Spiegel Office Building - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
libbykc
N 41° 49.838 W 087° 39.082
16T E 445912 N 4631176
The Spiegel Office Building is an individually listed building within Chicago's Central Manufacturing District historic district.
Waymark Code: WM13EGN
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/23/2020
Views: 1
The Spiegel building is at the corner of 35th and Morgan in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago. It is individually listed and is within the Central Manufacturing District-Original East District. The building was built in 1936.
The Chicago landmark commission offers a great summary of the building's history:
"This large-scale industrial office building originally housed administrative offices and mail-order operations for Spiegel, Inc., one of the world's largest mail-order companies, and it exemplifies the historic importance of the mail-order industry to Chicago. The building was built in two stages, with the engineering firm of Battey & Kipp designing the building's first two floors in 1936 while the A. Epstein architectural firm (led by founder Abraham Epstein) designed an additional four floors built in 1941-42. The building is a significant example of the Art Moderne architectural style with its sleek lines and vertical ribbons of glass block. It is located within the Central Manufacturing District, a pioneering planned industrial district in Chicago's Bridgeport and McKinley Park community areas that was influential in industrial-park planning throughout the United States. Abraham Epstein, the architect for the 1941-42 expansion, also designed the former Stockyards National Bank and Chicago City Bank & Trust buildings, both designated Chicago Landmarks." (
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Today the building has been lightly restored and houses a self storage business.