burial site of Peter Schoenhofen who was born in Prussia. He was the owner of Schoenhofen Brewery.

This is William Kimball, the piano maker’s, gravesite and is one of the biggest monuments at Graceland. The marble is very porous and hasn’t weathered well over the years, unfortunately.

As we all know from reading Devil in the White City, Sullivan died lonely, alcoholic, and poor. It wasn’t until many years after his death that he began to be recognized as one of the greatest architects of his time. His grave is directly behind Kimball’s.

The Palmers were like the king and queen of Chicago. Potter Palmer owned 3/4 of State Street and was responsible for it’s development. He also operated an extremely successful dry-goods store with Marshall Field and Levi Leiter. He married Bertha Honore, who was considered the queen of Chicago high society.

Burnham is my favorite, after reading Devil in the White City. He was an architect and city planner and is responsible for many of the features of Chicago today. But what he’s famous for is being the chief of construction for the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. Burnham and his family’s ashes are buried on an island in Lake Willomere in Graceland Cemetery.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe always said “less is more” and demonstrated it in the design of his buildings. Even his gravesite abides by his philosophy.

William Hulbert founded baseball’s National League.

Overall the cemetery reminded me of Green-Wood, the cemetery I toured with Tien in Brooklyn last year.

Other famous notables at Graceland: Kinzie, Jenning, Jack Johnson, John Root, Pullman, Goodman, the Honores, Wacker, Armour, the Marshall Fields family, the McCormick family, Richard Nickel, and the Pinkertons and their detective agency.

Many thanks to graveyards.com/graceland for helping me translate my notes!

Entries Tagged as 'burnham'

25 East Washington

May 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment

Union Station

January 8th, 2006 · 5 Comments

Ried, Murdoch & Co. Building Clock Tower

November 10th, 2005 · 4 Comments

Tour of Graceland Cemetery

November 3rd, 2004 · 7 Comments

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Entries Tagged as 'burnham'

25 East Washington

May 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment

Union Station

January 8th, 2006 · 5 Comments

Ried, Murdoch & Co. Building Clock Tower

November 10th, 2005 · 4 Comments

Tour of Graceland Cemetery

November 3rd, 2004 · 7 Comments

Recent Comments

On this day...

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