The Burnham Center, originally known as the Conway Building and later as the Chicago Title & Trust Building, is a historic

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Built with funds from the

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field's, Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of qua ...

estate, it was the last building designed by Daniel Burnham before his death on June 1, 1912, and was completed in 1913.

History

The Burnham Center, originally known as the Conway Building, replaced the Chicago Opera House, which had been built in 1885. The Conway was a real estate project resulting from the estate of

, who had died in 1906. Field requested that his $83 million estate be invested in Chicago real estate until his grandson, Marshall Field III, turned fifty (1943). For the most part, Field's estate was invested in existing property, but it was used to fund three major projects: the Conway Building, the Pittsfield Building (1927), and the Field Building (1934). Daniel Burnham was a frequent associate of Field, designing an annex to the

Marshall Field and Company Building The Marshall Field and Company Building is a department store building and National Historic Landmark on State Street (Chicago), State Street in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts and C ...

(1892) and the Field Museum of Natural History (c. 1900). Burnham, with Frederick P. Dinkelberg, completed his design for the building shortly before leaving Chicago in April 1912; he died in Germany two months later. The building resembles Burnham's Flatiron Building in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

: both buildings are twenty-one stories, have rounded corners, and are decorated in a Beaux-Arts style. Both buildings are thought to be influenced by the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Ernest R. Graham, Peirce Anderson, and Edward Probst assumed control of the project on April 30. It was completed under the auspices of Graham, Burnham & Co. (a precursor of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White) in 1913. The building was recognized by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

with a listing on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on February 9, 1984. The Chicago Title & Trust Co. was a longtime tenant before the 1992 completion of the Chicago Title and Trust Center. Their former headquarters then became known as the Burnham Center. The Burnham Center is currently home to the corporate headquarters of Grubhub.

References

{{commons category, Chicago Title & Trust Building Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Beaux-Arts architecture in Illinois Office buildings completed in 1913 Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago 1913 establishments in Illinois