Chicago Castles in the Air

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.~ Henry David... more

by Chicago In Photographs

Title

Chicago Castles in the Air

Artist

Chicago In Photographs

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Print

Description

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.~ Henry David Thoreau

In this photograph, we’re looking west on Madison Street from Wabash CTA stop, and in view are four buildings from the who’s who list of architects from the turn of the century. From left to right we have the Heyworth Building completed in 1905 by D.H. Burnham & Company, the Schlesinger & Mayer Store completed in 1903 by Louis H. Sullivan, the Chicago Building completed in 1904 by Holabird & Roche, and finally on the far right, the Mandel Brothers Store from 1912 by Holabird & Roche (I think). At one time the corner of Madison and State was the busiest street corner in the world. Each of these buildings is a “castle” and have indeed withstood the test of time.

Below you will find one additional photograph from over 100 years ago (1910) looking west on Madison. The only significant difference between the photographs is the Mandel Brothers Store. The second building from the right would be torn down and the new building would be merged with the building on the far right. Today it’s known as One North State Building.

All proceeds will be donated to Chicago's Cornerstone Community Outreach in honor of photographer Richard Cleis, 1965-2021.

Uploaded

June 29th, 2021