place

Manhattan Building (Chicago, Illinois)

1891 establishments in IllinoisArchitecture in ChicagoChicago LandmarksChicago school architecture in IllinoisCommercial buildings completed in 1891
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in ChicagoResidential condominiums in ChicagoResidential skyscrapers in Chicago
2010 03 03 2000x3000 chicago manhattan building
2010 03 03 2000x3000 chicago manhattan building

The Manhattan Building is a 16-story building at 431 South Dearborn Street in Chicago, Illinois. It was designed by architect William Le Baron Jenney and constructed from 1889 to 1891. It is the oldest surviving skyscraper in the world to use a purely skeletal supporting structure. The building was the first home of the Paymaster Corporation, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1976, and designated a Chicago Landmark on July 7, 1978.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Manhattan Building (Chicago, Illinois) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Manhattan Building (Chicago, Illinois)
South Dearborn Street, Chicago Loop

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Manhattan Building (Chicago, Illinois)Continue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.875833333333 ° E -87.629166666667 °
placeShow on map

Address

Dearborn & Ida B Wells Drive

South Dearborn Street
60604 Chicago, Loop
Illinois, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

2010 03 03 2000x3000 chicago manhattan building
2010 03 03 2000x3000 chicago manhattan building
Share experience

Nearby Places

Monadnock Building
Monadnock Building

The Monadnock Building (historically the Monadnock Block; pronounced mə-NAD-nok) is a 16-story skyscraper located at 53 West Jackson Boulevard in the south Loop area of Chicago. The north half of the building was designed by the firm of Burnham & Root and built starting in 1891. The tallest load-bearing brick building ever constructed, it employed the first portal system of wind bracing in America. Its decorative staircases represent the first structural use of aluminum in building construction. The later south half, constructed in 1893, was designed by Holabird & Roche and is similar in color and profile to the original, but the design is more traditionally ornate. When completed, it was the largest office building in the world. The success of the building was the catalyst for an important new business center at the southern end of the Loop. The building was remodeled in 1938 in one of the first major skyscraper renovations ever undertaken—a bid, in part, to revolutionize how building maintenance was done and halt the demolition of Chicago's aging skyscrapers. It was sold in 1979 to owners who restored the building to its original condition, in one of the most comprehensive skyscraper restorations attempted as of 1992. The project was recognized as one of the top restoration projects in the US by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1987. The building is divided into offices from 250 square feet (23 m2) to 6,000 square feet (560 m2) in size, and primarily serves independent professional firms. It was listed for sale in 2007. The north half is an unornamented vertical mass of purple-brown brick, flaring gently out at the base and top, with vertically continuous bay windows projecting out. The south half is vertically divided by brickwork at the base and rises to a large copper cornice at the roof. Projecting window bays in both halves allow large exposures of glass, giving the building an open appearance despite its mass. The Monadnock is part of the Printing House Row District, which also includes the Fisher Building, the Manhattan Building, and the Old Colony Building. When it was built, many critics called the building too extreme, and lacking in style. Others found in its lack of ornamentation the natural extension of its commercial purpose and an expression of modern business life. Early 20th-century European architects found inspiration in its attention to purpose and functional expression. It was one of the first buildings named a Chicago Architectural Landmark in 1958. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and named as part of the National Historic Landmark South Dearborn Street – Printing House Row North Historic District in 1976. Modern critics have called it a "classic", a "triumph of unified design", and "one of the most exciting aesthetic experiences America's commercial architecture produced".

Second Leiter Building
Second Leiter Building

The Second Leiter Building, also known as the Leiter II Building, the Sears Building, One Congress Center, and Robert Morris Center, is located at the southeast corner of South State Street and East Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, Illinois. The building is not to be confused with the present Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, constructed and owned by the famous nationwide mail-order firm Sears, Roebuck & Company. This landmark of the Chicago school of architecture gained fame for being one of the earliest commercial buildings constructed with a metal skeleton frame remaining in the United States. Built in 1891 by Levi Z. Leiter, (1834-1904), the Second Leiter Building was designed by architect William Le Baron Jenney, who implemented the skeletal frame made of steel to make the design fireproof. The building was leased by Levi Leiter to the department store of Siegel, Cooper and Company who occupied it for approximately seven years. After Siegel Cooper closed, the building hosted various tenants until it became the downtown flagship store of Sears, Roebuck and Company in 1931. Sears occupied the space the until 1986 when it decided to close the store and the space was leased to other tenants.The structure is eight floors and occupies the entire block of State Street between Ida B. Wells Drive and Van Buren Street. The State Street facade consists of nine bays separated by wide pilasters. The pilasters are capped by simple capitals and an unadorned cornice crowns the entire structure. The Ida B. Wells and Van Buren facades are three bays wide with measurements of 400 ft (120 m) by 143 ft (44 m). Within each bay are four windows on each floor aligned vertically. The building is faced with a pink granite. Each floor contains 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) with 16 ft (4.9 m) ceilings and could be divided to house multiple tenants.Its predecessor, the First Leiter Building, was designed by Jenney in 1879 and stood at Wells and Monroe until it was demolished in 1972. The Second Leiter Building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and a Chicago Landmark on January 14, 1997. In 1998, the building became home to the Chicago campus of Robert Morris University-Illinois.