The Trude Building is a demolished 19th-century

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

that was located in Chicago. It was designed by

Jenney & Mundie Mundie & Jensen was an architectural firm in Chicago, Illinois. Several of its works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It was a partnership of William Bryce Mundie and Elmer C. Jensen. Finding aid, including biogra ...

and was constructed in 1897 for A. S. Trude. It was demolished in 1912 in order clear way for an expansion of the

Marshall Field and Company Building The Marshall Field and Company Building is a National Historic Landmark retail building on State Street in Chicago, Illinois. Now housing, Macy's State Street, the Beaux-Arts and Commercial style complex was designed by architect Daniel Burnha ...

. This considered to have been one of the first demolitions, if not the first, of a skyscraper.

Building details

A. S. Trude had the building constructed in 1897. It was designed by the firm

. It stood between either fourteen or sixteen stories tall. The site had previously been occupied by a six story building that had been lost to a fire. The building sat at the southwest corner of the intersection of Wabash Avenue and

Randolph Street Randolph Street is a street in Chicago. It runs east–west through the Chicago Loop, carrying westbound traffic west from Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River on the Randolph Street Bridge, interchanging with the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/ I ...

. It was located on a site long along its Wabash Avenue face and long along its Randolph Street face. It was expanded to occupy this full site several years after the original portion of the building was built, as its neighboring building was lost in a fire. The new tower was considered to be of high-quality "fireproof" construction . The building housed the headquarters of

Lord & Thomas Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB), is one of the largest global advertising agency networks. It is owned by Interpublic Group and was merged in 2006 with Draft Worldwide, adopting the name Draftfcb. In 2014 the company rebranded itself as FCB. Paren ...

, a notable

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

Sale to Marshall Field and demolition

Marshall Field & Co. acquired the building and its land in a ninety year lease agreement that saw them agree to pay Trude an annual rent of $60,000 for ninety years, beginning in July 1911. At the time, the

Cook County Board of Review The Cook County Board of Review is an independent office created by statute by the Illinois General Assembly and is governed by three commissioners who are elected by district for two- or four-year terms. Cook County, which includes Chicago, is the ...

evaluated the building at $125,000 and its land at $597,630, making the property worth $722,630. The lease permitted Marshall Field & Co. to, at any time before August 1, 1919, replace the building with a new high-grade "fireproof" building so long as it cost no less than $750,000. After acquiring the site, Marshall Field & Co. demolished the tower in order to expand the

Marshall Field and Company Building The Marshall Field and Company Building, which now houses Macy's State Street in Chicago, Illinois, was built in two stages—north end in 1901–02 (including columned entrance) and south end in 1905–06, and was the flagship location of the ...

. This is considered to have been one of the first demolitions, if not the first, of a high-rise skyscraper.Emporis/Trude Building
Retrieved August 20, 2006.

References

{{reflist Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago Former skyscrapers 1897 establishments in Illinois 1912 disestablishments in the United States