The Larkin Company Building was an eight-story loft building at 3617 S. Ashland Avenue in Chicago's Central Manufacturing District. It was a contributing property to the Central Manufacturing District–Original East Historic District. The building was constructed in 1912 and was demolished in December 2020.
History
The Larkin Company purchased the property in late 1911 for $45,257 and built the building in 1912 at a cost of approximately $500,000.The Economist. January 13, 1912. p. 151. Retrieved December 21, 2020."Larkin Plant Coming: Big Buffalo Firm Gets Tract on Ashland Avenue, Between Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh", Chicago Tribune. November 25, 1911. p. 13."Larkin Company Buys Site", Chicago Tribune. November 26, 1911. p. 6.The Economist. April 27, 1912. p. 852. Retrieved December 21, 2020. It was designed by F. E. Lockwood and originally housed the Larkin Company's Chicago operations. It also housed the offices and warehouse of the Vassar Swiss Underwear Company from 1913 until 1914, when it moved to its newly built plant at 2545 West Diversey."Chicago", The Clothier and Furnisher. May 1913. p. 87. Retrieved December 21, 2020."Knitting Mill News", Textile World Record. April 1914. p. 169. Retrieved December 21, 2020. In the 1920s, the building housed the Midwestern operations of the Hydro-United Tire Company and the Bristol Company, a manufacturer of recording equipment."Trade Gossip", Motor Record. July 1922. p. 17. Retrieved December 21, 2020."Trade Notes", Ice and Refrigeration. May 1924. p. 512. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
By the early 1930s, Jewel Food Stores had offices in the building."2 Chain Stores to Take School Tax Warrants", Chicago Tribune. March 26, 1933. p. 6. The Jewel Tea company purchased the building in 1937 for $432,000."Jewel Tea Pays $432,000 in Cash For Warehouse", Chicago Tribune. May 16, 1937 Part 5, p. 18. The building served the headquarters of the Jewel Food Stores division, as well as its warehouse."Start Work on Addition to Building", Chicago Tribune. August 1, 1948. Part 3, p. A.Block, Daniel R.; Rosing, Howard B. (2015). Chicago: A Food Biography. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 112. Retrieved December 21, 2020. A two-story addition was built in 1948, designed by Carr & Wright. In 1954, much of the company's Chicago and Barrington operations were combined at their new site in Melrose Park, but the building continued to serve Jewel as a distribution warehouse for many years.Chase, Al. "Jewel to Build Big Project in Melrose Park: Warehouse-Office Cost Is 4 Millions", Chicago Tribune. July 24, 1953. p. 7F."Hails 35 Years For Donnelley as Compositor", Chicago Tribune. November 8, 1964. Section 10, p. 4. In 1954, Jewel planned to build a heliport on the roof of the building."Copter Bought by Jewel Tea To Link Units", Chicago Tribune. May 30, 1954. p. 7. The building later housed Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company's Wrico Packaging division.Edgar, Susan E. (1996). Ward's Business Directory. p. 179. A permit to demolish the building was issued on December 11, 2020.
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