Yale Universi

i1306

Mm54-

"I give theft i Booh
far the founding cf a Collegt in this Colo if

'YJkLH«¥lMIMEIf^flTrY«

Gift of the Publishers

1916"

'6bx*-?r?i-^-7 /? £-c-&*^'<^£_

James Monroe, after whom
Monroe Street was named

Through the courtesy of
Mr. Rufus C. Dawes

Notes on the Monroe Street
of Early Chicago Days

19 14

Compiled by Edwin F. Mack
Second Edition
Published by
Central Trust Company of Illinois
125 West Monroe Street
Chicago

Copyright, 1914,
by
Central Trust Company of Illinois,
Chicago, Illinois

A WORD OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
TN gathering these notes about old Monroe Street
-¦- (from the River to the Lake), the compiler wishes to
acknowledge the courteous assistance of Mr. M. E.
Dahl, of the Chicago Historical Society, in the search
among the books, pamphlets, maps and papers in the
possession of the Society, from which much of the
material of this little publication was secured.
The compiler has also drawn heavily upon the
monumental History of Chicago by A. T. Andreas;
upon the later History of Chicago, in five volumes, by
J. Seymour Currey, as well as upon other publications
mentioned in the text.
Among those whose personal recollections have been
of service, special acknowledgments are due Mr. W. D.
Kerfoot, Mr. Frank W. Smith, Mr. James Walsh,
Mr. Nathan Dickinson, Mr. Herbert Darlington, Mr.
Charles M. Sturges, Mr. A. B. Adam and Mr. Frank
O. Butler.
E. F. M.

MAP SHOWING HUBBARD'S TRAIL

Reproduced from part of a map ap
pearing in Andreas' History of Chicago

OLD MONROE STREET
from the river to the lake

CPA map of Chicago dated 1830, in the possession of
*-*Mhe Chicago Historical Society, shows the village of
Chicago clustered about old Fort Dearborn, near the
mouth of the Chicago River. The present location of
Monroe Street was then out in the country, in the
section of land south of the village bounded by Madison,
State, Halsted and 12th Streets.
This map shows the district on the west side of the
River pretty well wooded, while on the east side of
the River the woods extend not quite halfway to
Hubbard's Trail (about the present location of Clark
Street), leading to Danville.
This trail was named after Col. Gurdon S. Hub
bard, who was the first white man to blaze a trail
from Chicago overland to the southern part of the
State, instead of following the course of the rivers, as
had been done previously.
S Monroe Street is located in what is known as a
School Section (640 acres). Section No. 16 in every
township in the State of Illinois was granted to the
State by the U. S. Government for the use of the
schools. The school section in this township was
bounded by Madison Street on the north, 12th Street
on the south, State Street on the east and Halsted
Street on the west.
CIT111 order to raise money for school purposes, an
^auction sale was held on October 21, 1833, and con
tinued for five days, in the first Tremont House,
located at that time on the northwest corner of Dear
born and Lake Streets.

First Map
of Chicago

Hubbard's Trail

Big Real
Estate Auction

$6.72 an
Acre

Golden Jones'
Purchase

Original
Town Limits

Naming of
Monroe Street

Out of 140 blocks comprising the school section,
all but four blocks were sold for a total of $38,619.47,
or an average of $6.72 an acre. One of the four
blocks remaining for school use was the block bounded
by Monroe, Dearborn, State and Madison Streets.
^TTItwas at the foregoing auction sale that Benjamin
^ Jones (also known as "Golden Jones" on account of
his wealth) on October 22, 1833, purchased from the
State of Illinois, Lot 2, Block 117, upon which the
Central Trust Company of Illinois now stands, for
the sum of $78, being about the price today of one
sq. ft. of the 16,920 sq. ft. in this lot.
This lot appears to have passed out of the Jones
family April 13, 1868, through a deed given by the
executors of the estate of William Jones, father of
Fernando Jones, to John M. Douglas for $58,500. Mr.
Douglas was at that time President of the Illinois
Central Railroad.
^JTMonroe Street was not within the original limits
«-^of Chicago when it was incorporated as a town on
August 12, 1833, the southern limits of the town at
that time being Madison Street.
However, the southern town limits were extended
on November 6, 1833, as far south as Jackson Street;
and on that date, therefore, Monroe Street became
part of the town ,of Chicago.
Chicago was incorporated as a city March 4, 1837.
(IT The Chicago Democrat, in its issue of December 3,
*-M833 (in the files of the Chicago Historical Society),
contains an ordinance passed by the Town Council
on November 7th which was rather remarkable for
the number and scope of its provisions.

The second paragraph of this ordinance reads as
follows :
"BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that the first street in
said town, south of Washington Street, be named Madison Street;
the second street shall be named Monroe Street; the third shall be
named Adams Street and the fourth shall be named Jackson
Street." ^JP Among the other articles of this comprehensive
^ordinance, paragraph 3 ordains:
"That from and after the first day of December next, every
owner of any hog, sow or pig found running at large in said town
without having a ring in its nose or yoke on its neck, shall be liable
to a fine of two dollars for each and every offence."
Another paragraph of the same ordinance pre
scribes in considerable detail how the citizens of Chicago
shall run their stovepipes through the ceilings and roofs
of their houses.
^IT Referring to paragraph 3 of the foregoing ordi-
^» nance, it should be stated that by 1842 hogs roaming
about the streets of Chicago had become such an un
mitigated nuisance that an ordinance was passed on
April 21st of that year prohibiting them from running
at large in the streets, even when provided with rings
in their noses or yokes on their necks.
^fP James Monroe, after whom Monroe Street was
^ named, was the fifth President of the United States,
his two terms of office as President extending from
1817 to 1825. Besides the office of President, Monroe
also distinguished himself in other political offices,
principally as United States Senator, Minister to
France, Spain and England, and as Governor of Vir
ginia. Monroe's name will always be best remembered in
connection with the Monroe Doctrine, which was

Monroe Street
Named

Primitive Conditions

The Hog
Question
Again

James Monroe

BEFORE THE ORDINANCE IN REGARD TO PIGS

10

enunciated by him in his annual message to Congress
in 1823. This doctrine was a warning to European
nations against interference in the affairs of the nations
on this side of the Atlantic.
^TPThe following Monroe Street addresses appear in
«-*Hhe Chicago City Directory of 1844:
S. Foot, Teamster, corner Clark and Monroe Streets.
[Where the Fort Dearborn Building now stands.]
Josiah B. Crocker, Whitewasher, Clark Street, corner
of Monroe.
Nathaniel F. Butler, "res. Monroe St."
Samuel S. Barry, Painter at Cushings, "House Monroe
St., between Clark and LaSalle Sts."
James M. Adsit, Carpenter, "House Monroe St."
[Where the Inter-Ocean Building now stands.]
In 1846 Mr. Adsit engaged in the private banking
business on Clark Street, and continued in that business
until his bank was absorbed by the Chicago National
Bank at its organization in 1882. Mr. Adsit became
Vice President of the Chicago National Bank, and held
that office for a short time.
^JTThe business center of Chicago from 1840 until
^about 1860 was on Clark Street, in the first two or
three blocks south of the river. This was brought
about largely by the construction of the Clark Street
Bridge in 1840.
Merchants and small shopkeepers sought locations
in the neighborhood of the bridge, where the traffic
was greatest; and when both sides of Clark Street were
occupied by commercial houses, South Water Street
and Lake Street, for three or four blocks east and west
of Clark Street, were filled up with business houses,
hotels and offices of professional men.

MonroeDoctrine

1844 City
Directory

Business Center
1840-1860

11

?.;;

4^

ib&r

STAGE COACH ARRIVING AT THE SHERMAN HOUSE
Fro?n a description 12

Bottomless Streets

^TT William Bross, who later became associated with Soggy
<-**» Joseph Medill and others on the Chicago Tribune, Sidewalks
in his reminiscences (Lakeside Classics) speaks of the
sidewalk situation here in 1848 as follows:
"The sidewalks, where such luxuries were indulged
in, lay, in most cases, upon the rich prairie soil, for the
stringpieces of scantling to which the planks were
originally spiked would soon sink down into the mud
after a rain and then, as one walked, the green and black
slime would gush up between the cracks."
^TTMr. W. D. Kerfoot, in referring to the condition
^of Monroe Street and other streets in this neighbor
hood in the Fifties, says that the streets were frequently
impassable for weeks at a time during the spring rains,
and that driving over these frozen seas of mud in
cold weather often gave one the sensation of driving
over a rubber pavement, with the added experience,
occasionally, of breaking through the crust into the
mud below.
^JTMr. Kerfoot tells two good stories of road condi-
*-*^ tions in Chicago in those days, the first one of which,
with some poetic license, illustrates general conditions,
while the second one is probably based upon an actual
occurrence. Upon one occasion, after quite a rainy spell, a "No,
citizen saw a man's head and shoulders sticking out Thank
of the mud in the middle of the street, and asked him y°u- "
whether he could be of any assistance to him. The
man promptly answered: "No, thank you. I have
a horse under me."
In the days of the old Frink & Walker Stage Coach
Line a coach drew up, one very muddy November
evening, at the old Sherman House, located on the
site of the present Sherman House. By means of

13

A Stage two stout planks the passengers were able to bridge
Coach the sea of mud and pass from the stage coach to the
Experience sidewalk. The horses were also able to struggle out of the
mud that evening, but the stage coach was left there,
to be pulled out in the morning. During the night
winter suddenly set in in full vigor, and the stage coach
was so firmly frozen in that it could not be taken out
until spring.
Gas Works dT^e south side of Monroe Street, between what is
on Monroe ^»now Franklin Street (which was not then opened
Street through) and Market Street, was the site of the first
gas works in the city, erected in 1850 at a cost of
$105,000 by the Chicago Gas Light & Coke Com
pany. The ground between Market Street and the River
was occupied by Walter & Rogers' coal yard.
The lot on the southeast corner of Monroe and
Market Streets was not included in the gas com
pany's property, but it had a little office on Monroe
Street, just next to this corner lot on the east. The
company's main office at that time was in the Dickey
Building, on the southwest corner of Dearborn and
Lake Streets.
The gas holder was about halfway between Market
Street and what is now Franklin Street. Soon after
its location on Monroe Street the company extended
its property through to Adams Street, where the retort
was located.
Ten-year The Chicago Gas Light & Coke Company was
Franchise incorporated by special act of the State Legislature
in February, 1849, with the exclusive right to manu
facture, distribute and sell gas in the City of Chicago
for a period of ten years.

14

The gas was first turned on in September, 1850,
according to William Bross, who states that until that
time people had to grope around in the dark or use
lanterns. It seems, however, that the extension of
the service was rather slow, for Mr. Bross states that
it was not until 1853 or 1854 that the pipes reached
his home at No. 202 Michigan Avenue.
In 1850 the company got $3.50 a thousand feet for
its gas. In 1871 the price was $3.00 a thousand; and
it remained at that price until 1883, when it was re
duced to $1.25.
The demand for gas became so great with the
growth of the city that the company in 1867 erected
new works on the North Side, on Hawthorne Street
(now Kingsbury Street), between Haines, Hobbie and
Crosby Streets. The Monroe Street plant was de
stroyed in the Great Fire of 1871, while the Haw
thorne Street plant was at that time saved only by the
greatest exertions. The plant on Monroe Street was
not rebuilt after the fire.
The Chicago Gas Light & Coke Company was
merged into the People's Gas Light & Coke Company
in August, 1897, pursuant to an act of the Legislature
permitting the merger of seven independent and more
or less competitive gas companies in the city at that
time. ^TTThe Chicago Almanac and Advertiser for 1855
Ogives the following business addresses (including
boarding-houses) on Monroe Street:
Mrs. Hendee, Boarding House— 43 Monroe Street.
Dr. Thos. Bryan— 96 Monroe Street.
Dr. C. V. Dyer— N. W. corner Monroe and Dear
born Streets.

When
DarknessReigned

Early Gas Rates

Street
Addressesin '55

15

Street
Addresses

William Goldie

La Salle
Street not
Opened
Through

J. A. Kent, Perfumer— 105 Monroe Street.
Elizabeth Brock, Boarding House— 143 Monroe
Street. Thos. Milner, Builder— 171 Monroe Street.
H. Bradford, Grocer— 181 Monroe Street.
Miss S. A. Heath, Select School— 186 Monroe
Street. This school was taken down in 1855 to make room
for the construction of North's Circus, referred to
on Page 24.
Wm. Goldie, Manufacturer of Sashes, Doors and
Blinds— 216 Monroe Street, beside the Gas Works.
Watson & Ross, Builders— 219 Monroe Street.
W. Dorchester, Lumber Yard— Corner of Market
and Monroe Streets.
^JT William Goldie, mentioned in the foregoing list,
^came here from Scotland, and in 1852 started in
business as a building contractor. In 1853 he added the
sash, door and blind factory on Monroe Street (about
where Franklin Street is now opened through). In
1861 he sold out and served through the Civil War,
later returning to his old business.
He built the first business block after the fire, the
old Marshall Field Building, State and Washington
Streets. Among his other buildings was University
Hall at the State University, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
^TPIn the Fifties Monroe Street was pretty well out
<-*Mn the suburbs. Gager's City Directory Map 1856-7
shows that LaSalle Street was open at that time from
the river only as far south as Madison Street; but
Bailey & Company's City Directory 1859-60 shows
LaSalle Street opened through across Monroe Street
to the south branch of the river.

16

O'Until 1853 Dearborn Street was open only as far Dearborn
t-^south as Madison Street. In that year the east half Street
of the street (33 feet) was opened through to Monroe Opened
Street by consent of the property owners, those on
the west side of the street successfully fighting the
opening of the west half.
It was not until a considerable time after the Chi
cago Fire that the full width of Dearborn Street was
opened through.
^JTMonroe Street in the early days was not paved. No
«-^As a matter of fact, until 1848 all of the Chicago Pavements
streets were simply country roads. After that date
planking was put down on some of the streets, but
not as far out as Monroe Street.
Andreas, in his History of Chicago, under the head- Monroe
ing "A Complete Record of Street Improvements Street
from 1857 to 1871," makes the following references to Pavement
Monroe Street:
From State Street to Michigan Avenue— Wooden
block pavement 1867.
From Clark Street to Market Street— Wooden
blocks 1869.
From State Street to Clark Street— Wooden blocks
1870. The first asphalt pavement ever laid in Chicago
was put down by J. L. Fulton & Company in the
spring of 1870 at the intersection of Clark and Monroe
Streets. ^TTIt appears that in the latter part of the Fifties and Chicago's
^ in the Sixties South Wells Street (Fifth Avenue) from Tenderloin
Madison Street to Van Buren Street was largely the
resort of the vicious and criminal elements of the city.
One contemporary author describes that section of
the street as "an aggregation of vileness."

17

AN OLD TAVERN

Similar lo "Under the Willow'
owned by Roger Plant

18

"Roger Plant's 'Under the Willow,' southeast
corner of Wells and Monroe Streets," quoting from
Bygone Days in Chicago by Frederick Francis Cook,
"was the very core of this corruption. Originally
'Under the Willow' applied only to the corner build
ing. But, with the progress of the war . . . one ad
joining rookery after another, both to the east and to
the south, was added until the name applied to nearly
half a block; and Police Captain Jack Nelson dubbed
it 'Roger's Barracks.'
"Patrols were never at a loss where to look for
'strays' from the outlying camps, though this was by
no means always the same as finding them, for Roger
maintained a very thorough outpost system; and it
was only by approaching these delectable precincts in
character as sheep ready for the shearing that an
alarm could be forestalled and escape from the
labyrinth by devious passages and alleyways cut
off." It appears to have been the popular belief at the
time that there was a tunnel running from this saloon
under Wells Street to the shanties and rookeries which
then filled the district between Wells Street (Fifth
Avenue) and the river.
To quote further from Bygone Days in Chicago:
"Roger was a diminutive Yorkshireman, whereas
Mrs. Plant, a graduate from the purlieus of Liverpool,
easily balanced two of him on the scales, with some
thing left over.
"In his small way Roger was quite a character.
Calling his place 'Under the Willow' showed his
sentimental side." As a matter of fact, there was a
large willow tree standing in Monroe Street, along
side Roger Plant's saloon at that time.

Under the
Willow

Labyrinthsand Tunnels

Mrs.
Plant

19

If

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF CHICAGO IN 1857
? Indicates present location of Central Trust Company of Illinois

Through courtesy of Chicago Historical Society 20

Mr. Cook goes on to say: "And then there was
Roger the humorist. Every window-pane of the den
displayed on a flaring blue shade, in large gilt letters, the
legend 'Why Not?' It is needless to say that the
phrase acquired a large street currency.
"The place was a refuge for the very nethermost
strata of the underworld — the refuse of the bridewell.
Only by seeking the bottom of the malodorous river
could its inmates go lower — as they sometimes
did. "So evil a name did this thoroughfare [Wells
Street] acquire from its belongings that later, to fit
it for trade, it was, on petition of fronting property
owners, fumigated into Fifth Avenue."
The Great Fire of 1871 performed a valuable
service in cleaning out this district.

Why Not?

Change
in Name
of Street

CPWhile Mr. Cook states that Under the Willow was
^on the southeast corner of Monroe and Wells
Streets both Mr. Kerfoot and Mr. Dickinson clearly
remember that it was located on the northeast corner
of Monroe and Wells Streets; while another early set
tler was uncertain as to the exact location, but was
inclined to the belief that it was on the southeast
corner.

the following letter was
Schuettler, First Deputy

To settle the matter,
secured from Herman F.
Superintendent of Police:
"The records in the City Clerk's Office show that a
license for saloon was issued to Roger Plant, 171 South
Wells Street. The records in the City Map Depart
ment show that 171 South Wells Street was at that
time located at the northeast corner of Wells and
Monroe Streets."

Conflicting Testimony
Settled

21

'0 2, w-rA ..

3?

fi ^Mm^k-^H1^^-'

NORTH'S CIRCUS

22

CfOn April 4, 1855, North's Circus came to the city
*-^and, after performing on a vacant lot, Levi J. North
and Harry Turner, the owners, erected a two-story
frame theater on the south side of Monroe Street,
east of Wells Street (Fifth Avenue). The building
had 90 feet frontage on Monroe Street and was 206
feet deep.
It contained a performing ring 42 feet in diameter
and seated 3,062 people. In the rear of the building
there were stables for the horses used in connection
with the performances.
In 1856 C. R. Thorne became manager, and changed
the name to National Theater. He engaged a stock
company, and the theater was fitted up for legitimate
dramatic work.
In 1857 the place was re-adapted to equestrian and
spectacular entertainments, but was soon again trans
formed into a legitimate theater, and was opened as
such in 1857 by J. H. Wallack in Othello, Virginius and
similar plays. Mr. and Mrs. John F. Drew appeared
there in May, 1858.
The house ceased to be profitable in 1859, and,
after many changes, was sold. The building was
allowed to fall into disrepair, but was temporarily
occupied in 1864 by two companies of soldiers while
waiting to be paid off.
In 1868 the building was torn down and a brick
business block erected in its place.
^JTA large map of Chicago in 1857, hanging in the
^rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, shows both
sides of Monroe Street, from the River to the Lake,
lined with frame buildings, practically all dwellings.
The block in which the Central Trust Company of
Illinois is now located, for instance, was occupied by

North's Circus

Wallack
Plays There

Bird's Eye Veiw
of Chicago
in 1857

23

VIEW LOOKING SOUTH FROM COURT HOUSE TOWER 1858

The first arrow indicates the home of
Fernando Jones, site of Central Trust
Co. The second arrow North's Circus

By courtesy of the
Chicago Historical Society

24

eight such dwellings, one of which, on the corner of
Clark Street, fronted on Clark Street, while the other
seven fronted on Monroe Street.
The next block west shows a frame house on the
southwest corner of LaSalle Street and a small frame
building just west of that; while nearer Wells Street
(Fifth Avenue) stood North's Circus.
^TTThe picture on the opposite page was taken from
<-^the tower of the Court House, in 1858, looking south
east. The building most conspicuous in the foreground
is the First Baptist Church, then located on Wash
ington Street, corner of LaSalle Street, on the present
site of the Chamber of Commerce.
In 1864 this church was taken down and re-erected
at the southwest corner of Morgan and Monroe Streets,
becoming the Second Baptist Church.
The arrow pointing downward at the left indicates
Fernando Jones' home, on the present site of the
Central Trust Company of Illinois, on Monroe Street;
whereas the arrow to the right points to North's
Circus, on Monroe Street.
^JTThe following were some of the people living on
^Monroe Street in the later Fifties and in the
Sixties: On the northwest corner of Monroe Street and
Michigan Avenue lived Hiram Wheeler, one of the
incorporators of the Chamber of Commerce in 1863
and a Director of the Board of Trade 1859-60.
Directly back of this house, on the northeast corner
of Monroe and Wabash, lived E. H. Haddock, who
came to Chicago in 1833 and started a bakery, later
establishing a grain warehousing business.

Chicago
in 1858

Homesof Old
Settlers

UniversityClub

Powers Building

25

tig?

1-1/:

AT THE MAISON DOREE

A/ter a drawing made from
description by old settler

26

Across the street, on the southwest corner of
Monroe Street and Michigan Avenue, lived Walter
S. Gurney, President of the Chicago Hide & Leather
Company. On the southeast corner of Wabash Avenue and
Monroe Street was a good-sized frame colonial house,
surrounded by large trees and shrubbery and setting
well back from the street. This was the home of Eli
B. Williams.Eli B. Williams came to Chicago in 1833, and
erected a small frame grocery on South Water Street.
In 1834 he was one of the organizers of St. James
Episcopal Church. In 1836 he was a member of the
original Chicago Charter Commission. In 1844 he
became Register of the U. S. Land Office here. In
1852 his name appears as one of the Directors in the
Chicago Gas Light & Coke Company, while in 1853
he was appointed Receiver for Government funds in
Chicago. In the latter part of the Sixties Mr. Williams
rented his home to Mrs. William J. (Anne J.) Johnson,
who conducted a ladies' restaurant and ice cream
parlor there until the time of the fire.
The restaurant was known as the Maison Doree
(gilded house), and was thoroughly high-class in its
appointments and service.
Many prominent men are still living who used to
take their sweethearts to Mrs. Johnson's for ice cream
on warm summer nights.
On the southwest corner of Wabash Avenue and
Monroe Street lived Mr. Horatio N. Heald, land
agent, one of the prominent men of that time.
On the northwest corner of Wabash and Monroe
was a house — originally a frame house, but a brick

Monroe
Building Site

Williams
Building Site

Maison
Doree

Goddard
Building Site

27

Windsor- house was later erected — owned by Mr. Joel C.
Clifton Walter of the Board of Trade, who rented it to Mr.
Hotel R0gers 0f Walter & Rogers, coal dealers at the corner
of Monroe and Market Streets.
James Carter, the father of Leslie Carter, later
lived in this corner brick house.
Mr. Walter himself lived right back (west) of the
corner house, on the corner of the alley on the north
side of Monroe Street.
Dr. Gibbs Just west of Mr. Heald, across the street (on the
south side of Monroe, west of Wabash) and on the
corner of the alley, lived Mr. John S. Gould, who had a
shoe shop (No. 38 Monroe); while just west of him
lived Dr. Aaron Gibbs, dentist, who came here in
1845 and was one of the active anti-slavery men in
the city during the Fifties.
Clairvoyants Across the alley, east of State Street, lived a clair
voyant. The only information which we have been
able to definitely establish regarding her, from reliable
witnesses (men) is that she was good-looking!
Between this clairvoyant and the southeast corner
of State and Monroe Streets was another clairvoyant,
Madam Canfield.
Palmer On the southeast corner of State and Monroe
House Streets lived the George Anderson family.
De Jonghe On the north side of Monroe Street, between
Hotel Wabash and State Streets, west of the alley, lived Asa
Woodcock, commission merchant on South Water
Street.
Mentor On the northeast corner of State and Monroe
Building Streets stood a little frame bakery.
On the northwest corner of State and Monroe
Streets stood the brick grocery store of W. F. McLaugh-

28

lin, who later sold his grocery business to Dr. Levi D.
Boone's sons, while he himself went into the coffee
and spice business.
Dr. Boone was Mayor in 1855. He made the first
appointment of a detective in Chicago by appointing
Allan Pinkerton.
George Boomer had a blacksmith shop where the
Majestic Theater now stands (71 Monroe), and Henry
Brinkworth a pork shop next west (73 Monroe).
On the southwest corner of State and Monroe
Streets stood J. D. Pain's brick drug store; and di
rectly west were the two-story brick stables of the
American Express Company.
Isaac W. and Dean Bangs, stove manufacturers,
occupied the property next west of the Express Com
pany's property.
West of Bangs Brothers, at what was then the end
of Dearborn Street, stood a boarding-house and saloon
kept by Silas C. Lum.
Next west to the Post Office (northwest corner
Monroe and Dearborn), in a red brick building, was
a saloon, kept by Thomas C. Grayson.
A few doors west of Grayson's, at 121-7 Monroe
Street, was the second-hand book store and news
depot of Bamford & Baldwin.
On the northeast corner of Clark and Monroe
Streets was the Eureka Saloon, kept by Augustus
Dickerson. On the southeast corner of Monroe and LaSalle
Streets, where the Borland Building now stands,
lived Charles Schaefer.
Freeman M. Williams, a carpenter, lived at 173
Monroe Street and apparently also kept a boarding-
house there.

NorthAmericanBuilding

Majestic Theater

PikeBuilding Site

American Trust
Building
Borland Building

29

Sinai
Congregation and Temple

First
Couple
Married

Dr. Hirsch

At 183 Monroe Street, east of Wells, was a saloon
kept by a notorious colored man by the name of Steve
Stamp. CTIn the fall of 1860 there was a strong reform move-
<-^ment among the Jews in Chicago, and a considerable
number of members of the older congregations with
drew and formed the Sinai Congregation.
Their first temple was a one-story frame building,
about 50 feet wide and 80 feet deep, on the north side
of Monroe Street, just east of where LaSalle Street
was later opened through.
This building was originally erected for Trinity
Episcopal Church on Madison Street. It was moved
to its location on Monroe Street for the Sinai Congre
gation, who leased it from Benjamin Lombard, Presi
dent of the Real Estate Loan & Trust Company, in
1861. The building was dedicated as Sinai Temple
on June 21, 1861.
Mr. Joseph L. Gatzert, of 111 West Monroe Street,
and his wife were the first couple that were married in
this first temple of the Sinai Congregation.
The regular Saturday services were conducted in
this building by the congregation until 1863, when
larger quarters were secured on the northwest corner of
Van Buren and Dearborn Streets.
This large and prosperous congregation is now
housed in the imposing temple on the southwest corner
of Grand Boulevard and 46th Street.
Dr. Emil G. Hirsch has presided over the congre
gation since July, 1880.
The testimony of the early settlers consulted differs
as to whether the first frame temple, after LaSalle
Street was opened through, was located on the

30

£<&&*

SUNDAY IN THE EARLY DAYS

31

Winter
Garden
Theater

Minstrel Head-
auarters

Marline's
Dance Hall

Central
Trust Site
in the
Fifties

northwest or on the northeast corner of LaSalle and
Monroe Streets.
^JTOn the northwest corner of Clark and Monroe
^Streets, before the Fire, stood a brick building, the
lower floor of which was occupied by a saloon, pawn
broker shop and barber shop, the upper part being
known as the Winter Garden Theater (named after a
popular New York theater of that day).
The upper floor was also used as Democratic
headquarters, and was sometimes referred to as Demo
cratic Hall.
The property was originally owned by Solomon
Witkowsky, and during the later Fifties and early
Sixties the hall was known as Witkowsky Hall.
This hall appears to have been minstrel head
quarters in those days, as the city directories locate
a minstrel company there with J. H. Haverly as
manager; while Billy Arlington, who was then a fa
mous minstrel and played there repeatedly, became so
closely identified with the place that it was frequently
referred to in the prints of that time as Arlington
Hall. ^TTUpstairs, on the corner diagonally opposite the
*-^ Winter Garden Theater, i. e., the southeast corner
of Monroe and Clark Streets, there was located, before
the Fire, a very popular dancing hall, conducted by
Mr. J. Edwin Martine.
CPThe picture on the opposite page represents two
«-*Mrame buildings which occupied the present site
of the Central Trust Company of Illinois. They were
burned down in the fire of 1871.
The building on the right was erected in 1833 and
was moved on this lot in 1835.

32

RESIDENCE OF FERNANDO JONES (at the left)
Both of the above frame houses stood on the lot now occupied by the Central Trust Company of
Illinois until they were destroyed by the Fire of 1871

Site of Central Trust
Company of Illinois

Through the courtesy of
Mr. Frank W. Smith

33

Fernando Jones' Home

Old
Post Office

Dr. Dyer's Home

Honest
Construction

The building on the left was erected in 1850 and
was moved on this lot in 1855. From 1856 to 1868 it
was the residence of Fernando Jones, one of the early
settlers of Chicago.
^[T According to the city maps of 1865, the First Ward
^*at that time extended from the River south to the
center of Monroe Street, while the Second Ward
extended south from the center of Monroe Street to the
center of Harrison Street.
CPThe opposite picture shows the Post Office and Cus-
*-^tom House, which stood on the northwest corner of
Dearborn and Monroe Streets in the Sixties. The
main entrances were on Dearborn Street. There
was an alley on the west and north sides of this build
ing, running in the shape of an L, from Monroe Street
to Dearborn Street. At the angle of this alley Andrews'
Restaurant flourished for several years.
The site upon which the Post Office was built was
formerly occupied by Dr. C. V. Dyer as a residence.
Dr. Dyer received $26,000 from the Government for
his home.
An appropriation for this Post Office was made by
Congress in 1855 in the amount of $84,000. By the time
the building was finished, in 1860, instead of costing
$84,000, as originally contemplated, it cost $243,000.
It was opened for business on November 23, 1860.
The building appears to have been very sub
stantially constructed. Henry A. Hurlbut, in his
Chicago Antiquities, quotes as follows from an editorial
in the Chicago Times in 1881 regarding the Post Office:
"It was erected before the era of public robbery set
in, and consequently it was substantial to a degree
unknown in this age and generation of public works.

34

THE POST OFFICE AND CUSTOM HOUSE
Located, before the Fire, on the corner where the First National Bank now stands

From an old colored etching, through the
courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society

35

Light vs. ... Had it not been for the fact that the iron shutters
Protection on the west side of the building had been taken off to
give more light in the lower stories, it would have with
stood the fury of the flames on that fearful October
day" [October 9, 1871].
Henry A. Hurlbut, who was a witness of the
demolition of these walls, goes on to say in his book
that, when the walls were finally removed in August,
1881, to make room for the brick building erected at
that time on this site by the First National Bank:
"Every block or parcel of material removed proclaims
HONEST MATERIAL and HONEST LABOR."
The number of clerks employed in the Post Office
in 1866 was 106. Today the number of clerks is 3,931
and the number of carriers 2,069, making a total of
6,000 employes.
^TPDr. Dyer (see p. 34) appears to have been one of
<-^the sturdy old settlers of Chicago. His name appears
in the City Directory of 1839 as City Physician.
Those who knew him represent him as having been a
bluff, hearty gentleman of the old school who was very
strong in his likes and dislikes and very free to ex
press them, but fair and square as a man could be.
He was often consulted by real estate attorneys
on account of his intimate knowledge of land conditions
about Chicago, derived from his constant trips with
his horse and gig to patients out in the country.
The Doctor's Upon one occasion a neighbor remarked to Dr.
Fence Dyer that his fence did not look so white that spring
as usual. The Doctor, who was a prominent aboli
tionist, promptly replied that the reason for it was that
there were not so many travelers that spring over the
Underground Railroad from the South to Canada who
could do a good job of white-washing.

Some of
Dr. Dyer's Traits

36

Asm ef^ ^ ~.r.
^ 's

THE DOCTOR AND HIS HORSE AND GIG

37

Lombard C3TAt 105"7 Monroe Street, just west of the Post
Block ^Office Building, across the alley, as shown on the
picture on page 35, stood the handsome Lombard Block
before the fire. This block was built of marble, and
was almost of the same size as the Post Office.
The Real Estate Loan & Trust Company, of which
Mr. Benjamin Lombard was President, had its offices
in this building. The first secret service office in
Chicago also had its quarters in the Lombard Block.
Bessie flTMr. William P. Campbell, who is now the manager
Piatt Jk0f the Central Trust Company of Illinois Safe
Deposit Vaults, in 1868 boarded diagonally across the
street (toward the east) from the present location of
the bank on Monroe street in a two-story frame
boarding-house kept by Miss Bessie Piatt.
From the sidewalk he had to go down three or four
steps to a board walk leading to the house. After the
fire of 1871 all buildings were constructed at grade.
^JTA fire insurance atlas of 1869, in the Historical
^Society's archives, shows the Eastman National
Business College located in a three-story building
on the northeast corner of Clark and Monroe
Streets. This college at that time was reported to have
about 1500 pupils, and was the western branch of the
eastern institution at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., H. G.
Eastman, L. L. D., President.
Knights of ^JTThe first lodge of the Knights of Pythias in Chicago
Pythias J^was Welcome Lodge No. 1, which held its meet
ings, in 1869, and from then on until the Great Fire,
in the Grand Lodge Hall located on the top floor of
the three-story and high-basement brick building at
151-3 Monroe Street, directly across the street from

38

AN AUCTION SALE OF HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE

See next page

39

Knights of
Pythias

Catholic Library

Sidelights from
Newspaper Ads

Madam Ross

the present location of the Central Trust Company
of Illinois. The Knights of Pythias at that time had rented
the two upper floors of the building, using the top
floor themselves and subletting the floor below to
the Catholic Library Association.
The City Directory of 1870-1 shows that the
Grand Lodge Hall was used on Thursday evenings
by Welcome Lodge No. 1, on Tuesday evenings by
Board of Trade Lodge No. 4, and on Wednesday
evenings by Cosmopolitan Lodge No. 6.
The Grand Lodge Hall on Monroe Street was de
stroyed by the Great Fire. The lodges moved into a
new Grand Lodge Hall, in 1873, at the northwest
corner of LaSalle and Adams Streets.
S Among the very few display advertisements in the
newspapers in the Sixties having reference to any
business or occupation of any kind on Monroe Street,
the Chicago Tribune, under date of May 11, 1869,
contained an announcement of an auction sale of
"household furniture, pianoforte, linen, china, glass
and effects of a large boarding-house of 21 rooms, at
100 Monroe St., opposite the Post Office" (then at
the northwest corner of Dearborn and Monroe Streets).
Another advertisement in 1869 announces that
Madam Ross, at 143 Monroe Street, near Clark, is
"the only real scientific astrologist in the West . . .
will unfold the hidden mysteries of the past, present
and future . . . will bring together those long sep
arated and cause speedy marriages."
^jTMonroe Street was still outside of the business
^center in 1870. There were a number of boarding-
houses on the street before the Fire, and some of the

40

THE NIGHT OF THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE

These walls of the Court House were saved

41

Rooming Places

The Chicago Fire

Boarding- house
Avenue

business buildings above the first stories were ar
ranged for sleeping rooms.
On the southeast corner of Monroe and Dearborn
Streets, for instance, there was such a five-story brick
building, stone front, before the Fire, known as the
Shepard Block. The building had no elevators.
On the night of the Great Fire three young men,
one of whom was Herbert Darlington of Fred S.
James & Company, were sleeping in rooms on an
upper floor of this building. Mr. Darlington heard
the noise of the engines dashing past the building,
and got up to see what was the matter. He saw
the sheets of flame and showers of fire-brands that
at that hour of the night had just reached the river
at Harrison Street. Driven by a strong southwest
wind, the embers had already set fire to some of the
buildings on this side of the river.
He hastily dressed and went out to get a nearer
look at the fire, but promptly returned and woke up
his companions. "We had better get out of this in a
hurry," he told them, "for it looks as if the whole
thing is going to burn down."
His judgment in the matter was correct, for it
took but a very short time for the fire to reach that
corner and consume the entire building.
flTAs already appears from references in these notes,
•J^Monroe Street was quite a boarding-house street in
the later Fifties and in the Sixties.
The City Directory of 1859-60 gives the following
boarding-houses on Monroe Street, besides those men
tioned elsewhere in these pages:
Nancy Bishop, No. 71; Young & Van Evera, No.
75; Kate Barmore, No. 88; Caroline Amberg, No. 117;

42

THE SHEPARD BLOCK
Located on Southeast Corner Dearborn and Monroe before the Fire

From a photograph, through
the courtesy of Mr. C. R. Clark

43

Site of North
American Building

Majestic
Theater Site

Harris
Trust Site

Wm. Sinclair, No. 118; Aurelia Valiant, No. 175;
J. B. Sontag, No. 185.
0*A copy of The Underwriters' Association of Chi-
^cago Publication under date of March 1, 1871, (in
the possession of Herbert Darlington) shows the fol
lowing business addresses on Monroe Street at that
time: 65-9, on the north side of Monroe Street, corner of
State Street, Campbell, McNellis & Campbell, linens;
and Illinois Soap Stone Stove Co. Saloon in basement.
71 Monroe, north side of street, corner of the alley,
between State and Dearborn Streets— R. H. Countiss,
retail grocery. Boomer's horseshoeing shop on the
rear of the same lot.
73 Monroe Street — Packing house of Henry Brink-
worth. 72-4 Monroe Street— American Express Co.'s
stables. Before the fire these stables were located
on the corner of the alley on the south side of Monroe
Street, between State and Dearborn, where their
offices stand today.
Rear of No. 75 — Steam bakery of Blake, Warren &
Co. 88 Monroe Street— Mrs. McClure's Laundry.
139-41, on the north side of the street, just west of
the corner of Clark Street— Marder Luse & Co., type
founders. 140-2 Monroe Street— Frank Sturges & Co., metals
and tinners' stock.
151-3 Monroe Street — Offices and rooms of the
Catholic Library (opposite present location of Cen
tral Trust Company of Illinois).

44

ife£s«4*

THE EXPOSITION BUILDING
This building stood on the Lake Front from 1873 to 1892

Site of the present Art Institute.
From an old Architectural Drawing

45

North's 180-2, on the south side of Monroe Street, between
Circus Site LaSalle and Wells (Fifth Avenue) Streets— R. P.
Appleby's Steam Picture Frame Factory.
184-6 Monroe Street, in the same block, near Wells
Street (Fifth Avenue)— H. E. Robinson, Agent, Steam
Flour Mill.
The two foregoing addresses were in a brick build
ing located on the old site of North's Circus.
On the north side of Monroe Street, in the rear of
No. 185, on the corner of the alley between LaSalle
and Wells (Fifth Avenue) Streets— Tobacco Factory of
John Watt.
205-7, on the north side of Monroe Street, at the
intersection of Wells Street (Fifth Avenue)— Stables
of the United States Express Co.
226 Monroe Street, between Wells (Fifth Avenue)
and Market Streets, south side of street— Brown Bros.,
Vaults and Lights.
228-30, south side of street, on the corner of Market
Street— Chicago Gas Light & Coke Co.'s works.
247-9 Monroe Street— John V. Farwell Co.
Exposition ^TTIn 1873 there was erected on the Lake Front an
Building ^Exposition Building, intended, originally, for an
annual exposition of industrial products of Illinois and
adjoining states. This building covered the block from
Monroe Street to Adams Street, between Michigan
Avenue and the Illinois Central tracks. Among the
principal promoters and contributors were Cyrus H.
McCormick, Potter Palmer and R. T. Crane.
The Common Council granted permission to the
company to use the Lake Front for one year, and
periodically extended this permit. The Exposition
lost money at first, but became self-sustaining in 1877.

46

.< w ¦ l

I

GRAND OPERA IN CHICAGO IN 1885
47

Troubles When the company paid its first dividend, the
Begin Common Council demanded rent. A long period of
tribulation then set in, the Common Council demand
ing $15,000 a year and back rent amounting to $90,000.
This rent question was finally settled in 1885 by the
payment of an annual rental of $1,000 to the city.
Theodore Beginning in 1877, Theodore Thomas gave a series
Thomas of summer night concerts in this building.
In April, 1885, the Chicago Opera Festival Associa
tion constructed an immense auditorium in the build
ing, seating 10,000 people, and gave a successful
season of opera at popular prices.
The Exposition Building was finally taken down to
make room for the Art Institute, erected in 1892.
CTIn February, 1874, the Baltimore & Ohio Railway
«-^ which at that time obtained an entrance to the city
over the Illinois Central Railroad tracks, rented the
northeast corner of the old Exposition Building.
Access to this depot was obtained through an en
trance to the Exposition Building on Michigan Avenue,
leading through a long hallway alongside the Monroe
Street wall of the building.
The railroad used this depot until 1877, at which
time they built a brick station just across the street,
on the north side of Monroe Street, adjoining the
Illinois Central tracks.
The B. & O. Railroad occupied this depot until
1880, when they moved to the Grand Central Station,
on Harrison Street.
Music ^JTMusic festivals were important events in Chicago
Festivals ^ after the Fire.
The second music festival, or jubilee, as it was then
called, was held in 1876 in the Moody and Sankey
Tabernacle on Monroe Street.

Baltimore & Ohio
Railway Depot

48

This jubilee was held under the joint auspices of
the Apollo Club and Theodore Thomas. Myron W.
Whitney and Anna Louise Carey were among the
soloists. The Moody and Sankey Tabernacle was erected
on the south side of Monroe Street, in the center of
the block between Franklin and Market Streets, in
1876. The tabernacle was a two-story building with a
temporary roof. It seated 8,000 people.
In 1877, after the tabernacle ceased to be used for
religious and musical purposes, the roof was removed
and three stories were added. The building was then
fitted up for six stores, and can readily be distinguished
today by the iron columns along the entire first story
front. ^JPThe five-story stone building still standing on the
^southwest corner of Franklin and Monroe Streets
was then occupied by Sweet & Dempster, hats and
caps. Before the Fire this same corner was occupied by
the saloon and hotel conducted there for many years
by Jake Wolfner.
^JT Among some of the more important buildings that
^were erected on Monroe Street soon after the great
fire in 1871 were the following (our information being
derived partly from the files of The Land Owner of that
time; from Rebuilt Chicago, 1873, by Wing & Com
pany; from Industrial Chicago, Goodspeed Pub
lishing Company; and partly from recollections of
owners and tenants) :
1. The Bryan Block— four stories and high base
ment, on the northwest corner of LaSalle and Monroe
Streets. Among the tenants of this building at that

Moody
and Sankey Tabernacle

After the
Fire

49

Northern Trust Site

Fort
Dearborn Building

Pike
Building

First
Fireproof Building

Stood the
Test

time were the Northwestern Insurance Company and
the Globe Insurance Company of Chicago.
Dr. Bryan had completed an office building on this
corner only a few months before the fire, which en
tirely destroyed it, and he at once rebuilt.
2. The Foot Block, on the southwest corner of
Clark and Monroe Streets. The first floor of this build
ing was occupied by H. H. Husted & Company,
clothiers, who had been in business here since 1843.
3. The southwest corner of State and Monroe
Streets, a full five-story stone and iron building erected
by E. S. Pike. The first floor was occupied by N.
Matson & Company, jewelers, and the upper floors
by A. H. Andrews & Company, school and office fur
niture. This building is still standing.
4. At the time of the Great Fire, in 1871, the north
east corner of Monroe and LaSalle Streets, now the
site of the New York Life Building, was occupied by
the first fireproof building ever built in Chicago, known
as the Nixon Building. It was not yet finished, but
was already under roof.
The building was so little damaged by the fire that
it was finished one week after the fire and occupied at
once by leading architects and business men. It was
four stories high above a high basement, and after the
fire it bore an inscription on both faces of the stone
pier at the corner, reading as follows:
"This fireproof building is the only one in the city
that successfully stood the test of the Great Fire of
October 9, 1871."
The building was erected by W. K. Nixon, who had
come here from Cincinnati nine years previous to the
Fire. Among the occupants in 1873 were:

50

THE HONORE BLOCK BEFORE THE FIRE
Southwest Corner Monroe and Dearborn, and extending to Adams Street

In the distance, the Bigelow House (S. W.
Corner Adams and Dearborn), destroyed in
the Great Fire of 1871, on the very day
it was to have been thrown open to the pub
lic. Courtesy of Mr. C. R. Clark

51

Tenants in 1871

Elgin
Watch
Company

Birthplace of Central
Trust Com
pany of
Illinois

Otto H. Matz, the architect of the building; W. H.
Cunningham, insurance offices; Ogden, Sheldon & Co.;
Goodrich, Farmer & Co., fire insurance; Leopold Mayer,
banker; and Ogden & Scudder, real estate loans.
5. The American Express Company on the south
side of Monroe Street, near State Street.
This building, erected immediately after the Fire,
had five stories and a high mansard roof. H. H.
Richardson, the noted Boston architect, contributed
the front of this building as his ideal of American style.
On the first floor the Express Company occupied 37 by
70 feet. The remainder of the front on that floor was
occupied by two stores. The entire rear of the building
was given up to the Express Company's purposes.
Above the Express Company's quarters was the
National (Elgin) Watch Company.
This building was remodelled in 1896 by the re
moval of the high mansard roof and addition of two
more stories.
6. On the southwest corner of Monroe and Dear
born Streets stood one of the Honore Buildings, later
known as the Howland Block, with a frontage of 50
feet on Monroe Street and 190 feet on Dearborn Street.
This building was erected upon the same site where
it had stood before the Fire. It was five stories high,
with basement, and was built of Cleveland stone.
In the Seventies it was almost exclusively occupied
by real estate men, the first floor being tenanted by
Gallup & Peabody, mortgage bankers, who dealt in
city and farm loans.
This building was the birthplace of the Central
Trust Company of Illinois, which opened its doors
there July 8, 1902.

52

THE HOWLAND BLOCK
Southwest Corner Monroe and Dearborn Street
This picture was taken just before the building was wrecked to make room for the
Westminster Building which now occupies this corner

From a photograph, through
the courtesy of Mr. C. R. Clark

53

A bold
Move

Part of
Farwell
Building Still
Standing

Majestic Theater Site

7. The John V. Farwell Company moved to Monroe
Street, west, just after the Fire from the corner of
Wabash Avenue and Washington Street. They built
and occupied a large five-story building with frontage
on Monroe Street, west of Franklin Street.
This move so far west caused great excitement at
the time in the real estate and mercantile world, and
caused a sudden rise in the value of land in that
section. The five-story business block still standing on the
northeast corner of Market and Monroe Streets is part
of the block built and occupied by the John V. Farwell
Company in the early Seventies.
The original building erected by them immediately
after the Fire occupied 40 feet in about the center of the
block; but they soon built on both sides, until they
built up and occupied the entire block on the north
side of Monroe Street, from Franklin to Market
Streets. 8. The Cleaveland Building, on the southeast corner
of Market and Monroe Streets, built by James O.
Cleaveland in the summer of 1872. The building was
five stories high and was occupied by Cleaveland &
Johnson, hats, caps and furs.
9. The Royal Palm, 71 Monroe Street (between
State and Dearborn), built in the latter part of 1872.
This building was four stories high and was occupied,
on the ground floor, by a sample room, and upstairs
by a billiard room. It was owned by John Garrick
and S. L. Cather.
An enthusiastic writer in The Land Owner of
January, 1873, describing the Royal Palm, says of it:
"Paris in the palmy and gorgeous days of the empire
never boasted of such apartments."

54

CJT10. A picture of the present Palmer House in the
^course of erection is shown in The Land Owner of
May, 1873. The picture represents work going on at
night by the aid of powerful calcium lights. The
building was then up six stories and ready for the roof.
The writer, in describing the work of construction,
says, among other things: "Mr. Palmer appeared every
where with his large lantern and cheered the men."
Prior to the Great Fire the Palmer House stood on
the northwest corner of State and Quincy Streets
(present site Consumers Building), where it was erected
in 1869-70. The hotel on the southeast corner of State and
Monroe Streets had been begun by Mr. Palmer before
the Fire. The excavation had been made and the
foundation was in at the time of the Great Fire in Octo
ber, 1871.
11. The Clifton House building, on the northwest
corner of Wabash Avenue and Monroe Street, built in
1872 (still standing). This building was occupied at
first by the Clifton Hotel, the name being afterwards
changed to the Windsor-Clifton. The hotel occupies
all five of the floors above the first, which is given up
to stores.
C]*12. The Williams Building, southeast corner of
*-^ Monroe and Wabash. This building was erected
about 1876 on the site of the old Williams homestead,
which later became the Maison Doree, ladies' restau
rant. (See page 27.)
The first floor was specially arranged for the
Gossage Dry Goods House, with a large entrance on
Monroe Street, but, by the time the building was com
pleted, Mr. Gossage for some reason refused to occupy
the place.

Palmer
House

FirstPalmerHouse

Old
MaisonDoree Site

55

The building has a frontage of 160 feet on Wabash
Avenue, and 120 feet of this frontage was occupied in
1879 by O. R. Keith & Company, later succeeded by
Edson Edson Keith & Company, the wholesale millinery
Keith & house now located on Michigan Avenue. A year or
Company two jater j^son Keith & Company took the remaining
40 feet, paying an annual rental of $20,000 for the entire
building. Edson Keith & Company remained in this building
until January 1, 1900.
Chicago ^jT13. The Chicago Club moved into its new club
Club CJlhouse at 43-5 Monroe Street in August, 1876. In
1879 a memorable banquet was given to Gen. U. S.
Grant in this club house. .
In 1893 the club moved into the olcf Art Institute
Building, southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and
Van Buren Street, where they have been located ever
since.
De Jonghe's The Monroe Street building is still standing and is
Hotel now occupied by De Jonghe's Hotel.
The lot on the northeast corner of State and Monroe
Streets, upon the rear of which this building stands,
was sold by the Commissioners of the Illinois and
Michigan Canal in 1848 for $3,190. It had a frontage
of 76 feet on State Street and 170 feet on Monroe Street.
Canal In 1827 the U. S. Government granted 284,000
Lots acres of land to the State of Illinois, to enable it to
build the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The land lay
along both sides of the proposed canal, from Chicago to
Ottawa. Canal commissioners were appointed, who sur
veyed and laid out the original Town of Chicago and
proceeded to sell off the granted land, including that
located in and about Chicago, known as Canal Lots.

56

CT14. Shortly after the Fire, Edwin Walker, a stone
^contractor, erected a four-story, brick building (still
standing) at the northwest corner of Monroe and Clark
Streets. The lower floor of the building was occupied
by a pawnbroker shop and saloon, and the upper floors
were used for lodging purposes.
During the Eighties all of the ground floor, except
the corner (a shoe store), was occupied as a saloon by
Mike McDonald, the well-known politician and
gambler, and the second floor was used for gambling
purposes. Mike McDonald's place was known, in
those days, as The Store.
During the later Eighties rooms on the upper
floors of this building were used for lodging purposes,
and as late as the middle of the Nineties were known
as the Hotel Ross, being conducted by a Mrs. Ross,
who was probably either the same Madam Ross who
is referred to at that location before the Fire as an
astrologist (see page 40), or some one of her kin.
In 1901 this building was sold to the Hamilton
Club, and at that time there was a saloon not only on
the ground floor, but also in the basement, which was
indicative of general conditions in that block on Clark
Street at that period.
The club added two stories to the building and
moved into it on April 1, 1902. They used the five
upper floors and the basement, subletting the ground
floor for stores. On May 1, 1912, the Hamilton Club
moved into its new clubhouse on Dearborn Street.
This building is now named after the Chicago
Transportation Association, which occupies the third
and fourth floors.
15. Crilly Building, northeast corner of Dearborn
and Monroe Streets (still standing).

Mike McDonald'sPlace

Hotel Ross

Homeof the
Hamilton Club

57

From an old wood cut

THE MONTAUK BUILDING
58

In 1878 Mr. D. F. Crilly, the well-known building
contractor, took a lease from the Board of Education
for this corner, which had remained vacant since the
Chicago Fire, in 1871.
Mr. Crilly put up a five-story building for the
J. M. W. Jones Printing Company. It was of sub
stantial construction on account of the heavy printing
presses. The north part of the building was occupied
by the Indianapolis Paper Company.
In 1888 the building was remodeled and two more
stories added.
In May, 1890, the Chicago Stock Exchange, deem
ing new and more convenient quarters necessary,
moved from the Chicago Opera House Block, where it
had been located since 1885, to this building, re
named, in its honor, the Stock Exchange Building.
Here a hall 40 by 60 feet was dedicated to its use,
located on the main floor on the east side of the build
ing. The north and west front of the ground floor was
rented to N. W. Harris & Company. The corner
was occupied by Edward L. Brewster, Private Banker;
and next to him on Dearborn Street was the office of
Charles Henrotin. The upstairs was divided into
offices for general purposes.
On April 30, 1894, the Exchange moved out of this
building to the new Stock Exchange Building, on
LaSalle and Washington Streets, and in April, 1908,
moved to its present quarters in the Rookery Building.
S16. The first tall building or so-called skyscraper
in the United States, as far as can be learned, was the
Montauk Building, on the north side of Monroe Street,
just west of the corner of Dearborn Street. The build
ing was ten stories high, and was finished in 1882.

Crilly
Building

Home of
Chicago
Stock
Exchange

MontaukBuilding

59

lifli'isEiia^Ei

RAND, McNALLY BUILDING
This building occupied the site of the Central Trust Company of Illinois
before the present bank building was erected

From an old wood cut

60

From an interesting letter by Mr. William
Holabird on the history of this building, we learn that
the erection of so tall a building at that time created
great excitement.
Mr. Holabird goes on to say: "Most people de
clared that they never would go up in such a high
building and we [Holabird & Roche] secured offices
under very favorable terms.
"Burnham & Root were the architects of the build
ing, and Mortimer & Tapper the mason contractors.
"The foundations were made of coursed rubble
stone or dimension stone, and alternate layers of rails
or beams — I have forgotten which, but I rather think
rails. The walls were solid masonry with iron col
umns, girders and floor beams; the columns and girders
covered with tile, and the floor arches of tile. This
was one of the first buildings where tile was used. . . .
"I remember there was such fear of the strength
of the wall that the flues, each office having a fireplace,
were contracted so that they never drew very well.
"It was certainly the highest building in Chicago
used for office purposes, and I think the highest build
ing anywhere in the U. S. It was removed, as the site
was used for part of the present First National Bank
Building." ^JPThe lot upon which the Central Trust Company
^•of Illinois' building now stands was cleared by the
Great Fire of 1871, and remained vacant until 1880,
when the building shown on the opposite page was
erected upon it and was occupied by Rand & McNally.
It was a five-story building in front and six stories
in the rear, with a light court about 40 feet wide
separating the two buildings.

Tenants
Timid
About
High Building

Present Site Central TrustCompany
of Illinois

61

Early
History of Art
in Chicago

Troublous Times

Beginning of Art
Institute

In 1891 Rand & McNally vacated this building, and
it was then occupied on the ground floor as a restaurant,
while the upper floors were taken by printers.
CPIn 1875 the Academy of Design, which was organ-
^ized about 1867, moved from the Volk Building, on
the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Van
Buren Street, into the fifth floor of the Pike Building,
on the southwest corner of State and Monroe
Streets. For about a year and a half the affairs of the
Academy went along smoothly, but it appears that,
owing to dull business and other reasons, the number
of pupils fell off and the Academy got into financial
difficulties. A board of twenty-five managing trustees was then
chosen among prominent business men to manage
the affairs of the Academy, but dissension crept in
again after about a year, and the trustees withdrew.
The creditors thereupon foreclosed their claims,
and the effects of the Academy were sold at sheriff's
sale. The pictures and other effects of the Academy
which had been purchased at sheriff's sale became the
nucleus of the present Art Institute, which was incor
porated May 24, 1879, as the Academy of Fine Arts,
and continued to occupy the quarters in the Pike
Building. Its name was changed December 21, 1882,
to the Art Institute of Chicago.
Under the capable management of W. M. R.
French,* who is still Director of the Art Institute, and
of N. H. Carpenter, who was then, and is still, its
Secretary, the Institute began at once to prosper. Mr.
French had also been Secretary of the Academy of
Fine Arts for one year.
•Mr. French died June 3, 1914.

62

In 1882 the Art Institute purchased the lot on the
southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Van Buren
Street, where they later erected a building for their
purposes, now occupied by the Chicago Club.
The Academy of Design was considerably dis
couraged but not entirely disheartened by the sheriff's
sale of its effects and started up again, in a small way,
on the third floor of the American Express Company's
building on Monroe Street; but the school was finally
discontinued in 1884.
All of the surviving members of the old Academy
of Design have been made life members of the Art
Institute. ^TT After the Fire the old Post Office Building on the
^northwest corner of Dearborn and Monroe Streets,
the walls of which were still intact, was fitted up as a
theater by John H. Haverly and called the New
Adelphi. It was opened January 11, 1875, and was
the largest theater, till then, erected in Chicago.
The walls of the building showed the ravages of the
Great Fire and were one of the interesting sights to the
tourist stopping in Chicago in those days.
The appointments of the theater were rather
shabby, but in the summer of 1878 Haverly entirely
reconstructed and redecorated the theater, among
other things removing the traces of the fire from the
outside walls.
It was in this rehabilitated theater that Colonel
Mapleson gave his first seasons of Italian opera in
Chicago, in 1879-80-81.
In 1882 Haverly's lease expired, and the property
was leased to the First National Bank, whose building
now occupies that corner.

First Art
Institute Building

Old Post
Office Used as
Theater

Col.
Mapleson and GrandOpera

63

Site of the Inter-Ocean Building

HAVERLY'S THEATER IN 1882

64

By courtesy of the
Chicago Historical Society

CJTMr. Haverly built a new theater in 1882 almost Haverly 's
^-^ across the street from his old location, where the Theater
Inter-Ocean Building now stands. This theater was
opened by Robson and Crane in Shakespeare's
"Twelfth Night."
In 1885 the name of the theater was changed to
the Columbia Theater, this name having been sug
gested by Miss Ellen Terry, who was playing in the
house at the time with Henry Irving.
The theater itself was burned down in 1900.
^[PColonel Haverly appears to have been an ambitious, "Jack"
•-^untiring genius, whose extensive theatrical ventures Haverly
in some of the largest cities in the country did not seem
to suffice to absorb all his energies. He provided the
City of Chicago with high-grade entertainment, and
deserves great credit for the risks he was willing to
take in order to provide the best.
He was a liberal contributor to the leading charities
of the city and was personally very popular. He
naturally became over-extended and suffered heavy
financial reverses, losing most of his theaters, after
which he established Haverly's Mastodon Minstrels.
"Jack" Haverly, being by nature a good deal of a Race-track
plunger, quite naturally took to the racetrack and to and Gold
mines. Cook, in his Bygone Days in Chicago, says of Mines
him: "For a long time 'Jack' literally stormed the
betting ring. He headed every auction pool (book-
making at this time was unknown in Chicago), usually
with a cool thousand."
And further on, speaking of his promotions, Cook
says: "The gold mines that he did not own in Colo
rado and Utah about this time were scarcely worth
mentioning."

65

MONROE STREET IN THE 80's.

View looking west from Clark
Street. From an old engraving

66

CfTOn Monday evening, November 27, 1876, the
p>Apollo Club, which had been established in 1872,
threw open for public inspection its new quarters in
the American Express Company Building, on Monroe
Street. The club remained in these quarters until Central
Music Hall (southeast corner of State and Randolph
Streets) was opened in 1879.
^ITIn the Eighties Monroe Street was the center of the
«-^paper, printing and kindred trades. While the print
ing trade has drifted south and likewise many of the
paper houses, every paper house handling fine writing
papers had its business home upon Monroe Street in
those days.
Most of the typefounders, either past or present,
of any importance, have been located at one time or
another on Monroe Street, between Clark and Franklin
Streets; among them: The American Type Founders
Company, Barnhart Bros. & Spindler, and the old
houses of S. P. Rounds and Marder Luse & Com
pany. ^JT Among the printers whose offices were upon Monroe
^Street, the following were located upon the present
site of the Central Trust Company of Illinois, 125
West Monroe Street (then occupied by the Rand-
McNally Building):
Rand, McNally & Co. Goes Lithographing Co.
Hollister Bros. Harmegnies & Howell.
Pettibone, Wells & Co., later P. F. Pettibone & Co.
Located next door east in the six-story Taylor
Building (the present site of the Harris Trust & Savings
Bank), were, among others, the following well-known
printing houses:

The
Apollo Club

Head
quarters
for Printing
and Paper
Business

Harris Trust
Building Site

67

STURGES LOT WAITING FOR A BUYER

68

R. R. Donnelley & Sons. Geo. E. Marshall & Co.,
S. D. Childs & Co. later Marshall- Jack-
Juergens Bros. son Co.
Other prominent printers, located at that time on
Monroe Street, between Clark and Franklin Streets,
were:

Inland Printer Publishing
Co.
H. S. Tiffany & Co.
Donohue & Henneberry.
Barrett's Bindery.
J. J. Hanlon Co.
Shattock & McKay.
Hale-Crossley Co.
Herschman & Cardy.
J. B. Huling.

Law Bulletin Publishing
Co.
Blomgren Bros. & Co.
Chicago Legal News Co.
Jefferson Theater Pro
gram Co.
Pereira Bros.
Rayner & Dalheim Co.
Schulkins & Co.
H. O. Shepard Co.

^TT Among the large paper houses located on Monroe
^Street was the J. W. Butler Paper Company, whose
business was started in 1841 at St. Charles, 111.
The company opened its Chicago house in 1844,
and moved on Monroe Street in 1869. They have
occupied their present building at 221 West Monroe
Street since 1875.
The 90-foot lot upon which stands their present
building was sold on July 2, 1836, by the State of
Illinois to Clements Stose for $82, and was sold on
March 17, 1868, by Clements Stose to Brown Bros, for
$25,000. S Another old established paper house is Bradner
Smith & Company, which has been in business in
Chicago since 1852. They moved on Monroe Street
soon after the Fire, and are now located at 175 West
Monroe Street.

Other
Printers

Well-known
PaperHouses

Early Real Estate
Values

69

Historic Site

Iroquois Club

Land that
Kept on
Going Up

This old paper house occupies the west half of the
historic site upon which stood North's Circus, that
furnished entertainment to so many of Chicago's
citizens in the Fifties.
^JTThe Iroquois Club, now located at 21 North LaSalle
«-*^Street, was born on Monroe Street. It started origi
nally as the Chicago Democratic Club in the Reading
Room of the Palmer House in 1880, and held its busi
ness meetings there for several months.
In October, 1881, the name of the club was changed
to the Iroquois Club; and in December of that year
they took permanent quarters on the third floor of
Haverly's Theater, on Monroe Street.
In 1886 the growing membership made it necessary
for them to occupy all space in that building above the
ground floor, the name of the theater having been
changed at that time to Columbia Theater.
^JTAn interesting sidelight on the fortunes in real
^estate on Monroe Street in the early days is con
tained in the history of the 90-foot lot next east to
that now occupied by the Central Trust Company of
Illinois. As stated on page 44, this lot was occupied before
the Fire by Frank Sturges & Company, metals and
tinners' stock. After the destruction of this property
in the Great Fire in 1871, George Sturges, who was later
President of the Northwestern National Bank, had to
take the lot from his brother Frank, to whom he had
previously made some advances.
Mr. George Sturges was not partial to real estate
as an investment, preferring to have his investments in
more liquid form; and he therefore allowed the lot to
remain vacant, covered for a long time with the debris
of the fire.

70

BATTERY D ARMORY ON THE LAKE FRONT
(See description on pages 72 and 74)

From a photograph, through the
courtesy of Mr. C. R. Clark

71

Waiting
for Some Fool

Second
Thoughts

Battery D
Armory

Art
Institute Used
Battery D

When asked by his friends what he intended to do
with the lot, he replied: "Oh, I am waiting until some
fool comes along who wants it more than I do."
However, when a prospective purchaser did come
along and inquired whether he could buy the lot for
$50,000, Mr. Sturges said: "Oh, no. If you had said
$75,000 I might think it over."
It appears that the purchaser likewise wanted to
think it over, and, after about six months, came back,
saying that while he considered it a heavy price, he
thought he might be able to use it for $75,000. Mr.
Sturges then told him that he had changed his mind in
the last six months and the price was now $100,000.
That sale did not go through. However, Mr.
Sturges did sell the property, in the latter half of the
Seventies, to Mr. John Borden for $100,000.
Mr. Borden held the property until August, 1909,
when he sold it for approximately a million dollars !
^TTBattery D Armory was erected on the Lake Front
^Mn 1880, and fronted on the north line of Monroe
Street. This battery was started by some Civil War
veterans as an independent organization as a result of
the great riots of 1877, but was later incorporated into
the Illinois National Guard, although the building was
never taken over by the state. At that time its
armament consisted of four 12-pound Napoleons, two
6-pounders and a gatling gun.
Aside from its military uses, the building was
frequently used for public meetings and entertainments.
The Art Institute classes were held in Battery D
for a while, in 1882-3, pending the completion of the
Art Institute Building, southwest corner of Michigan
Avenue and Van Buren Street.

72

.

-.-MSr

TEMPORARY POST OFFICE ON THE LAKE FRONT
On the former site of Battery D

From a photograph, through
courtesy of Mr. C. R. Clark

73

Art
Versus
Boxing

Temporary
Post Office

Chicago
Literary Club

Many other
Landmarks

It appears that it occasionally required some
pretty quick work to put the building into suitable
condition for the morning art classes, after it had been
used the night before for a boxing match or a ball. The
building was finally torn down in 1896, to make room
for the temporary brick Post Office Building erected
on that site and used as a Post Office from 1896 to 1905.
C?The Chicago Literary Club was organized in 1881
^W 1882, and held its first meetings in a room on one
of the upper floors of the American Express Company
Building, No. 76-8 Monroe Street.
The Chicago Literary Club is still in existence, and
holds its meetings in the rooms of the Caxton Club, in
the Fine Arts Building. Mr. W. M. R. French,
Director of the Art Institute, was elected the fortieth
President of the club in 1912, and is also a charter
member. The President of the club at this time is Mr.
Walter L. Fisher, formerly Secretary of the Interior.
^IT There are a number of old buildings on Monroe
*-^ Street, not mentioned in this sketch, dating back to
the Seventies and early Eighties, whose history it would
be interesting to follow; but the limits set for this little
publication have already been considerably exceeded,
and it must be left to some future compiler to complete
the ,work that has been begun in these scattered notes.
These old five-story buildings of the Seventies, to
many of which two stories were added in later years,
look somewhat weather-worn and dingy now, but
there was a time when they looked as bright and
attractive, and inspired the same wonder and admira
tion, as do the bright new skyscrapers beside them
today. The wrecker is patiently waiting for these
landmarks of Chicago's early progress, and, after the
present leases expire, they will soon be only a memory.

74

From a photograph, through the courtesy of Mr. C. R. Clark
^TTThe above picture shows the southeast corner of
^Monroe and LaSalle Streets before the erection of
the new Borland Block, which occupies the corner at
the present time. The picture also shows the nine-story
Calumet Block, on the corner of the alley at LaSalle
Street, which is being torn down to be replaced by an
addition to the Borland Block, making the building
uniform from Monroe Street to the alley.
The ground floor of this new addition to the Borland
Block will be occupied by the Central Trust Company
of Illinois, and will be connected with their present
main banking office fronting on Monroe Street, so that
there will be an entrance to the bank both from LaSalle
and Monroe Streets. 75

Monroeand LaSalle
Streets

Central Trust
Company
Addition

CENTRAL TRUST COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO

Capital $4,500,000.00
Surplus and Undivided Profits 2,100,000.00

76

CENTRAL TRUST COMPANY
OF ILLINOIS " " CHICAGO

OFFICERS

Charles G. Dawes
Joseph E. Otis
Edwin F. Mack
William T. Abbott
Walter H. Wilson
William R. Dawes Vice-
J. E. Lindquist
William C. Cook
T. C. Neal
Fred B. Woodland

President
Vice-PresidentVice-President Vice-President
Vice-President
Pres. & Cashier
Vice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-President

L. D. Skinner
Wm. W. Gates
Jno. W. Thomas
Harry R. Moore
Addison Corneau
Howard S. Camp
Albert G. Mang
William G. Edens
John L. Lehnhard
Lloyd R. Steere

Assistant Cashier
Assistant Cashier
Assistant Cashier
Assistant Cashier
Assistant Cashier
Assistant Cashier
Secretary
Assistant Secretary
Asst. Trust Officer
Probate Officer

DIRECTORS

A. J. Earling
President Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul R'y
Company
Arthur Dixon
President Arthur Dixon Transfer Company
Charles T. Boynton
Pickands, Brown & Company
Alexander H. Revell
President Alexander H. Revell & Company
S. M. Felton
President Chicago Great Western Railroad
Company
T. W. Robinson
Vice-President Illinois Steel Company
Chandler B. Beach
C. B. Beach & Company
George F. Steele, Chicago
Max Pam
Pam & Hurd
Z. G. Simmons
President Simmons Mfg. Company, Kenosha
H. A. Langhorst
President Albert Schwill & Company
A. UHRLAUB Vice-President Colonial Land Company
A. R. Barnes
A. R. Barnes & Company

William T. Abbott
Vice-President Central Trust Company of
Illinois
HOWARD G. HETZLER
President Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad
Walter H. Wilson
Vice-President Central Trust Company of
Illinois
Joseph E. Otis
Vice-President Central Trust Co. of Illinois
George Woodland
Chairman Advisory Committee Central Trust
Co. of Illinois
Burton F. Peek
Vice-President Deere & Company, Moline
James W. Stevens
President Illinois Life Insurance Company
W. O. Johnson
General Counsel and Director Chicago &
Erie R. R.
R. Floyd Clinch
Crerar, Clinch & Company
William C. Boyden
Matz, Fisher & Boyden, Attorneys
C. B. SCOVILLE
Real Estate, Oak Park and Chicago
Charles G. Dawes
Ex-Comptroller of Currency

77

.A*v

"¦•.-

CENTRAL TRUST COMPANY OF ILLINOIS
Left side of Main Banking Room (at level of sidewalk)

78

CENTRAL TRUST COMPANY OF ILLINOIS
Right side of Main Banking Room

79

CENTRAL TRUST COMPANY

Interior Central Trust
Company

O^Upon entering the banking room of the Central
<-^ Trust Company of Illinois the visitor is at once
impressed by the beautiful, commodious interior and
the absence of all columns or other supports. Thus
an unobstructed view is gained at one glance.
The white walls of delicately patterned marble,
from famous Italian quarries, rise to a height of some
fifty feet. On these are shown, at regular intervals
sixteen large mural paintings by Lawrence C. Earle,
depicting progressive periods in Chicago's history —
from the rough winter quarters of Father Marquette,
1674, to the magnificent Court of Honor, World's Fair,
1893. Surmounting all this is the beautiful stained glass
ceiling through which the light is diffused, giving a soft,
quiet tone to the bank's interior.
The main banking floor is practically at the level
of the sidewalk, making it unnecessary for the patrons

of the bank to climb any steps or stairways, either upon
entering or leaving the bank.
In the rear of the main banking floor is located a
massive white marble structure containing ten heavy
steel vaults, in which the cash and books of the bank
are kept. This structure rises upon its own heavy
foundations, and looks as impregnable as it does
artistic. The General Banking Department, Savings De
partment and Bond Department are all located on the
main floor. An elevator takes the customers to the
Trust Department, on the second floor, and to the
Real Estate Loan Department, on the third floor. As
there are no other tenants in the building, the elevator
service is restricted entirely to the patrons of the bank.
Underneath the main banking quarters are located
the Safe Deposit Vaults, reached by a broad marble
stairway from the main banking room and also by an
elevator from the entrance hall.
Such a building seems to be a fitting climax in the
growth of Old Monroe Street — a street which has
acquired a leading place in the history of banking
in Chicago.

Massive Vaults

Various
Departments

81

Banking on Human Interests
and. Principles
The Central Trust Company of Illinois believes that real bank
ing service is more than a matter or mere cash principal and interest
That true service is based on human interests and principles.
Let us apply it.
A. wise lather starts a savings account here for his son
To the boy this at first represents only so much money saved.
As time goes on he learns that this bank means more to him
than a place to put his savings.
He gets the banking habit, comes in contact with bank officials
who take an interest m him, forms a bank relationship far more
than a mere acquaintanceship.
He becomes known at the bank.
Schooldays pass. Business or professional opportunities come.
He seeks this bank s advice. It is cheerfully given and well given.
He learns that character, individuality, personality, or what
ever else you may wish to call it, is a real asset one that he can bank
on, one that will be of real help to him in his business.
In the placing of his investments he consults with our real
estate loan department, or our bond department. Here again this
bank s interest and advice are valuable.
Later he makes us executor of his estate, knowing that our
charges cannot be higher than those of a private individual, and that
everything will be done promptly, correctly, economically, and safely.
For this is his bank. The bank knows him — guides him m all
matters financial, just as his family physician advises him on matters
of health, based on a like intimate knowledge of him and his needs.
To get the best out of your bank, choose it now for its strength,
safety, and service, stay with it, and grow with it.
This Dank.

82

Central Trust Company
or Illinois - Chicago
125 vy est Monroe Street, between La Salle and Clark Streets
Banking Department. Every facility for handling the checking ac
counts of individuals, firms and corporations. Interest allowed on sat
isfactory balances. Demand and time certificates of deposit issued.
Trust Department. Authorized by law to accept trusts of all
kinds. It has exceptional facilities for the work required m all
fiduciary relations, such as administrator, guardian, custodian, con
servator, or trustee; also registrar and transfer agent of corporations.
Savings Department. Three per cent allowed on savings deposits.
Open Mondays from 10 a. m. continuously until 8 p. m.
Bond Department. Buys and sells U. S. Government, foreign
government, state, municipal, railroad, public service, corporation and
building bonds. List of investments yielding 4^2% to O/o on ap
plication.
Real Estate Loan Department. High-grade real estate bonds
and mortgages, netting 5% to 6%, for sale. Mortgage loans
negotiated on well located, improved Chicago and suburban prop
erty. Building loans a specialty.
Foreign Exchange Department. Travelers' letters of credit and
travelers checks issued, available m all parts oi the -world. Com
mercial letters of credit sold.
Safe Deposit Vaults. Different sizes and styles of boxes, rent
ing from $3.00 a year upward. Separate storage rooms lor trunks
and bulky packages. Special accommodations for women.
Banking Hours. Open from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. Saturdays
9 a. m. to 12 noon. The safe deposit vault hours are 9 a. m. to
5 p. m. Saturdays 9 a. m. to 1 p. m.

83

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 01545 1306