The Rand McNally Building was an

early skyscraper The earliest stage of skyscraper design encompasses buildings built between 1884 and 1945, predominantly in the American cities of New York and Chicago. Cities in the United States were traditionally made up of low-rise buildings, but significa ...

at 160–174 Adams Street in

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, built in 1889 and demolished in 1911. Designed by

Burnham and Root Burnham and Root was one of Chicago's most famous architectural companies of the nineteenth century. It was established by Daniel Hudson Burnham and John Wellborn Root. During their eighteen years of partnership, Burnham and Root designed and ...

, it was the world's first all-

steel frame Steel frame is a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame. The develop ...

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 ...

History

The building was located at 160–174 Adams Street (on the south side between LaSalle and Wells) and also fronted #105–#119 on the backside (Quincy Street). It was erected in 1889 at a cost of $1 million. It was tall, had 10 stories, 16 stores, and 300 offices, but the main tenant was Rand, McNally & Co., printers and publishers, with 900 employees. The general offices of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway were located here on the 2nd and 3rd floors, as were the headquarters of the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

, on the 4th and 5th. The Long Distance Telephone Company (Quincy Street side) allowed patrons the ability to telephone New York City, a novelty at the time. It was demolished in 1911 and a larger building of that era still stands on the site. For many years, it housed the headquarters of the City National Bank & Trust Company.

References

{{coord, 41.8792, N, 87.6330, W, source:wikidata, display=title Burnham and Root buildings Commercial buildings completed in 1890 Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago Buildings and structures demolished in 1911 1890 establishments in Illinois 1911 disestablishments in Illinois

History

See also

References