| Chicago Federal Building | |
|---|---|
 The Chicago Federal Building looking southwest from Adams and Dearborn Streets with the Chicago Board of Trade Building visible behind the dome | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Beaux-Arts[1] |
| Town or city | Chicago, Illinois |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 41°52′45″N 87°37′45″W / 41.879191°N 87.629085°W |
| Construction started | 1898 |
| Completed | 1905 |
| Demolished | 1965 |
| Client | US Federal Government |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Henry Ives Cobb |
The Chicago Federal Building in Chicago, Illinois was constructed between 1898 and 1905 for the purpose of housing the Midwest's federal courts, main post office, and other government bureaus. It stood in The Loop neighborhood on a block bounded by Dearborn, Adams and Clark Streets and Jackson Boulevard. The site held an 1880 post office, courthouse and customhouse which was cleared to make way for the new building.[1] The 1905 building was itself demolished in 1965 and replaced with the Kluczynski Federal Building.
The push for a new building was spearheaded by postmaster Washington Hesing with backing by civic leaders and Illinois's members of Congress. The explosion of Chicago's population, especially after the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, strained the earlier facility beyond capacity. When the Exposition began, the Post Office Department in Chicago employed 998 clerks and 935 carriers. By the time Congress approved funding for a new building, the post office had expanded to 1,319 clerks and 1,096 carriers.[2] Other agencies housed in the building complained of poor planning and shoddy construction which resulted in crumbling plaster, broken plumbing and flooding.[3]
The new building was designed in the Beaux-Arts[1] style by architect Henry Ives Cobb. The floorplan was a six-story Greek cross atop a two-story base with a raised basement.[2][4] The building was capped by a dome at the crossing that held an additional eight floors of office space in its drum for a total of 16 floors.[5] The gilt dome extended 100 ft (30 m) above the drum.
- ^ a b c "History: Federal Center, Chicago, Illinois". U.S. General Services Administration. Archived from the original on 2010-08-03. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
- ^ a b Homolka, Larry J.; Rudd, J. William (July 1964). "Photographs, Written Historical and Descriptive Data- United States Post Office, Customs House and Sub-Treasury, Chicago, Illinois". Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ "Court Photos". US Court of Appeals-Seventh Circuit. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ^ Lowe, David Garrard (2004). Public buildings in the Loop. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-2263-1015-2.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "Chicago Federal Building". SkyscraperPage. Retrieved 2007-09-14.