April 29, 2011
The Honorable Miguel del Valle City Clerk City of Chicago Room 107, City Hall 121 North LaSalle Street Chicago, Illinois 60602
RE: Recommendation for Chicago Landmark designation of; Five (Former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses: . 958 W. 69th St.
3456 S. Western Ave. . 2159 W. Belmont Ave. . 3159 N. Southport Ave. . 11400 S. Front Ave; and One (Former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building: . 11314 S. Front Ave.
Dear Clerk del Valle:
We are filing with your office for introduction at the May 4, 2011, City Council meeting as a transmittal to the Mayor and City Council of Chicago the recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks that the that the above-cited Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building each be individually designated as Chicago Landmarks.
The material being submitted to you for this proposal includes the:
1. Recommendation of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks; and
2. Proposed Ordinance. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter, rely, ^
Brian Goeken Deputy Commissioner Historic Preservation Division
ends.
cc: Alderman Latasha R. Thomas, 17th Ward
Alderman George A. Cardenas, 12 Ward i £7
Alderman Scott Waguespack, 32nd Ward oTj '\ ^ Alderman Anthony Beale, 9th Ward
-i,),-'vi:i
ORDINANCE
FIVE (FORMER) SCHLITZ BREWERY TIED-HOUSES 958 W. 69th St. 3456 S. Western Ave. 2159 W. Belmont Ave. 3159 N. Southport Ave. 11400 S. Front Ave.
and
ONE (FORMER) SCHLITZ BREWERY STABLE BUILDING 11314 S. Front Ave.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Municipal Code"), Sections 2-120-630 through -690, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (the "Commission") has determined that the five (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses located at 958 W. 69th St., 3456 S. Western Ave., 2159 W. Belmont Ave., 3159 N. Southport Ave., and 11400 S. Front Ave. (each a "Schlitz Brewery Tied-House", and, collectedly, the "Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses"), and the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building located at 11314 S. Front Ave. (the "Schlitz Brewery Stable Building"), as depicted and legally described in Exhibits A and B. respectively, attached hereto and incorporated herein, each individually satisfies the three criteria for landmark designation set forth in Sections 2-120-620 (1), (4) and (6) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the two Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses located at 3159 N. Southport Ave. and 11400 S. Front Ave., and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building, each also satisfies the criterion for landmark designation set forth in Section 2-120-620 (5) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building represent a distinct and rare type of commercial architecture that conveys important themes from Chicago and American history from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, including the rise of vertically-integrated manufacturing production and retail sales; the role of science and technology in the transformation of crafts into industries, including the brewery industry; the increase in competition among businesses as the city and country grew; the role of the neighborhood saloon; the role of ethnic immigrants as both leaders of the brewing industry and as consumers; and the national debate about the role of alcohol in society and the "Dry" movement in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; and
WHEREAS, each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building convey the economic prominence of the brewing industry in Chicago and Milwaukee during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, made possible by those cities' access to grain markets, fresh water, natural supplies of ice, and train transportation; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are representative of the brewing industry founded and managed by German immigrants, several of whom were prominent businessmen active in the city's affairs, and reflect the importance of ethnic immigration in Chicago's history and development, generally, and specifically the contributions of Chicago's German ethnic community; and
WHEREAS, the locations of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses are typical of other brewery tied-houses in Chicago which were most commonly located on prominent corners of
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commercial streets that were well-served by street cars or elevated trains, and in neighborhoods settled by large ethnic and working class populations; and
WHEREAS, the location of brewery-tied houses conveys the early social character and leisure habits of the early residents of Chicago's neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses represent a distinct and recognizable building type in Chicago's neighborhoods typified by such features as their display of brewery insignia, corner entrances marked by prominent turrets or other ornamental features, and use of high-quality masonry construction and picturesque styles of architecture; and
WHEREAS, each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses displays a Schlitz "belted globe" insignia on its facade, the design of which is based on sculptor Richard Bock's design for Schlitz's exhibit at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition; and
WHEREAS, as the unintended manifestation of legislation and social pressure by progressive reformers, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses convey the national debate about alcohol consumption and the "Dry" movement in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; and
WHEREAS, the subsequent proliferation of drinking places under the tied-house system was a factor in the establishment of national Prohibition in 1919; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are part of a great number of buildings built in Chicago by the Schlitz Brewery, whose association with the city may be traced back to the aftermath of the Fire of 1871, when the brewery sent water and, in particular, beer to the ravaged city, establishing a loyal customer base in Chicago, and solidifying its motto 'The beer that made Milwaukee famous"; and
WHEREAS, the Schlitz Brewery Tied-House located at 11400 S. Front Ave. and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are rare-surviving buildings from "Schlitz Row", a complex that originally included three tied-houses, housing for Schlitz workers and a company stable located just outside the "Dry" industrial town of Pullman; and
WHEREAS, the Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses located at 3456 S. Western Ave., 958 W. 69th St., 2159 W. Belmont Ave., and 11400 S. Front Ave. and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building exemplify the Queen Anne style of architecture with their picturesque mixture of building materials, their combination of classical and medieval ornamental motifs, their varied rooflines, and their decorative-metal bays, turrets, and cornices; and
WHEREAS, the Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 3159 N. Southport Ave. exemplifies the German Renaissance Revival style of architecture, which was not a common style of architecture in Chicago, with its tapestry brick bond pattern, distinctive "bonnet" roof over the oriel window, and slim vertical piers with their limestone finials; and
WHEREAS, the Queen Anne and German Renaissance Revival styles emphasized visually-pleasing characteristics and motifs drawn from earlier periods, and helped the brewery tied-houses to present a legitimate and socially-responsible image amid growing opposition to drinking establishments; and
WHEREAS, each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building exhibit exceptionally fine craftsmanship and detailing in high-quality historic materials, displayed through such materials as patterned tapestry brick and pressed-metal architectural ornament at turrets, window bays and cornices; and
WHEREAS, the architectural firm Frommann & Jebsen designed the Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses located at 3159 N. Southport Ave. (1903) and 11400 S. Front Ave. (1906), the Schlitz
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Brewery Stable Building, and additional brewery tied-houses located at 1870 S. Blue Island Ave. (1899) and 8900 S. Normal Ave. (1910); and
WHEREAS, Frommanti & Jebsen made a significant contribution to Chicago's architecture from the 1880s through 1917; and
WHEREAS, Frommann & Jebsen's successor firm, Frommann, made a significant contribution to Chicago's architecture from 1917 until the mid-1920s; and
WHEREAS, Frommann & Jebsen designed several of Schlitz brewery's most handsomely-detailed and high-style tied-houses, "Schlitz Row", and the Humboldt Park Receptory and Stable building (1895-96), a designated Chicago Landmark which is a fantastically picturesque and romantic example of rural German vernacular architecture; and
WHEREAS, Frommann & Jebsen's body of work includes a number of large residences in a range of popular historic styles of architecture commissioned by prominent members of the city's German ethnic community; and
WHEREAS, examples of Frommann & Jebsen's residential commissions are found in the Wicker Park, Mid-North, Logan Square, and Ukrainian Village and Hawthorne Place Chicago Landmark Districts, as well as in the Sheffield and Meekerville National Register Districts in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building represent distinctive architectural, cultural, economic, historic and social themes, including: the rise of the tied-house system in Chicago which reflects broader patterns of economic development in the nation; the role of immigration in the cultural and social history of the city; and the brewing industry's response to pressure from those who sought to limit alcohol consumption in American society; and
WHEREAS, each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building retain more than sufficient physical integrity to express its "significant historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value" as required by Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, through its location, setting, and overall design quality; and
WHEREAS, each building retains the great majority of its historic materials, design, and detailing to convey its architectural and historic values; and
WHEREAS, on April 7, 2011, the Commission adopted a resolution recommending to the City Council of the City of Chicago that the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building be designated as Chicago Landmarks; now, therefore,
Be It Ordained by the City Council of the City of Chicago:
SECTION 1. The above recitals are expressly incorporated in and made a part of this ordinance as though fully set forth herein.
SECTION 2. The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are hereby designated as Chicago Landmarks in accordance with Section 2-120-700 of the Municipal Code.
SECTION 3. For purposes of Section 2-120-740 of the Municipal Code governing permit review, the significant historical and architectural features of each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are identified as: All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of each building.
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SECTION 4. The Commission is hereby directed to create suitable plaques appropriately identifying said landmarks and to affix each plaque on or near the properties designated as Chicago Landmarks in accordance with the provisions of Section 2-120-700 of the Municipal Code.
SECTION 5. If any provision of this ordinance shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the invalidity or unenforceability of such provision shall not affect any of the other provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 6. All ordinances, resolutions, motions or orders in conflict with this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.
SECTION 7. This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its passage and approval.
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Exhibit A
Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and Schlitz Brewery Stable Building
(included for illustrative purposes only - the buildings are defined by their legal descriptions)
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
2159 W. Belmont Ave. Date: 1903-04 Architect: Charles Thisslew
\ L
ip:
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
3456 S. Western Ave. Date: 1899
Architect: Kley & Lang
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
958 W. 69th St. Date: 1898 Architect: Unknown
(Former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building
11314 S Front Ave. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
11400 S Front Ave. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
Exhibit B
Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and Schlitz Brewery Stable Building Property
Legal Descriptions
Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 958 W. 69th St. Legal Description
LOT 1 IN RESUBDIVISION OF LOTS 70, 71, 72, 73 AND 74 IN BLOCK 4 IN BENEDICTS' SUBDIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST 1/4 OF THE SOUTHWEST 1/4 OF SECTION 20, TOWNSHIP 38 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OFTHE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Permanent Index Number
20-20-412-015
Commonly Known As
958 W. 69th St., Chicago, Illinois
Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 3456 S. Western Ave. Legal Description
PARCEL 1:
LOT 9 (EXCEPT THE NORTH 8 FEET THEREOF) AND ALL OF LOT 10 IN PROUDFOOT'S SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK 35 (EXCEPT THE WEST 100 FEET THEREOF) IN S. J. WALKER'S SUBDIVISION OF THAT PART LYING SOUTH OF CANAL OF THE EAST 1/2 OF THE NORTHWEST 1/4 OF SECTION 36, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
PARCEL 2:
THAT PART OF VACATED WEST 20 FEET OF WESTERN AVENUE LYING EAST OF AND ADJOINING LOT 9 (EXCEPT THE NORTH 8 FEET THEREOF) AND ALL OF LOT 10 AFORESAID IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Permanent Index Number
16-36-204-039
Commonly Known As
3456 S. Western Ave., Chicago, Illinois
Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 2159 W. Belmont Ave. Legal Description
LOT 24 IN JONES SUBDIVISION OF THE WEST 1/2 OF BLOCK 17 IN SNOW ESTATE SUBDIVISION BY SUPERIOR COURT IN PARTITION OF THE EAST 1/2 OF THE NORTHWEST 1/4 OF SECTION 30, TOWNSHIP 40 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Permanent Index Number
14-30-103-001
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Commonly Known As
2159 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, Illinois
Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 3159 N. Southport Ave. Legal Description
LOT 144 IN ALTGELD'S SUBDIVISION OF BLOCKS 1 TO 7 AND THE NORTH 1/2 OF BLOCK 6 IN THE SUBDIVISION OF THAT PART LYING NORTHEASTERLY OF LINCOLN AVENUE OF THE NORTHWEST 1/4 OF SECTION 29, TOWNSHIP 48 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Permanent Index Number
14-29-102-001
Commonly Known As
3159 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, Illinois
Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 11400 S. Front Ave. Legal Description
LOT 86 IN BLOCK 2 IN UIHLEIN'S SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK 2 IN PULLMAN PARK ADDITION TO PULLMAN IN THE NORTHEAST 1/4 OF SECTION 22, TOWNSHIP 37 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Permanent Index Number
25-22-223-016
Commonly Known As
11400 S. Front Ave., Chicago, Illinois
Schlitz Brewery Stable Building Legal Description
LOT 33 AND 34 IN BLOCK 2 IN UIHLEIN'S SUBDIVISION OF BLOCK 2 IN PULLMAN PARK ADDITION TO PULLMAN IN THE NORTHEAST 1/4 OF SECTION 22, TOWNSHIP 37 NORTH, RANGE 14 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, IN COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Permanent Index Number
25-22-217-021
Commonly Known As
11314 S. Front Ave., Chicago, Illinois
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CITY OF CHICAGO COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
April 7, 2011
RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO THAT CHICAGO LANDMARK DESIGNATION BE ADOPTED FOR
FIVE (FORMER) SCHLITZ BREWERY TIED-HOUSES 958 W. 69th St. 3456 S. Western Ave. 2159 W. Belmont Ave. 3159 N. Southport Ave. 11400 S. Front Ave.
and
ONE (FORMER) SCHLITZ BREWERY STABLE BUILDING 11314 S. Front Ave.
Docket No. 2011-02
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago:
Pursuant to § 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code of Chicago (hereinafter, the "Municipal Code"), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (hereinafter, the "Commission") has determined that five (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 958 W. 69th St., 3456 S. Western Ave., 2159 W. Belmont Ave., 3159 N. Southport Ave., and 11400 S. Front Ave., and one (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S. Front Ave. (the "Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building") are each worthy of Chicago Landmark designation. On the basis of careful consideration of the history and architecture of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building, the Commission has found that each meets the following criteria set forth in § 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code:
/. Its value as an example ofthe architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect ofthe heritage ofthe City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or the United States.
4. Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.
6. Its representation of an architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other theme expressed through distinctive areas, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art, or other objects that may or may not be contiguous.
The Commission has also determined that of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses, the two located at 3159 N. Southport Ave. and 11400 S. Front Ave. and the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S. Front Ave. each meets the following additional criterion set forth in § 2-120-620 ofthe Municipal Code:
5. Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose
individual work is significant in the history or development ofthe City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
I. BACKGROUND
The formal landmark designation process for the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building began on October 7,2010, when the Commission received a "preliminary summary of information" at the Commission's regular meeting of October 7th from the then-Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning ("DZP") summarizing the historical and architectural background for nine buildings associated with the brewery-tied house system in Chicago including the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building. At said meeting, the Commission voted to approve a "preliminary landmark recommendation" for each of the nine buildings based on its finding that each appeared to meet three (1,4 and 6 as set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code) of the seven criteria for designation, as well as the integrity criterion, listed in the Chicago Landmarks Ordinance (the "Landmarks Ordinance"). The Commission also found that the buildings at 3159 N. Southport Ave., 11400 S. Front Ave., and 11314 S. Front Ave. also each met an additional fourth criterion (5 as set forth in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code) for landmark designation.
The Commission's Landmark Designation Report including the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building, initially adopted by the Commission on October 7, 2010, and revised as of this date, which contains specific information about each building's architectural and historical significance, is incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit A (the "Designation Report").
At its regular meeting of December 2, 2010, the Commission received a report from Patricia A. Scudiero, then-Commissioner of DZP, stating that the proposed landmark designations including the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building, supports the City's overall planning goals and is consistent with the City's governing policies and plans. This report is incorporated herein and attached hereto as Exhibit B (the "DZP Report").
On December 21, 2010, the Commission officially requested consent to the proposed landmark designation from the owners of the nine buildings including the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building. As of February 4, 2011, the expiration of the consent period, owners of two of the nine buildings, 5120 N. Broadway and 1801 W. Division St., consented to the designation and the owner of one of the nine buildings, 1944 N. Oakley, requested an extension of 120-days to submit a response pursuant to Section 2-120-650 of the Landmarks Ordinance; these three buildings are not the subject of this recommendation. Of the remaining six Buildingsthe Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Buildingthe owner of the (former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House at 2159 W. Belmont Ave. responded with a non-consent to the proposed designation; and the Commission received
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no response to its request-for-consent from the owners of the following five properties: 3159 N. Southport Ave., 11400 S. Front Ave, 3456 S. Western Ave., 958 W. 69th St., and 11314 S. Front Ave.
Upon the end of the consent period, as required by the Landmarks Ordinance, a public hearing on the proposed designations was scheduled for the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building for which the owners either did not consent or did not respond to the Commission's request of consent. In a letter dated February 25, 2011, these owners were notified of the hearing scheduled for March 22, 2011.
II. PUBLIC HEARING
The public hearing was convened, as scheduled and noticed, on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., Rm. 201-A. Commission member Phyllis Ellin served as hearing officer, assisted by Arthur Dolinsky, Senior Counsel of the Real Estate Division of the City's Law Department, as legal counsel to the Commission, and Brian Goeken, Deputy Commissioner of the Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Housing and Economic Development. The hearing was conducted in accordance with the Commission's Rules and Regulations, specifically Article II regarding the conduct of public hearings for landmark designation.
The Historic Preservation Division staffs presentation recommending the proposed landmark designation was given by:
■ Matt Crawford, Architectural Historian of the Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Housing and Economic Development.
Following the staff presentation, property owners had the opportunity to ask questions of Mr. Crawford on the presentation. Nick Lubovich, representing the owner of the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S. Front Ave., asked about the implications of landmark designation on future changes to the property as well as available incentives.
No one attending the hearing requested party status. Following the staff presentation, property owners not requesting party status and members of the general public could make statements. Jonathan Fine, representing Preservation Chicago, spoke in favor of the designations. Paul Sajovec, chief of staff for 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, within whose ward the proposed the (former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied Houses at 2159 W. Belmont Ave. and 3159 N. Southport Ave. are located, stated that the alderman supported the designations.
The Commission received letters of support for the proposed designations from each of the alderman in whose wards the buildings are located:
■ Alderman Anthony Beale of the 9th Ward for the tied-house at 11400 S. Front Ave. and the stable building at 11314 S. Front Ave.
■ Alderman Latasha R. Thomas of the 17th Ward for the tied-house at 958 W. 69th St.
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■ Alderman George A. Cardenas of the 12th Ward for the tied-house at 3456 S. Western Ave.
■ Alderman Scott Waguespack of the 32nd Ward for the tied-houses at 2159 W. Belmont Ave. and 3159 N. Southport Ave.
The transcript from the public hearing is attached hereto as Exhibit C (the "Transcript").
III. FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
WHEREAS, pursuant to § 2-120-690 of the Municipal Code, the Commission has reviewed the entire record of proceedings on the proposed Chicago Landmark designations including the Designation Report (as it pertains to the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building subject to this final recommendation), the DZP Report, Transcript, and all of the information on the proposed landmark designations of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 958 W. 69th St., 3456 S. Western Ave., 2159 W. Belmont Ave., 3159 N. Southport Ave., and 11400 S. Front Ave., and the One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S. Front Ave; and
WHEREAS, each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building individually meets three criteria for landmark designation as set forth in § 2-120-620 (1), (4), and (6) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, two of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 3159 N. Southport Ave. and 11400 S Front Ave. and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S Front Ave. individually meet an additional fourth criterion for landmark designation as set forth in § 2-120-620 (5) of the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building each represent a distinct and rare type of commercial architecture that conveys important themes from Chicago and American history from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, including the rise of vertically-integrated manufacturing production and retail sales; the role of science and technology in the transformation of crafts into industries, including the brewery industry; increasing competition among businesses as the city and country grew; the role of the neighborhood saloon; the role of ethnic immigrants as both leaders of the brewing industry and as consumers; and the national question about the role of alcohol in society which would later culminate in national Prohibition; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building each convey the economic prominence of the brewing industry in Chicago and Milwaukee during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, made possible by those cities' access to grain markets, fresh water, natural supplies of ice, and train transportation; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are representative of the brewing industry founded and managed by German immigrants, several of whom were prominent businessmen active in the city's affairs; and therefore each building reflects the importance of ethnic immigration in Chicago's history and development, generally, and specifically the contributions of the Chicago's German ethnic community; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses are typical of other brewery-tied houses in Chicago which were most commonly located on prominent corners of commercial
4
streets, well-served by street cars or elevated trains, and in neighborhoods settled by large ethnic and working class populations; and, as such, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses convey the early social character and leisure habits of these early residents of Chicago's neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, as the unintended manifestation of legislation and social pressure by progressive reformers, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses convey the national debate about alcohol consumption and the "Dry" movement in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; and
WHEREAS, the subsequent proliferation of drinking places under the tied-house system was a factor in the establishment of national Prohibition in 1919; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are part of a great number of buildings built in Chicago by the Schlitz Brewery, whose association with the city may be traced back to the aftermath of the Fire of 1871, when the brewery sent water and, in particular, beer to the ravaged city, establishing a loyal customer base in Chicago, and solidifying its motto "The beer that made Milwaukee famous"; and
WHEREAS, the (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 11400 S. Front Ave. and the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S Front Ave. are rare surviving buildings from "Schlitz Row," a complex that originally included three tied-houses, housing for Schlitz workers and a company stable located just outside the "Dry" industrial town of Pullman; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses represent a distinct and recognizable building type in Chicago's neighborhoods typified by such features as their display of brewery insignia, their prominent corner locations on neighborhood commercial streets, their corner entrances marked by prominent turret or other ornamental features, and their use of high-quality masonry construction and picturesque styles of architecture; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are fine examples of picturesque styles of architecture, including the then-popular Queen Anne and the more rare in Chicago German Renaissance Revival style. Popular in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, these styles emphasize visually-pleasing characteristics and motifs drawn from earlier periods, and these styles helped the brewery-tied houses to present a legitimate and socially-responsible image amidst growing opposition to drinking establishments; and
WHEREAS, the (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 3456 S. Western Ave., 958 W. 69th St., 2159 W. Belmont Ave., and 11400 S. Front Ave. and the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S. Front Ave. exemplify the Queen Anne style of architecture with their picturesque mixture of building materials, the combination of classical and medieval ornamental motifs, varied rooflines, and decorative-metal bays, turrets, and cornices; and
WHEREAS, the (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 3159 N. Southport Ave. exemplifies the German Renaissance Revival style of architecture with its tapestry brick bond pattern, the distinctive "bonnet" roof over the oriel window, and the slim vertical piers with their limestone finials; and
WHEREAS, each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building display exceptionally fine craftsmanship and detailing in high-quality historic materials, displayed through such common materials as patterned tapestry brick and pressed-metal architectural ornament at turrets, window bays and cornices; and
WHEREAS, characteristic of Chicago's brewery-tied houses, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses each displays a Schlitz "belted globe" insignia on its facade, the design of which is
5
based on sculptor Richard Bock's design for Schlitz's exhibit at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition; and
WHEREAS, two of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are the work of a significant architect. The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 3159 N. Southport Ave. and 11400 S Front Ave., as well as the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S Front Ave. were designed by Frommann and Jebsen, a significant architectural firm in Chicago in the late-19th and early-20th centuries; and
WHEREAS, several of Schlitz brewery's most handsomely detailed and high-style tied houses, as well as "Schlitz Row" outside of Pullman, were designed by the architectural partnership Frommann & Jebsen who made a significant contribution to Chicago's architecture from the 1880s through 1917, and from 1917 until the mid-1920s by Frommann. Known surviving tied houses designed by the firm of Frommann & Jebsen include 3159 N. Southport Ave. (1903), 1870 S. Blue Island (1899), 8900 S. Normal Ave., as well as 11400 S. Front Ave. (1906) which is attributed to the firm; and
WHEREAS, Frommann & Jebsen designed the Humboldt Park Receptory and Stable building (1895-96), a designated Chicago Landmark, and a fantastically picturesque and romantic combination of rural German vernacular architecture; and
WHEREAS, Frommann & Jebsen's body of work includes a number of large residences in a range of popular historic styles of architecture commissioned by prominent members of the city's German ethnic community. Examples of these residential commissions are found in the Wicker Park, Mid-North, Logan Square, and Ukrainian Village and Hawthorne Place Chicago Landmark Districts, as well as in the Sheffield and Meekerville National Register Districts in Chicago; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building represent distinctive architectural, cultural, economic, historic and social themes, including: the rise of the tied-house system in Chicago which reflects broader patterns of economic development in the nation; the role of immigration in the cultural and social history of the city; and the brewing industry's response to pressure from those who sought to limit alcohol consumption in American society, a movement which ultimately led to the experiment with national Prohibition; and
WHEREAS, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building each retains more than sufficient physical integrity to express its "historic, community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value" as required by § 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code, through its site, context, and overall design quality. Each building retains the great majority of its historic materials, design, and detailing to convey its architectural and historic values; and now, therefore
THE COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS HEREBY:
1. Incorporates the preamble and Sections I, II and III into its finding; and
2. Adopts the Designation Report, as revised, and dated as of this 7th day of April 2011; and
3. Finds, based on the Designation Report, DZP Report, Transcript and the entire record before the Commission, that the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building each meets three out of seven of the criteria for landmark designation as set forth in Section 2-120-620 (1), (4), and (6) of the Municipal Code; and
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4. Finds, based on the Designation Report, DZP Report, Transcript and the entire record before the Commission, that two of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building individually meet an additional fourth criterion for landmark designation as set forth in § 2-120-620 (5) of the Municipal Code
5. Finds that the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building each satisfies the historic integrity requirement set forth in Section 2-120-630 of the Municipal Code; and
6. Finds that the significant historical and architectural features of each of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are identified as follows:
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of each Building.
This recommendation was adopted U P(i [\ {tV\ 0 U.S l \
Rafael M. Leon, Chairman Commission on Chicago Landmarks
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Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses
958 W. 69th St., 3456 S. Western Ave., 2159 W. Belmont Ave., 3159 N. Southport Ave., 11400 S. Front Ave.
and
One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building
11314 S. Front Ave.
Final Landmark Recommendation adopted by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, April 7, 2011
5[ - '^Tl CITY OF CHICAGO i 'IT |fc|a? Richard M. Daley, Mayor
Department of Housing and Economic Development Andrew J. Mooney, Commissioner
Bureau of Planning and Zoning Historic Preservation Division
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, whose nine members are appointed by the Mayor and City Council, was established in 1968 by city ordinance. It is responsible for recommending to the City Council areas, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art or other objects in the City of Chicago be designated as Chicago Landmarks, which protects them by law.
The landmark designation process begins with a staff study and a preliminary summary of information related to the potential designation criteria. The next step is a preliminary vote by the landmarks commission as to whether the proposed landmark is worthy of consideration. This vote not only initiates the. formal designation process, but it places the review of city permits for the property under the jurisdiction ofthe Commission until a final landmark recommendation is acted on by the City Council.
This Landmark Designation Report is subject to possible revision and amendment daring the designation process. Only language contained within a designation ordinance adopted by the City Council should be regarded as final.
Five (Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied Houses
958 W. 69th St. 2159 W. BelmontAve.
Date: 1898 Date: 1903-1904
Architect: Unknown Architect: Charles Thisslew
3159N. Southport Ave. Date: 1903
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen
11400 S. Front Ave. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
3456 S. Western Ave. Date: 1899
Architect: Kley & Lang
One (Former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building
11314 S. Front Ave. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, a combination of intense competition among brewing companies and increasing legal restrictions and social pressures on public drinking establishments compelled brewing companies in Chicago to adopt a "tied house" system. Developed in England a century earlier, the tied-house system involved the direct control of taverns not by independent entrepreneurs, but by large brewing companies which sold their products exclusively at their own establishments.
Brewery control ofthe tavern trade in Chicago began with the purchase of existing saloon buildings, but soon evolved into the acquisition of choice real estate and the design and construction of tavern buildings. At least forty-one of these tied-house buildings are known to survive in the city. They were built by large Milwaukee-based brewers, most notably Schlitz, and by several local brewers such as the Atlas, Birk Brothers, Fortune Brothers, Gottfried, Peter Hand, Standard, and Stege companies. In many cases, brewing companies employed high-quality architectural designs and popular historical styles of architecture for their tied houses to attract customers, and perhaps also to convey the legitimacy and decency of the neighborhood tavern in the face of rising social opposition.
Wm
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House J
2159 W. BelmontAve. Date: 1903-04 Architect: Charles Thisslew
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
3456 S. Western Ave. I Date: 1899
Architect: Kley & Lang
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
958 W. 69th St. Date: 1898 Architect: Unknown
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(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
3159 N. Southport Ave. Date: 1903
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen
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(Former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building
11314 S Front Ave. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
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(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
11400 S Front Ave. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
2
In addition to the tied house's contribution to the historic architectural character of diverse Chicago neighborhoods, these buildings convey important aspects of Chicago and American history in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, including the large influx of European immigrants, the growth ofthe large business model which sought to control all aspects Of production from raw material to retail sale, and the increasing political power of anti-alcohol activists. The proliferation of tied houses in cities like Chicago was one of many factors that ultimately led to national Prohibition in 1919.
The "Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building" (identified on page 1 and on map on page 2 at left) presented in this report are some ofthe best-remaining and -representative examples in Chicago
Drinking Establishments and the Brewing Industry in Chicago
The Origins of Drinking and Brewing Establishments in Chicago
Today the term "saloon" conjures images from films about the "Old West." However, from the nineteenth century until Prohibition, all public drinking establishments in Chicago, including tied houses, were referred to in common usage as "saloons." After the repeal of Prohibition in 1919, the term "saloon" was legislated out of existence in favor of "bar" or "tavern," terms which remain in use today.
The origins of the public drinking establishment in Chicago go back to the city's days as a pioneer settlement when in the 1830s taverns that offered lodging, meals and alcohol were first established. One of the earliest Was Mark Beaubien's Hotel Sauganash, built in 1831 but no longer extant; its site at the corner of West Lake St. and Wacker Drive is a designated Chicago Landmark. Other early Chicago taverns include James Kinzie's Green Tree Tavern, Elijah Wentworth's Wolf Point Tavern, and Samuel Miller's Fork Tavern.
Saloons which focused primarily on the sale of alcohol for on-premise consumption began to appear in Chicago in the 1840s. By 1849, there were 146 such licensed establishments in Chicago and an estimated twenty-six unlicensed ones. Saloons appeared first in the center of the city and later in neighborhoods populated by immigrants, particularly German, Irish and other European ethnic groups who brought with them the custom of social drinking outside the home.
Prior to the establishment of brewery-tied houses in the late-1800s, Chicago's neighborhood saloons were usually architecturally ^distinguishable from other "store and flat" buildings in the city. They were typically located on corners with street-level storefronts with large display windows. Separate entrances led to upper-floor apartments which often housed the saloonkeeper and his family. George Ade, a Chicago journalist and author, drew on his personal experience to describe a typical Chicago saloon in the 1880s:
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When you had visited one of the old time saloons you had seen a thousand. Very often it stood on a corner as to have two street entrances and wave a gilded beer sign at pedestrians drifting along from any point of the compass. The entrance was through swinging doors which were shuttered so that anyone standing on the outside could not see what was happening on the inside. The windows were masked by grille work, potted ferns, one-sheet posters and a fly specked array of fancy-shaped bottles.
Just as saloons had a long presence in the Chicago, so too did brewing. In 1833, William Haas and Andrew Sulzer arrived in Chicago from Watertown, New York, and established the city's first brewery, producing English-style ales and porters. Haas and Sulzer soon moved onto other enterprises, but the brewery they founded thrived under the management of several executives, including William Ogden, who was also served as the city's first mayor. By 1857 the brewery was led by William Lill and Michael Diversey and was brewing enough ale at its brewery at Chicago Ave. and Pine St. (nowN. Michigan Ave.) to ship to Buffalo, New Orleans, and St. Paul. While Lill and Diversey could claim "lineage" back to the city's first brewery, other breweries successfully established themselves in Chicago in the 1840s and 1850s including James Carney, Jacob Gauch, Reiser & Portmann, Jacob Miller, Conrad Seipp, and John A Huck.
Huck deserves special mention in that he introduced Chicago in 1847 to German-style lager at his brewery and attached beer garden at Chicago Ave. and Rush St. Huck was one of several immigrants with knowledge of German brewing methods who started brewing lagers in cities with large German populations, including Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee. Unlike the traditional English-style beers, German lager had a light and crisp character with carbonation and lower alcohol content.
From the 1860s to 1870s, sales of lager beer began to outpace English-style beers, distilled spirits, and wines, and by the end of the nineteenth century lager would dominate the alcohol trade in America, giving rise to a large brewing industry. A brewer's trade association described lager as a "light sparkling beverage peculiarly suited to the domestic palate," and praised lager as the "best adapted to the energetic and progressive civilization ofthe United States" due to its relatively lower alcohol content. By 1890 the thirst for beer in Chicago was so great that the Saloon Keeper s Journal boasted that the per capita consumption of beer in Chicago was 49 gallons, more than twice the amount consumed by residents of Germany.
The Growth of Brewing as an Industry
To satisfy the seemingly insatiable demand for beer, brewing evolved into one of America's and Chicago's largest manufacturing industries. In addition to its large immigrant population of beer drinkers from Germany, Bohemia, Ireland and Scandinavia, Chicago's proximity to natural resources made it an ideal location for brewing. As the central market for the vast amount of grain harvested in the Midwest, Chicago offered brewers access to barley, the key ingredient in beer. Fresh water was another important ingredient in brewing which was abundant in Chicago. The production and aging of lager consumed large amounts of ice, and the city's cold winters provided natural ice which could be harvested from lakes and stored in ice houses to allow brewing in warm weather prior to the invention of mechanical refrigeration.
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Prior to the "tied-house" period, saloons in Chicago were undifferentiated from common "store and flat buildings" found throughout the city.
Examples include the Polska Stacya (upper left), a Polish saloon photographed in 1903 located in a brick three-flat building (address unknown); a wood-frame saloon operated by Cerf Myers at 848 S. Blue Island Ave. photographed in 1911 (lower left); and Fred Kantzler's wood-frame saloon at 2101 S. State from 1903 (lower right).
5
Just as it attracted other industries, Chicago's central location within the national rail network attracted breweries, especially the large "shipping breweries" based in Milwaukee which were producing far more beer than Milwaukeeans and Chicagoans could consume. Edward G Uihlein, who led Milwaukee-based Schlitz Brewery's operations in Chicago, observed that the "expansion of the railroads throughout the U.S. made Chicago the freighting center for Schlitz, which opened up the market. The business, literally, exploded."
Chicago was also an important center for technological and scientific developments in the brewing industry. Chicago brewers were early adopters of mechanical refrigeration in the 1870s, allowing brewing to occur at any time of year. In 1872 German-trained chemist Dr. John E. Siebel founded the Zymotechnic Institute to test and analyze beer and yeast samples for Chicago brewers. He went on to establish Siebel Institute of Technology, which continues to offer courses in brewing in Chicago. Several trade publications for the brewing and saloon trades were based in Chicago in the late-nineteenth century, including The Western Brewer which served as a sounding board for the brewing interests as the temperance and prohibition movement gained strength.
The growth ofthe brewing industry in Chicago led to intense competition between an evergrowing numbers of brewers, especially after the completion of the Chicago & North Western Railway connection in 1857 which allowed Milwaukee brewers to ship beer to Chicago. The Best Brewery (later Pabst) of Milwaukee began selling in Chicago that year, with Blatz and Schlitz following in the 1860s. Historian Perry Duis observed that the industry had a "David and Goliath" quality with a few large breweries with huge production capacity contrasting with a great number of small-scale upstarts hoping to cash in on Chicago's market.
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed five ofthe city's then twelve breweries and much of its drinking water infrastructure. In the immediate aftermath ofthe Fire, the Schlitz brewery sent trainloads of beer and drinking water to aid residents ofthe ruined city. Schlitz's good-will gesture earned the company a large number of loyal customers in Chicago, and it served as a basis for the brewery's advertising slogan, "The beer that made Milwaukee famous." Schlitz would become the most prolific builder of tied-house saloons in Chicago.
Despite the damage wrought by the Fire, and the establishment of outside competitors like Schlitz, the brewing industry in Chicago recovered. By 1890 Chicago had 34 breweries with 2,051 employees and payrolls of more than $ 1.4 million. Ten years later, in 1900, Chicago breweries produced over 100 million gallons of beer per year. The industry was dominated by entrepreneurs of German origins (74% of all Chicago brewers in 1900), followed by immigrants from England and Canada. The ranks of Chicago brewers included such well-known names as Peter Schoenhofen, Joseph Theurer, Francis Dewes, Conrad Seipp, Fridolin Madlener, and Michael Brand.
These brewers were well-respected members of Chicago's large and wide-spread German-American community. Most were members of the Germania Club (a designated Chicago Landmark), Chicago's premiere club for Chicagoans of German origin or descent.
6
FIRST LAGER BEER BREWERY IN CHICAGO, 1S47. John A. Huck, Proprietor.
The drawing above shows'John Huck's lager brewery in Chicago in 1847. Many large breweries grew from such humble beginnings into major industries in Chicago, Milwaukee, and other cities in the late 1800s.
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A cover illustration (above) from the Chicago-based trade publication The Western Brewershowing King Gambrinus, the unofficial patron saint of beer. The words "True Temperance" reflect the brewing industry's argument that beer was a temperate, even healthful, beverage due to its lower alcohol content compared to spirits.
Siebel's Brewing Academy (left) circa 1902-1904. Chicago was a leading center for scientific and technological advances in brewing, moving the field from an ethnic craft tradition to an important industry. Siebel's academy continues to teach brewing in Chicago.
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Schoenhofen upon his death left $75,000 to various charitable organizations in Chicago, including the Alexian Brothers' Hospital, the German Old People's Home, the Evangelical Lutheran Orphan Asylum, and St. Luke's Free Hospital. Theurer, who was Schoenhofen's son-in-law, served as president ofthe American Brewers' Association and was a member ofthe Chicago Board of Trade and several clubs, including the Chicago Athletic Club. Although his wealth was made in America, Dewes came from a well-established family in Germany, where his father was a member of the first German Parliament in 1848. In Chicago, he was a member of the Chicago Athletic and Union League clubs. Seipp was an abolitionist before the Civil War and a staunch Republican in the years after. Madlener, whose son married a daughter of Seipp, was a supporter of Chicago's tumvereins (gymnastic societies) and sangvereins (singing societies). Brand was a member ofthe Illinois legislature from 1862-63 and was later a Chicago alderman from 1873-74. He was a member of the Iroquois Club as well as the Chicago Board of Trade. (The two buildings that were part of the Schoenhofen Brewery and the homes of Theurer, Dewes and his brother, and Madlener's son are all Chicago Landmarks.)
Beginning in 1889, Chicago's brewing industry faced new challenges due to investments and mergers arranged by British speculators who purchased several breweries and merged them into syndicates. The investors hoped that syndication would reduce competition and create advantageous economies of scale in purchasing grain and transportation costs. Rather than reducing competition, the syndicates were undermined by independent brewers who slashed wholesale prices resulting in the so-called "Beer Wars" of the 1890s, which drove barrel prices down from $6 to S3.
During the same period, brewers found themselves in an increasingly antagonistic relationship with Chicago's independent saloon owners. Prior to the introduction of the tied-house system, brewery salesman pursued aggressive sales strategies with saloons to ensure that their beer was placed in the retail market. In order to secure orders from saloon owners, breweries undercut their competitor's wholesale barrel prices. Brand loyalty was apparently not a consideration; in addition, brewery salesmen offered free samples, glassware, signs and other gratuities to garner a saloon keeper's loyalty. The intense competition allowed saloon owners to play rival beer salesman against each other, readily switching suppliers for a lower barrel price.
It was in this environment of cut-throat competition and declining profits in the 1890s that brewing companies would be drawn to the tied-house system as a business strategy to guarantee retail outlets for their products. Increased regulation of saloons by "dry" reformers would have the unintended effect of further encouraging the tied-house system.
The "Dry " Movement
The development of the tied-house system in Chicago owes just as much to opponents of alcohol as it does brewers and drinkers. As early as 1833, Chicago supported a local chapter of the American Temperance Society, made up of so-called "drys" who assailed the social disorder caused by dririking. Temperance began as a religious movement which encouraged moderation in alcohol consumption. Beer and wine were regarded as temperate substitutes to hard liquors (a theme which brewers would advocate up to Prohibition). Throughout the
8
nineteenth century, the dry movement became more rigid, evolving from a position of moderate consumption to complete abstinence, and from moral persuasion to political pressure.
One pillar ofthe temperance movement was to force saloons to adhere to night-time closing hours and Sunday closure. George Ade recalled that during the 1890s saloons were "open all night and on Sunday. One ofthe most familiar statements in playful circulation was to the effect that when a drink parlor was opened in the loop, the proprietor went over and threw the key into the lake. The more famous hang-outs had not been closed for a single minute for years and years." A Sunday closing law was passed by Illinois as early as 1851, but in Chicago no attempt to enforce the law was made until the election of Mayor Levi Boone in 1854.
Boone had been elected by supporters ofthe Know-Nothing Party, a coalition of "dry" and anti-immigrant voters. Once in office, Boone raised the annual saloon license fee from $50 to $300 and called for the enforcement ofthe state's Sunday closure law. Thirty-three saloon owners who did not close on Sunday were arrested and scheduled for trial on April 21,1855. A gathering of protestors at the courthouse on the day ofthe trial clashed with police resulting in one death and dozens of arrests. This first outbreak of civil unrest in the city's history became known as the "Lager Beer Riot." For the city's working-class immigrant communities, particularly the Germans and Irish, Boone's policies were seen as an attack on their culture and leisure. They were joined by brewers and saloon owners whose profits were threatened. In the following city election, German and Irish voters drove Boone out of office, and his reforms were reversed, yet alcohol would remain a volatile political issue for decades.
Attempts in 1874 to again enforce Sunday closure met with similar opposition, which in turn led to the watering down ofthe legislation to allow saloons to remain open on Sunday as long as windows remained shaded and the front door closed, though rear or side doors could be opened for customers. The "compromise" ordinance placed a premium on comer locations, as evidenced by the remaining brewery-tied houses.
A second pillar of "dry" reformers focused on the licensing of drinking establishments, specifically restricting the number of licenses to discourage the establishment of new licenses. Dry's also advocated a "high license" movement which would increase the annual saloon license fee to raise revenue for police and social programs necessitated by alcohol abuse. The higher fees were also hoped to force small tavern owners out of business. In 1883 the Illinois State legislature passed the Harper High License Act which raised the annual saloon license fee from $103 to $500.
Facing bankruptcy, saloon keepers turned to brewers for help in paying the higher license fees. To keep their retailers in business and selling their beer, brewers subsidized saloon owners by paying part or all of the increased license fees. In exchange, brewers compelled the saloon keeper to exclusively sell only their beer. After passage ofthe Harper legislation, 780 of Chicago's 3,500 saloons closed, yet in the next year 516 new saloons opened with subsidies from brewing companies.
9
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Founded in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1893, the Anti-Saloon League vowed that "The saloon must go." Illustrated pamphlets (top left and right) highlighted the damage caused by saloon drinking to the American family and home. As saloon owners during the tied-house period, brewing companies began to be perceived as soulless monopolies.
Chicago members of the Anti-Saloon League in 1910 (right) reviewing a petition for local-option legislation which would allow wards or even the entire city to vote itself "dry." The Anti-Saloon League became a major force in politics and was the organization most responsible for the passage of Prohibition in 1919.
These efforts by temperance advocates to regulate public drinking establishments had the unintended effect of increasing the role of breweries in the retailing of their product, which led ultimately to brewers taking direct control over saloons in the tied-house system.
The Role of the Saloon in Chicago's Neighborhoods
Despite being increasingly hedged in by legal restrictions and demonized by dry reformers, the saloon in Chicago proved to be a remarkably resilient part of the social fabric of Chicago's neighborhoods. An abundance of writing by temperance advocates and sensational press articles portrayed the saloon as a haven for gambling, prostitution, political corruption and a host of other social ills. A few contemporary authors, however, took a more scientific approach to understand what role the neighborhood saloon played in the social fabric of Chicago's neighborhoods.
One such study of the saloon in Chicago was prepared by The Committee of Fifty for the Investigation of the Liquor Problem, a non-governmental body led by the presidents of Harvard and Columbia universities and which included academics, progressives social reformers, anti-alcohol campaigners, and industrialists. In 1900 the Committee published an in-depth study of saloons clustered near the Chicago Commons settlement house in the West Town neighborhood. While the Committee promoted temperance and prohibition, its study found that the saloon was the "social and intellectual center of the neighborhood."
The researchers found that the saloon offered a range of legitimate creature comforts with the purchase of a 5-cent glass of beer. Compared with the unpleasant dwellings occupied by the working class, the saloon interior provided comfortably furnished and heated rooms where newspapers, music, and billiards were often available. The study also found that the ubiquitous free lunches offered by saloons distributed more food in Chicago than the combined efforts of ,charities fighting hunger at the time. Check cashing, telephones, and restrooms were other benefits cited by the study.
More importantly, the study found that the saloon also offered camaraderie, information about job opportunities, a safe place for the discussion of politics that would not be tolerated in the workplace, and the assimilation and mixing of members of different ethnic immigrant groups. It was not uncommon for weddings and funerals to be held in the back rooms of saloons.
It should be noted that social norms ofthe period strongly discouraged women from patronizing saloons. The social benefits ofthe saloon were available only to men. Indeed, women bore the brant ofthe domestic upheaval caused by alcohol abuse, and historians suggest that the suffrage movement was largely driven by women who wanted a voice in alcohol policies.
The Committee's study concluded that the saloons in West Town in 1900 were social clubs for the immigrant working class, and that while vice did exist in saloons, it had been greatly exaggerated by dry advocates and sensationalist journalism. Rather than continuing ineffective legal restrictions on saloons, the Committee recommended greater support for substitutes for the saloon such as turnvereins, trade unions, church societies, settlement houses, and public libraries.
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Initially conceived of by "dry" reformers to moderate alcohol consumption, the "free lunch" became an important feature of Chicago saloons. The most ample lunches were available at tied houses due to the financial backing ofthe brewing companies. A1900 study of saloons in the West Town community area concluded that more food was supplied by saloons than the combined efforts of hunger charities.
The Establishment of the Tied-House System in Chicago
The term "tied house" first appeared in eighteenth-century London where it referred to taverns owned by breweries where they only sold their brand of beer. The system was a form of "vertical integration," by which breweries expanded their business beyond mere production to also include the wholesale distribution and retail sale of their product. Intense competition among brewers combined with government policies which sought to restrict saloons compelled brewers to embrace the tied-house system in nineteenth-century Chicago. The tied-house system reflects broader economic patterns of the time that encouraged the growth of large business enterprises such as industrial corporations and department stores.
The tied-house system offered brewers numerous advantages. The greatest of these was that retail outlets for their product could be assured. This was especially attractive to brewing companies in Chicago which were reeling from price wars and aggressive sales practices from competitors. Securing retail establishments was also advantageous to brewers because beer was perishable and impossible to stockpile during downturns. Similarly, the system allowed the brewer to control how their beer was stored and served to maintain the brand's reputation.
At its inception, the tied-house system also appealed to dry reformers. In 1892, the Chicago Tribune observed that it "would be of much advantage to the city from the standpoint of the social economist, because it means a reduction in the number of saloons and raises their character by putting ample responsibility behind them." Indeed, brewing companies also hoped that they could improve the image ofthe saloon in the face of growing criticism from social reformers and temperance advocates. The Chicago Brewers Association planned "to place the licensed places where their product is sold on such a basis of respectable conduct that the community will have no cause to complain of their existence."
The tied-house system in Chicago evolved gradually. As previously noted, brewers began to invest capital in saloons by subsidizing the license fees of saloon owners in 1883. At the same
JK«tm: C~i.*i*. THE SALOON-POOR MAW'S CIU8 Ut, t9CN
12
time, brewers established rental programs which offered fixtures, equipment and furniture for rent to saloon owners. The scale of these programs ranged from a few pieces for an established saloon to the complete outfit of a new saloon ranging from the bar itself all the way to the kitchen sink. A key feature of these rental agreements prohibited the saloon owner from selling beer from any other brewer, and the brewer's beer prices were non-negotiable.
Brewers took the next step toward the tied-house system when they began to rent commercial property and establish saloons selling only their products. Rather than dealing with independent saloon owners with little loyalty, the brewers employed their own agents to run the establishment. Compared to an independent saloonkeeper, the brewing company had more substantial financial resources, allowing it to rent choice storefronts in highly desirable locations.
Outright ownership of saloons by breweries began in Chicago in 1892 when two large brewery syndicates, the English-backed Chicago Brewing & Malting Company and the local combine known as the Milwaukee & Chicago Breweries Ltd., established a fund of $6 million to buy already-built saloons as well as land for new ones. In 1892, the Tribune reported that the first twenty saloons purchased by the conglomerate were located in "manufacturing districts occupied by a foreign-born population," and the newspaper hoped that the character of these saloons would improve with the ample responsibility ofthe breweries behind them. By 1893 nearly half ofthe city's seven thousand saloons were tied to breweries. While some of these were pre-existing saloons, the majority were new buildings purpose-built as tied houses. Milwaukee-based Schlitz was the most prolific tied-house builder, though other Milwaukee brewers built in Chicago including Blatz, Pabst, and Miller. Local brewers also built tied houses in Chicago such as the Atlas, Birk Brothers, Fortune Brothers, Gottfried, Peter Hand, Standard, and Stege companies.
The tied-house system transformed saloonkeepers from independent business owners to dependency on, or employment by, the controlling brewery. An entrepreneur wishing to start up a saloon with a brewer's sponsorship could set up a tied house with a small investment, however, his job security was depended on turning a sufficient profit for the brewer; under-performing saloonkeepers were frequently replaced. However, Edward G Uihlein of the Schlitz Brewery portrayed the tied-house system as protecting both the interests of the brewer and the saloon keeper, who was now his employee:
For our own purposes we often invested funds by financing our customers [saloon keepers]. In this manner we not only reached higher sales figures, but we also insured our clients against the competition. We could set our own prices, but of course we never took advantage of the situation. When we rented to a merchant who handled our product exclusively we were very sure of his reputation and his compliance with all laws and ordinances. A respectable merchant need not fear an increase in rent unless an increase in taxes or cost of maintenance made it necessary. Needless to say, our policies were not highly regarded by the competition. However, after some time, when we had achieved a reputation for keeping our contracts and the most inconsequential of promises we had not problem renting all available space. The final result was the respect of the whole business sector in Chicago.
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While dry reformers initially believed that the tied-house system would lead to improvements in the character of the saloon in Chicago, they must have been appalled to observe how the system encouraged the proliferation of drinking establishments. Rather than one saloon selling multiple brands of beer, the tied-house system created multiple saloons, each selling only one brand of beer. In 1906 the Tribune reported that "wherever one (brewing company) started a saloon to sell his beer exclusively, his rivals felt constrained to start saloons of their own in the neighborhood. The result has been a costly multiplication of drinking places." George Ade observed that "new saloons were opened whenever there seemed to be a fair chance of attracting a group of bar-drinkers. They grew in number along the main thoroughfares, filtered into side streets and invaded residential districts."
In his 1890 description of Chicago's then predominantly Czech and Slovak Pilsen neighborhood, religious missionary John Huss wrote that he "counted 72 liquor saloons on one side of the St., and presume there were as many more on the other side, within a distance of about one and a half miles." A year later the Women's Christian Temperance Union, founded in Evanston by Frances Willard, counted 5,600 saloons in the entire city, enough "if placed side by side on a St. they would form a stretch of saloons 10 miles long."
Both contemporary observers and historians ofthe tied-house period in Chicago suggest that the lack of job security and increased competition between the ever-growing number of saloons forced some saloon keepers to host vice on their premises in exchange for kickbacks. According to Ade, "it was not until the saloons multiplied until each one had to resort to 'rough stuff in order to get money in the till that the urban proprietor who wished to run a 'nice, quite place' .became lost in the shuffle."
While the tied-house system offered brewers advantages in distribution and sale of their product, the system was flawed in that it laid the social problems associated with alcohol and saloons on the brewer's doorstep. Rather than merely brewing beer, breweries began to be regarded as giant and soulless monopolies who ignored the social problems caused by excess alcohol consumption. The brewing companies' failure to respond the complaints of dry
feoW Block of Saloons in Ashland Avenue, Likely to Be Thinned Out it $1,000 License Is Adopted
In 1906, the Chicago Tribune published a composite photo of an unbroken row of saloons on Ashland Ave. near the Stockyards. It reflected the growing concern at the time over the proliferation of saloons in Chicago, an unforeseen consequence ofthe tied-house system. Such multiplication of saloons would lead to federal legislation, passed after Prohibition (and which remains in effect today), which prevents brewing companies from owning retail establishments.
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advocates against saloons would give the Prohibition movement greater traction in the first two decades of the twentieth century.
Like all other liquor sellers, the tied house was legalized out of existence by Prohibition in 1919. Yet, unlike other alcohol retailers, Federal regulations explicitly prohibited the re-establishment of the tied-house system after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Tied-house buildings that reopened as taverns in 1933 were owned or leased by independent tavern keepers.
Schlitz Brewery's Tied-House System in Chicago
Though not the first tied-house builder in Chicago, Schlitz was the most prolific, and its architectural legacy is readily identifiable by the brewery's "belted globe" insignia which survives on many of its tied houses. The origins of the Schlitz Brewery go back to August Krug who emigrated from Germany to Milwaukee in 1848. With his wife he established "Little Germany," a restaurant and tavern catering to Milwaukee's large German population. Krug brewed small batches of lager for the tavern, which gained such popularity that he established the August Krug Brewery in the tavern's basement.
In 1850, Krug adopted his 8-year-old nephew August Uihlein who had arrived from Germany. Once settled in Milwaukee, the young August went to school and was trained in the brewing business by his uncle. Also in 1850, Joseph Schlitz, also from Germany, was hired by Krug to serve as bookkeeper for the growing brewery. August Krug's brewery continued to prosper until his death in 1856. Joseph Schlitz took over the brewery's interests through marriage to Krug's widow, and changed the name ofthe business in 185 8 to the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. August Uihlein, who by then was 16 and attending St. Louis University in Missouri, returned from school and persuaded Schlitz to hire him as bookkeeper.
In 1860, August Uihlein left Schlitz to take a higher paid position at the Ulrig Brewery in St. Louis. In following years, August's brothersHenry, Edward and Alfred Uihleinimmigrated to the United States and found work in the brewing industry. It was Edward who would build Schlitz's tied houses in Chicago.
Edward G Uihlein (1845-1921) was 18 years old when he arrived in St. Louis in 1863 and soon started a small metal manufacturing company which proved so successful that he moved to Chicago where he opened a second factory and retail store. Uihlein's business survived and thrived after the Fire of 1871, however, the following year he accepted Joseph Schlitz's invitation to be the brewery's manager for its expanding Chicago market.
On May 7,1875, Joseph Schlitz perished in a shipwreck off the English coast while en route to Germany. Prior to his journey, he made out his will which left the four Uihlein brothers with a controlling share ofthe brewery's stock. Edward was appointed as vice-president of the brewery, but remained in Chicago to manage Schlitz's operations there. The quartet of Uihlein brothers would use their entrepreneurial and managerial talents to raise Schlitz to a globally-recognized brand by the turn of the twentieth century. During the tied-house period, Schlitz was the third-largest brewer in the United States, behind Pabst of Milwaukee and Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis.
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Like other "shipping breweries," Schlitz brewed their beer in Milwaukee and shipped it to its Chicago plant (1903, Frommann & Jebsen, demolished) near the tracks of the Chicago and North Western Railway at W. Ohio and N. Union Streets. From there it was shipped by the barrel to saloons, and bottled when that technology became available.
Under Edward Uihlein's management, Schlitz built fifty-seven tied houses in the city from 1897 to 1905 at a cost of $328,800. They were mostly located on corners of commercial streets in immigrant working-class neighborhoods. The location of the Schlitz's saloons provides no indication that the brewery catered to a specific ethnic group, focusing instead on areas with large concentration of industrial workers. For example, in 1904 Uihlein purchased a ten-acre site opposite the planned industrial town of Pullman, which had banned alcohol. It was a prime location to attract the thirsty workers of Pullman, and Uihlein constructed "Schlitz Row," a two-block long stretch that included three tied houses, a stable building, and housing for managers employed by the brewery. The tied house at 11400 S. Front Ave. (1906) and the stable at 11314 S. Front Ave. (1906) remain from "Schlitz Row," as well as some additional buildings.
Prior to the tied-house period, historic saloons in Chicago neighborhoods were often indistinguishable in function and appearance from common "store and flat" buildings. However, brewers in general, and Schlitz in particular, maintained a much higher standard of architectural design and construction for the saloons they built. Uihlein commissioned established Chicago architects to design the Schlitz-owned tied houses, including Frommann & Jebsen, Kley & Lang and Charles Thisslew. It can only be assumed that breweries like Schlitz chose high-quality -architecture not only to compete for customers, but more importantly to project an image of propriety in the face of growing criticism of saloons and drinking.
In addition to his successful career with Schlitz, Edward Uihlein was a prominent and socially-active figure in Chicago's German-American community, serving on the boards of charitable, arts and ethnic organizations including the Chicago Historical Society and the Germania Club. Uihlein was also an avid horticulturist and served a term as a commissioner of Chicago's West Parks Commission. He was also vice president ofthe Horticultural Society of Chicago, which is the predecessor of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois.
The End of the Tied-House System
Even as tied houses were being constructed in Chicago in the 1890s and 1910s, dry reformers continued to gain strength. The multiplication of saloons under the tied-house system contributed to the growing political resistance to public drinking establishments. During the 1890s and 1910s, dry reformers gained strength through the Anti-Saloon League, a very successful political action group which vowed that "the saloon must go."
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The Joseph Schlitz Brewery company in Milwaukee in 1888 (above) was one of a half-dozen "shipping breweries" in the nineteenth century using pasteurization, refrigeration and rail transportation to brew and sell far more beer than the local population of Milwaukee could consume. Chicago was a major market for Schlitz.
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Edward G. Uihlein (1845-1921) immigrated to America from Germany as a boy and was groomed for the brewing industry through family connections. He was one of four brothers who promoted the Schlitz Brewery into a global brand.
Joseph Schlitz Brewery,
HEKRV mttVam.........,.Peo.ld«nt
AUGUST UlHl.liIN,..T...3c<n-i,Utry
Annual Capacity, 600,000 Barrels.
SCHLITZ BRAU.
May 1st appears the latest and best product of the celebrated Joseph Schlitz Brewery, brewed exclusively from Canada Barley Malt and Finest Bohemian Hops*
EDWARD UIHLEIN, Manager, Chicago,
Corner Union and Ohio-sts.
As the director of Schlitz's Chicago operations, Edward Uihlein oversaw the distribution of Schlitz's beer from their Chicago facility at Ohio and Union Streets, as indicated in the advertisement at left. Under Uihlein's management, Schlitz built at least fifty-seven tied houses in the city from 1897 to 1905 at a cost of $328,800.
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By 1906 the political influence ofthe Anti-Saloon League was evident in Chicago when the city passed ordinances which doubled the annual license fee for saloons and capped the number of licenses until the population doubled; and, in 1915, Mayor Thompson finally enforced the Sunday closure laws. Three years later during World War I, the U.S. Congress passed wartime prohibition to conserve grain for food supplies. During the war, Schlitz, like many other breweries, was attacked in the press for the German heritage of its founders and managers. A dry politician named John Strange told the Milwaukee Journal that "We have German enemies across the water. We have German enemies in this country too. And the worst of all our German enemies, the most treacherous, the most menacing, are Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz and Miller."
National Prohibition passed in 1919 and remained in effect until 1933. At the beginning of Prohibition, there were 1,345 breweries in America. Schlitz was one of only thirty-one breweries that survived the "noble experiment." Like other breweries, Schlitz sustained itself by selling malt syrup, ostensibly for baking but which was widely used as a beer starter for home brewers. Schlitz's "cereal beverage" Famo, or de-alcoholized beer, sold well only in the first years of Prohibition.
After the repeal of prohibition in 1933, revised state and federal regulations ofthe alcohol industry prohibited breweries from owning or having financial interests in retail establishments, thus preventing the re-establishment of the tied-house system and monopolies. The system was replaced with the current "three-tier system," with an independent wholesale distributor placed between the brewer and tavern owner.
Despite the end ofthe tied-house system, Schlitz was one of the nation's largest brewers up to the 1960s when the brand declined after the recipe for its beer was changed. In the 1970s, the company and brand rights were bought by Pabst which continues to brew Schlitz beer.
Tied-House Architecture in Chicago
In addition to their shared historical development, the brewery-tied houses in Chicago are unified by architectural characteristics making them a distinct and recognizable building type in the city. Research for this report has documented at least forty-one brewery-tied houses that survive in Chicago, and it is likely that there are other examples not yet identified. Although Schlitz built the maj ority, a host of other breweries built taverns in Chicago, including the Milwaukee-based Blatz, Pabst, and Miller breweries, as well as local brewers such as the Atlas, Birk Brothers, Fortune Brothers, Gottfried, Peter Hand, Standard, and Stege companies.
Compared to the independent shopkeeper or saloonkeeper, the brewing companies possessed substantially larger budgets for acquiring prime real estate and to build high-quality buildings. In the hands of brewers, the common "store and flat" building was elevated through well-designed architecture to attract customers and to promote the brewer's brand. The possibility also cannot be excluded that brewers employed attractive, and sometimes cheerfully picturesque,
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Date: 1898 Architect: Unknown
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House 3456 S. Western Ave. Date 1899
Architect KIcy&Lany
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(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House (Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House
(now Schuba's Tavern) 3159 N. Southport Ave. Date: 1903
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen
2159 W. BelmontAve. Date: 1903-1904 Architect: Charles Thisslew
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(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied house 11400 S. Front Ave. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
(Former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building 11314 S. Front Ave. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
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architecture to deflect criticism from their "dry" opponents who saw the saloon as a moral threat.
Brewery-tied houses are typically found at prominent and highly-visible comers of at least one, if not two neighborhood commercial streets, typically with streetcar or nearby elevated train service. Brewing companies favored locating in neighborhoods that historically were working class, often with industrial complexes in walking distance. (It appears that no brewery-tied houses were located in Chicago's downtown.) While many of these neighborhoods had large immigrant populations, there is no indication that brewers located their taverns to serve specific ethnic groups. Contemporary observers ofthe Chicago saloon at the turn of the twentieth century noted that it was one of the few places where immigrants from several ethnic groups mingled, although most neighborhoods were predominantly one or a few ethnic groups.
The overall form ofthe brewery-tied house is based on the common "store and flat" building, with the street level a publicly accessible retail space and private apartments on the second and in some cases, third stories. In some instances the rear portion of the tavern included an attached one-story hall. Structurally, the tied houses typically consist of load-bearing masonry exterior walls with a wood-frame interior structure and a flat roof. Rectangular in plan, the tied houses typically measure 25' wide with depths ranging from 75' to 120'.
Because of their comer locations, tied houses typically have two street-facing elevations. Ornamentation is concentrated on the narrow front elevation, with the longer side elevation typically being less ornamented to plain, depending on the prominence of the side street. The utilitarian rear elevation and the interior side elevation, often obscured by a neighboring structure, are most characteristically unadorned common brick. The street-facing elevations are typically clad in face brick, often in two contrasting colors arranged in attractive patterns or tapestry bonds. Though less common, limestone cladding is also found at the front elevations of some tied houses in combination with a face-brick side elevation. Limestone is also used for carved ornamentation, sills, string courses, and as contrasting accents in arched brick openings. Pressed metal, either painted galvanized steel or patinated copper, is used for bay and turret cladding, finials, cornices, copings, and other ornamental details such as around more elaborate window openings.
The primary entrance to the tied houses is typically located at a chamfered corner ofthe building, often marked with a projecting bay, or oriel window, or turret above it. The front elevation often originally featured large storefront windows lighting the tavern interior and a separate entrance leading to the second floor apartments. The longer side street elevation ofthe first story commonly includes relatively large window openings and a secondary entrance to the tavern.
Architectural ornamentation on the tied houses is concentrated at the upper stories and parapet. Upper-story bay windows or corner turrets, often clad with pressed metal decoration and topped with conical or bonnet roofs, are typically located at the corner. A second or even third window bay is also very commonly found on side elevations. Parapets frequently include false gables, often stepped or scrolled, and crenellation. In addition to horizontal stringcourses,
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Schlitz's tied houses typically feature the brewery's "belted globe" insignia set prominently in the facade (below left, unpainted terra cotta at 9401 S. Ewing). The origin ofthe design dates back to Schlitz's display at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (upper left) which was designed by Chicago sculptor Richard Bock (1865-1949, upper right).
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In addition to Schlitz other brewing companies left their mark on their former tied houses in Chicago including the Standard brewery (middle center 2359 S. Western) tho Pctor i Hand brewery (middle \r't vi-
right, 1059 N. Wolcott in , the East Village Chicago Landmark District), the Blatz brewery (bottom left, 835 N. Wolcott), and the Stege brewery (bottom right, 2658 W. 24th St.)
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narrow brick piers with stone or metal finials are common. Patterned and tapestry brick, blind arches, corbelling, and pressed-metal and carved limestone decoration are often used in various combinations on the upper stories of tied houses. Depending on the individual building, and perhaps reflecting the character of the surrounding neighborhood, the use of ornamentation ranges from the more restrained to elaborate. In some of the more elaborate designs, complex rooflines and ornamentation is characteristic, including window openings at the second story framed with pressed-metal and carved limestone decoration that projects from the wall surface.
Tied-house facades are often branded with the trademark or insignia ofthe brewing company rendered in carved stone, terra cotta or pressed metal. Perhaps the most recognizable is Schlitz's "belted globe." The design is based on sculptor Richard Bock's design for Schlitz's exhibit at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Bock described it in detail in his memoirs which were later published by his daughter in 1989:
There was an exhibition piece I needed to do for the Manufacturer's Building, the Schlitz Brewery trademark of a huge globe with a buckled belt around it. This globe was supported by four female figures in playful poses representing the four hemispheres. At their feet were gnomes. Flanking this centerpiece were four pedestals constructed of beer kegs, three to a pedestal, and on top of each a herald blowing a trumpet.
Franz Rugiska, a sculptor who had also worked with Louis Sullivan, assisted Bock with the piece. Other brewing company insignia found on Chicago's tied houses include the trademarks of Stege, Peter Hand, Standard, Blatz and Birk Brothers breweries.
In terms of architectural style, tied houses in Chicago typically favored the picturesque characteristics ofthe Queen Anne style and its close relative, the German Renaissance Revival style. Both styles were familiar to the European immigrants that predominated in these neighborhoods and were used to create a visually pleasing effect through a combination of colors, forms, materials, textures, and ornamentation. Motifs from various strands of earlier historical styles are woven together to simulate an aged and established appearance.
The Queen Anne Style
Eclecticism is the hallmark ofthe Queen Anne style, which was popular in Chicago during the 1880s and 1890s. The name was coined in nineteenth-century England to describe architect Richard Norman Shaw's innovative designs which freely combined medieval and classical forms and ornament. Shaw influenced American architects who began applying the Queen Anne to suburban houses and seaside resort cottages, but it quickly became a popular style for urban residences, both brick and wood-frame buildings. Queen Anne-style houses and other buildings in this style often include projecting bays, gabled rooflines, and a mixture of exterior building materials, including brick, stone, and metal.
The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 3456 S. Western Ave., 958 W. 69th St., and 2159 W. BelmontAve. exemplify the Queen Anne style of architecture. Characteristic features ofthe style exhibited by these buildings include their prominent projecting bays or turrets decorated with classical ornamentation in pressed metal. Also characteristic ofthe Queen Anne
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The Queen Anne architectural style was an important late 19th-century style that was used for many brewery-tied houses. Originating in England, and extremely popular in America, the style is characterized by an overall eclecticism of design. Queen Anne commercial buildings commonly have a plethora of detailing from classical and medieval sources, varied rooflines, and decorative-metal bays, turrets, and cornices.
A number of examples of the Queen Anne style as used for commercial buildings in Chicago neighborhoods can be seen in the Armitage-Halsted Chicago Landmark District, including (top) the buildings in the 900-block of W. Armitage Ave. and (right) two buildings at 2112 & 2116 N. Halsted St.
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The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 2159 W. Belmont Ave. (top), 3456 S. Western Ave. (middle left), 958 W. 69th St. (middle right), and 11400 S. Front Ave. (bottom left) and the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S. Front Ave. (bottom right) exemplify the Queen Anne style. Typical features ofthe style include a picturesque mixture of building materials, the combination of classical and medieval ornamental motifs, varied rooflines, and decorative-metal bays, turrets and cornices. The tied-house (at lower left) and stable (at lower right) were part of a larger complex known as Schlitz Row that included other larger Schlitz tied-houses (since demolished) and employee housing. They are more simplified examples of the Queen Anne style which perhaps reflects their subsidiary relationship to the large tied house (demolished) that originally anchored the row.
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style, these buildings combine materials such as the combination of a limestone front and face brick side elevation at 958 W. 69th St. or the combination of dark brown glazed brick and warm yellow face brick at 2159 W. BelmontAve. Limestone window frames and stringcourse are combined with brick at 5120 N. Broadway and 3456 S. Western Ave.
Simpler versions ofthe Queen Anne style are exhibited at the former Schlitz-tied house at 11400 S. Front Ave. (1906) and the related Schlitz stable building at 11314 S. Front Ave. (1906), both in "Schlitz Row" just outside the former industrial town of Pullman. Both designs combine projecting arches and piers with recessed wall planes to create a sculptural effect typical of the Queen Anne style. These designs are also unique compared to Schlitz's other buildings for their use of stucco wall accents. The Front Avenue buildings are also distinct for their humbler visual character, lacking historical ornament and emphasizing the inherent qualities of their sturdy brick masonry construction. Perhaps the simplicity of these two designs reflects, in the case of the stable, its more utilitarian function, and, in the case of the tied house, deference to the "showcase" tied house just south of it.
The German Renaissance Revival Style
An exotic relative ofthe Queen Anne, the German Renaissance Revival style developed in nmeteenth-century Germany and was adopted in America for buildings with a strong German ethnic association, such as residences of successful brewers, turnvereins, and brewery-tied houses. Examples ofthe style are typically confined to cities with large German ethnic populations such as Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati.
In its original manifestation, sixteenth-century German Renaissance architecture combined aspects of neo-classical architecture from Italy with mannerist interpretations of these forms in the Netherlands. The renewed interest in German Renaissance architecture in the nineteenth century was inspired by the restoration of the Heidelberg Castle (completed in the sixteenth century, restored in 1890) and the Royal Palace in Dresden (completed in 1556, restored in 1889-1901).
The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 3159 N. Southport Ave. exemplifies the German Renaissance Revival style of architecture. Characteristic feature ofthe style exhibited by the building include its tapestry brick bond pattern, the distinctive "bonnet" roof over the oriel window, the slim vertical piers with their limestone frnials, and steeply-pitched gable which in this case is rendered as a "false" extension of the parapet forming an ornamental silhouette. Window and door openings in this style are not merely punched in the facade but framed to stand out from the facade, exemplified by the use of contrasting red and warm yellow brick at 3159 N. SouthportAve.
The German Renaissance Revival style is relatively rare in Chicago, and it is often broadly categorized with the Queen Anne style. By evoking German culture, the style no doubt appealed to German brewers who had maintained strong family and cultural ties with Germany. Besides tied houses, other examples ofthe style in Chicago include the Chicago Varnish Company Building (1895, a designated Chicago Landmark), Hamilton Public School (1905,
25
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The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 3159 N. Southport Ave. (top left) exemplifies the German "Renaissance Revival style of architecture. The style traces its origins back to sixteenth-century Germany where it was popularized by Hans Vredeman de Vries (b.1527), a Dutch architect whose engravings (example middle left) were a rich source of ornament for the style. The tapestry brick and the fluted lunettes at the stepped parapet at the German Renaissance house at Wolbeck, Drostenhof (1557, middle right), are also characteristic features of the style.
Other examples of the style in Chicago include the Chicago Varnish Company Building (1895, a designated Chicago Landmark, lower left) and Hamilton Public School (1905,1650 W. Cornelia Ave., lower right).
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The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 3159 N. Southport Ave. exemplifies the German Renaissance Revival style of architecture. Typical features of the style include the building's steeply-pitched front gable (upper left), the distinctive tapestry brick and "bonnet" roof over the oriel window (upper right), the use of alternating colors of brick to frame window and door openings (lower left) and the slim vertical piers with their limestone finials (lower right). The German Renaissance Revival style is relatively rare in Chicago, but its evocation of German culture must have appealed to Chicago brewers like Schlitz who were
predominantly of German ancestry.
■
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1650 W. Cornelia Ave.), and the facade of Eitel's Old Heidelberg Restaurant (1934,14 W. Randolph St.).
Architects
Frommann & Jebsen
The Chicago architectural firm of Frommann & Jebsen enjoyed frequent patronage from Edward Uihlein and the Schlitz Brewing Company. The American Contractor identifies 27 commissions that the firm received from Uihlein or the brewery; a substantial number of these buildings were tied houses. Frommann & Jebsen also designed Uihlein's residence at 2041W. Pierce (1877, demolished circa 1921) and the brewery's distribution and bottling facility at Ohio and Union Avenues (1903, also demolished). Surviving tied houses known to have been designed by Frommann & Jebsen including those at 3159 N. Southport Ave. (1903) 1870 S. Blue IslandAve. (1899), and 8900 S. Normal Ave. (1910). Frommann & Jebsen likely designed the tied house at 11400 S. Front Ave. (1906) and the stable building at 11314 S. FrontAve. (1906) in "Schlitz Row" near Pullman.
Architect Emil Henry Frommann (1860-1950) was born in Peoria as the son of German immigrant and architect George N. Frommann. In 1871, the elder Frommann moved to Chicago to participate in the post-Fire reconstruction. The younger Frommann apprenticed in his father's office in the late-1870s before leaving to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1880. His father's death a year later cut short his formal education, though he was able to return to Chicago and successfully carry on his father's practice with Ernst Jebsen (1850-1917), about whom little is known. Frommann continued to practice architecture after Jebsen's death, with his last-known design completed in 1925.
"Schlitz Row" originated in 1904, when Edward Uihlein purchased land in the Kensington neighborhood just west ofthe then-dry town of Pullman. The row actually occupied two city blocks bounded by E. 113th St. on the north, E. 115th St. on the south, Front Ave. (then named Schlitz Ave.) on the east, and Martin Luther King Drive on the west.
"Schlitz Row" was anchored by a very large tied house at 400 E. 115th St. (1905, demolished 1996) designed by Frommann & Jebsen in the German Renaissance Revival-style. This was apparently not enough to satisfy the thirsty workers of dry Pullman, as another tied house was added to the row in 1906 at 11400 S. Front Ave. (extant), attributed to Frommann & Jebsen due to their overall association with the development of "Schlitz Row." A third tied house was added a year later at 11446 S. FrontAve. (demolished 1996). In 1906, Uihlein built a stable to accommodate draught horses for Schlitz's delivery wagons at 11314 S. FrontAve., also attributed to Frommann & Jebsen. "Schlitz Row" additionally included housing for managers of Schlitz brewery's Chicago operations. Surviving examples include a pair of two-flat buildings and one four-flat building, all from 1906, designed by Frommann & Jebsen in a simplified Queen Anne style withArts and Crafts influences. These buildings are at 11413,11419, and
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Frommann & Jebsen, the designers of several Schlitz brewery-tied houses, was a significant architectural firm in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Examples of buildings designed by the firm include (top left) an Art Nouveau-style six flat (1907) at 5451-55 S. Hyde Park Blvd.; (top right) a Tudor Revival-style mansion (1925) at 341 W. Wellington Ave., which is a contributing building in the Meekerville National Register District; and (middle left) a two-story terra-cotta-clad commercial building (1914, demolished) at 1211-13 N. Milwaukee Ave. Two examples of Frommann & Jebsen's brewery-tied houses (demolished) are those at (middle right) 11446 S. FrontAve.; and (bottom) 11450-54 S. FrontAve. / 400-410 E. 115th St., both of which were part ofthe "Schlitz Row" of taverns that was built to serve the thousands of workers from the adjacent industrial town of Pullman.
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Frommann & Jebsen's best-known building in Chicago is the Humboldt Park Receptory Building and Stable, constructed in 1895-96. Now the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, it was designated as a Chicago Landmark in 2008.
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11429 S. Martin Luther King Drive and are identified in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey.
Perhaps the most notable of Frommann & Jebsen's work in Chicago is the Humboldt Park Receptory and Stable building (1895-96), a designated Chicago Landmark. The very picturesque design features numerous gables, turrets, and half-timbering, and it was described in the West Park Commission's Annual Report as ofthe "old German style of country house architecture."
Other examples of Frommann & Jebsen's work include a number of residences for wealthy member ofthe city's German ethnic community in a range of then-popular historic revival styles. Some noteworthy extant residential buildings designed by the firm include the Emma Fernow House (1883) at 1620 N. LaSalle Blvd., an eclectic mix ofthe Gothic Revival and Second Empire styles; the lavish Eastlake-style John D. Runge House (1884) at 2138 W. Pierce St. in the Wicker Park Chicago Landmark District; a Second Empire-style house for William Kroeschell (1885) at 2238 N. Dayton in the Sheffield National Register Historic District; and the Ernest Ammon House at 629 W. Fullerton (1889), a Queen Anne-style residence in the Mid-North Chicago Landmark District. And taking a page from the tied houses, the firm employed the German Renaissance Revival style for a handsome two flat in 1907 designed for Charles Tome at 2205 W. Walton St. in the Ukrainian Village Chicago Landmark District.
Frommann & Jebsen's residential designs evolved with the changing architectural fashions after the turn-of-the twentieth-century. In 1909 the firm embraced the Prairie style for the Rudolph Schloesser house at 2222 N. Kedzie Blvd. in the Logan Square Chicago Landmark District, and in the same year the American Foursquare style at 560 W. Hawthorne PI. in the Hawthorne Place Chicago Landmark District. Two rare examples of ArtNouveau-style architecture in Chicago were designed by Frommann & Jebsen, including 5451-5455 S. Hyde Park Blvd. (1907) and 533 W. Diversey Parkway (1908), both flat buildings. While practicing on his own later in his career, Emil H. Frommann designed the Tudor Revival-style Apfel House (1925) at 341W. Wellington in the Meekerville National Register Historic District in Lake View.
Aside from brewery-tied houses, other examples of Frommann & Jebsen's commercial designs include a three-story department store building (1898) at 1327-33 N. Milwaukee Ave. in the Milwaukee Ave. Chicago Landmark district. The building features an unusual pressed-metal cladding rendered with Classical Revival-style motifs. In the same district, the firm designed a two-story Arts and Crafts-style bank building in 1917. Other commercial designs include a seven-story warehouse huilding with n handsome Classical revival-style base from 1912 at 833 W. Randolph St., anArtNoveau-style storefront at 1211 N. Milwaukee from 1914 (demolished), and a three-story store and flat building at the northeast comer of N. State Pkwy. andE. Division St.
Charles Thisslew
Architect Charles Thisslew (1858-1944) designed the former Schlitz brewery-tied houses at 2159 W. BelmontAve. (1903-1904),5120N. Broadway (1904,1908), 9401 S. EwingAve. (1907), 2001 W. GrandAve. (1905), and 2901 W. Diversey Ave. (1902). The Chicago
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Historic Resources Survey identifies a number of single-family residences and flat buildings also by Thisslew in a range of historically-popular styles from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. A concentration of eight Thisslew-designed two- and three-flat buildings from 1897 is located on the 2100-block of W. Concord PI. in the Wicker Park Chicago Landmark District. Large and high-style single-family residences designed by Thisslew can also be found in that district as well as the Logan Square Chicago Landmark District. Thisslew's nonresidential work includes the Mount Olive Cemetery Gatehouse (1901) and the Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Home and Hospital (1900) at Leavitt St. and HaddonAve. (demolished).
Kley & Lang
The architectural partnership of Henry Kley and Fritz Lang designed the former Schlitz brewery-tied houses at 3456 S. WesternAve. (1899) and 1944 N. Oakley Ave. (1898), and 3325 N. Southport Ave. (1898). On his own, Fritz Lang designed the former Schlitz brewery-tied house at 1801 W. Division St. (1900) and 1201 W. Roscoe Ave. (1902). The Chicago Historic Resources Survey identifies a small number of residential and store and flat buildings designed by these architects in the 1890s and 1910s.
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Building Catalog
All photographs in the building catalog are dated 2010 unless otherwise noted.
1. (Former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-House 958 W. 69th St. Date: 1898 Architect: Unknown
This Queen Anne-style former Schlitz-tied house is located at the northeast comer of 69th St. and Morgan Ave. in the Englewood neighborhood. Large industrial employers bordering the Englewood community included the Union Stockyards, the center of the nation's meat packing industry, and thc Standard Oil Company. English, German, and Scotch immigrants attracted to the area by industrial jobs resided in the surrounding largely working class community. In 1887, the 69th Street horsecar line was established from Vincennes to Halsted Street; the following year the line was extended west to Ashland Avenue. By the time Englewood was annexed to Chicago in 1889, there were horsecar connections from the area to downtown.
The limestone-fronted building is rectangular in plan and two-stories in height with a prominent comer bay and gable. The primary south elevation faces W. 69* St. and is clad at the second story with smooth limestone, articulated with two arched window openings, a pair of slim piers, and two simple string courses. The comer is chamfered and topped with a steeply-pitched gable framing a terra-cotta Schlitz globe. A projecting window bay below the globe is clad in original pressed metal with classical-style molding and recessed panels. At street level, the front elevation consists of large limestone piers with an exposed steel lintel over what would have originally been large storefront windows (now mostly bricked-up). A prominent limestone arch frames the comer entrance.
The less decorative side (west) elevation facing Morgan Ave. is clad in red face brick with an ornamental band of tapestry brick near the parapet and a second projecting window bay, also clad in pressed metal with classical motifs. Window and door openings have arched brick lintels
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and stone sills. The less visible north and east elevations are common brick, with a painted "ghost sign" for Schlitz visible on the east elevation.
Changes to the building are minor and include the infill ofthe originally large storefront windows with brick, as well as the bricking up of the first-floor window and door openings on the side elevation. The second-floor windows have also been replaced.
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2. (Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House 3456 S. Western Ave Date: 1899
Architect: Kley & Lang
The architectural firm of Kley & Lang designed this Queen Anne-style tied house for Schlitz in 1899. It is located at the northwest corner of S. Western Ave. and W. 35th St. in the McKinley Park community. The area industrialized rapidly following the Chicago Fire of 1871, as manufacturers established 11 plants, mostly foundries and steel mills, and 27 brickyards in the neighborhood. Available jobs in these local factories initially encouraged the settlement of Germans and Irish immigrants to this working-class neighborhood. The construction ofthe Sanitary & Ship Canal in the 1890s, located in the northern section ofthe community, brought additional industrial development. Transit improvement to the community were expanded throughout the 1880s and 1890s. In addition to streetcar lines on Archer Avenue and 35"' Street, the area was also served by the Western Avenue streetcar which was inaugurated in 1898.
The two-story brick building is rectangular in plan with a prominent comer turret. The front (east) elevation faces Western Ave., which at this location is part ofthe historic park boulevard system encircling the city. Both street elevations are clad in warm yellow face brick with limestone trim. A terra-cotta Schlitz "belted globe" is set within the facade at the side elevation and trimmed with limestone.
The comer is marked with a prominent turret clad in pressed metal with classical-style reticulated panels and colonnettes and topped by a "witch's hat" roof. A second projecting window bay is also located on the side elevation with similar pressed-metal cladding. Window
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openings at both the front and side elevations are set within limestone frames with flat lintels, joined by a stringcourse with label molding at the front elevation. The less visible rear and side elevations of the building are common brick.
The original storefront has been replaced by a glass and aluminum storefront system; although though the historic steel lintel and masonry piers framing the entrance to the second-floor apartments remain. Other minor changes to the building include the infill of the first-floor windows and door opening on the side elevation with brick and the removal of a cornice at the front and side elevations.
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3. (Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House (now Schuba's Tavern) 3159 N. Southport Ave. Date: 1903
Architects: Frommann & Jebsen
Designed in 1903 by the architectural firm of Frommann & Jebsen, this building in the Lake View community area is one ofthe most elaborate and best-known of Schlitz's tied houses in Chicago. During the 1880s and 1890s, several large industrial concerns ranging from breweries to brick-making plants were established in the Lake View community, leading to the development of nearby residential neighborhoods. Additionally, a major commercial development of the 1890s included the emergence of a major neighborhood shopping district along Lincoln and Belmont Avenues. Improvements in transportation accompanied the growth ofthe community, including the establishment of streetcar service on Ashland, Belmont and Lincoln Avenues in 1895. The earliest residents were primarily of German and Swedish origin; however, over time the neighborhood grew to include Hungarians, Polish, and Italians immigrants.
The narrow front (west) elevation faces Southport Ave., and the long side (north) elevation faces Belmont Ave. The brick building is rectangular in plan with a two-story front portion and one-story rear portion. The front of the building for a depth of approximately 50 feet from
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Southport Ave. is two stories in height, while the rear approximately 70 feet of the building is one story.
The design relies heavily on excellent craftsmanship in traditional brick masonry, particularly in the dark-red face-brick set in decorative tapestry bond patterns against a warm-yellow face-brick background. The use of tapestry brick bonding patterns, the slim vertical piers with their limestone finials, the steep gables, and the distinctive "bonnet" roof over the oriel window are indicative of the German Renaissance Revival style.
A glazed street-level storefront occupies most ofthe front elevation and wraps a few feet around the side elevation, framing the entrance to the tavern at the chamfered corner ofthe building. An entrance to the second-floor apartments is located at the side ofthe front elevation, and two additional entrances to the tavern are located along the side elevation. In addition to the "bonnet" roof over the oriel window, green patinated copper is also used at the cornice and to extend the line ofthe false gables along the front and side elevations. Each of these gables frames a dark-red terra-cotta Schlitz globe. Window openings have arched headers constructed of alternating yellow and red brick which continues down both sides ofthe opening.
The alley (east) elevation is common brick, and the south elevation is obscured by a neighboring frame building. This two-story gable-front flat building was originally located at the rear of the lot. In the 1990s it was moved to its current location and internally connected with the tavern to serve as the tavern's restaurant. This building is not proposed for designation.
Changes to the building include the replacement of some windows and doors, and the storefront glazing and framing, however these changes are minor and consistent with the historic character ofthe building. The building has been well maintained and currently houses Schuba's Tavern, a long-time popular tavern and live music venue.
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4. (Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House (now Starbucks) 2159 W. BelmontAve. Date: 1903
Architect: Charles Thisslew
Designed in 1903 by architect Charles Thisslew, this Queen Anne-style tied house is located in the North Center neighborhood. In the 1880s industry predominated in the southern section of the North Center community along the North Branch ofthe Chicago River. In this area there were many clay pits, and the area along Belmont Avenue was a nationally-known center ofthe brick-making industry. The area was also home to William Deering's harvester works which employed 1,500 workers and covered nearly 25 acres. Other industries attracting workers to the area included the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, Lassig Iron Works, and Clybourn's Slaughterhouse. While the main group of residents in the working-class community were German, there were also a large number of Irish, Swedes, and English settling in the area. The center of German social life was located along Belmont Avenue, which was served by streetcar service as early as 1895.
This two-story brick building is rectangular in plan with a prominent comer turret. The narrow front (north) elevation faces BelmontAve. with the long side (west) elevation facing Leavitt St. The base of the building is clad with dark-brown glazed-brick capped with a limestone stringcourse. The upper portion ofthe building is warm-yellow face-brick with a second limestone stringcourse marking the line ofthe second floor. Window openings have flat heads with decorative limestone keystones.
The highlight of the design is the building's comer turret clad with pressed-metal classical decoration, including a pediment and acroterion above the comer window. The turret is capped
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with a blind balustrade, and a Schlitz globe set within a lunette and framed with volutes mark the top of the turret. The Schlitz globe, like the rest of the turret, is rendered in pressed metal and painted. A pressed metal window bay on the side elevation also features classical motifs. The south (alley) elevation is common brick, and the east side elevation is obscured by a neighboring building.
Changes to the building are minor and include the replacement of windows, doors and the glazed storefront. The building currently houses as a coffee shop.
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5. (Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied House 11400-404 S. FrontAve. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
This former Schlitz brewery-tied house is located at the intersection of Front Ave. and 114th St. in the Roseland community area, separated from the historic town of Pullman by the tracks Illinois Central Railroad immediately to the west. In addition to the seven major trunk-line railroads that traveled through the community, the establishment ofthe industrial town of Pullman to the east brought an influx of industry and population to the Roseland community during the 1880s. Annexed to Chicago in 1889, this multi-ethnic community was predominately comprised of Dutch, Swedish, German, English, and Irish workers. While African-Americans were employed as proters by the Pullman Company, they were not allowed to live in the town of Pullman. In addition to rail service, West Pullman streetcar service down Cottage Grove Avenue to 115th Street was established in 1892. Improvements to the Cottage Grove line resulted in the introduction of cable cars in 1906.
Nearly square in plan, this two-brick tied house was built in 1906 as part of "Schlitz Row," a complex that included three tied houses, housing for Schlitz workers and a company stable. Permit records for the building do not identify the architect, though it is attributed to the firm of Frommann and Jebsen who are known to have designed virtually all of the buildings in "Schlitz Row."
The front portion ofthe building is two stories in height, with a rear one-story portion on 114* St. The exterior is constructed of two colors of face brick, with decorative bond patterns used
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at the sides, and arched heads of windows much like 3159 N. Southport Ave. Unlike Schlitz's other tied houses, the two street-facing facades ofthe building are nearly identical, both articulated with large, arched openings framing recessed wall areas punched with window and door openings. Limestone is used for stringcourses and sills.
The two street-facing elevations meet at a chamfered comer which includes a terra-cotta Schlitz globe at the parapet level, and the primary entrance to the tavern is framed in a half-round arched opening at street level. Similar arched door openings are located at the center and end of the S. FrontAve. elevation. The interplay of projecting and receding wall planes established by the large arches is further enhanced by the use of corbelled brick piers above the second floor windows. These piers are topped with carved limestone copings and relieved at their base by recessed panels infilled with stucco.
The emphasis on receding and projecting wall planes, the use of two contrasting colors of brick and the combination of brick with stucco and stone reflect characteristics of the Queen Anne style. With its lack of historic ornamentation and reliance on the aesthetic qualities of brick, the building is stylistically more modest in comparison to some of the other extant tied houses, and it was certainly more modest in comparison to the elaborately designed tied house at 400 £.115* St. (1905, demolished 1996) immediately to the south. The simplicity of the design may reflect the building's subsidiary relationship with the older and larger tied house which anchored "Schlitz Row."
THesecondary south elevation is painted common brick, and the west (rear) elevation has vinyl siding, presumably installed over common brick. Changes to the building are relatively minor and include the replacement of the exterior Honrs and second-Story windows. At time of
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6. (Former) Schlitz Brewery Stable 11314-320 S. FrontAve. Date: 1906
Architect: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
Roughly square in plan with a flat roof, this two-story brick stable was built in 1906 by the Schlitz brewery for its delivery horses. The architectural design of the stable is attributed to Frommann & Jebsen due to their association with "Schlitz Row" and to the design's similarity to other buildings in "Schlitz Row" by that firm, particularly the tied houses. Together the stable and tied house one block south at 11400-404 S. FrontAve. are the only surviving commercial buildings from "Schlitz Row." (See # 8 regarding community context and history.)
Architectural ornamentation is confined to the front (east) elevation facing FrontAve., as the side and rear elevations are common brick and mostly obscured. The design includes several characteristics ofthe extant tied-house nearby on FrontAve., including the use of two colors of brick, projecting piers and arches in combination with recessed wall areas and stuccoed panels.
The design is symmetrical with a wagon entrance at the center of the street-level elevation flanked on either side a pair of arched openings. At the second story, the comer piers of the building include blind-arched openings framing recessed brick and stucco panels with unusual and distinct terra-cotta horse head sculptures. Between these comer piers, the wall is recessed
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and pierced with four small window openings set beneath a single brick arch, flanked one either side a single arched window opening. Limestone is used for stringcourses, sills and copings.
The emphasis on receding and projecting wall planes, the use of two contrasting colors of brick, and the combination of brick with stucco and stone reflect characteristics of the Queen Anne
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Criteria For Designation
According to the Municipal Code of Chicago (Sect. 2-120-690), the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has the authority to make a recommendation of landmark designation for an area, district, place, building, structure, work of art or other object witliin the City of Chicago if the Commission determines it meets two or more ofthe stated "criteria for designation," as well as possesses a significant historic design integrity to convey its significance.
The following should be considered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks in determining whether to recommend that the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at at 958 W. 69th St., 3456 S. Western Ave., 2159 W. BelmontAve., 3159 N. Southport Ave., and 11400 S. FrontAve. and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S. FrontAve. be designated as Chicago Landmarks.
Criterion 1: Value as an Example of City, State or National Heritage
Its value as an example of the architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other aspect of the heritage of the City of Chicago, State of Illinois or the United States.
The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building each represent a distinct and rare type of commercial architecture that conveys important themes from Chicago and American history from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, including the rise of vertically-integrated manufacturing production and retail sales; the role of science and technology in the transformation of crafts into industries, including the brewery industry; increasing competition among businesses as the city and country grew; the role of the neighborhood saloon; the role of ethnic immigrants as both leaders ofthe brewing industry and as consumers; and the national question about the role of alcohol in society which would later culminate in national Prohibition
The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building each convey the economic prominence of the brewing industry in Chicago and Milwaukee during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, made possible by those cities' access to grain markets, fresh water, natural supplies of ice, and train transportation.
The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are representative of the brewing industry founded and managed by German immigrants, several of whom were prominent businessmen active in the city's affairs; and therefore each building reflects the importance of ethnic immigration in Chicago's history and development, generally, and specifically the contributions of the Chicago's German ethnic community, one of the city's largest ethnic groups.
The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses are typical of other brewery-tied houses in Chicago which were most commonly located on prominent comers of commercial streets, well served by street cars or elevated trains, and in neighborhoods settled by large ethnic and working class populations; and, as such, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-
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Houses convey the early social character and leisure habits of these early residents of Chicago's neighborhoods.
As the unintended manifestation of legislation and social pressure by progressive reformers, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses convey the national debate about alcohol consumption and the "Dry" movement in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The subsequent proliferation of drinking places under the tied-house system was a factor in the establishment of national Prohibition in 1919.
The Schlitz Brewery Stable Building was built by Schlitz to stable horses used to deliver beer to tied houses, and the stable building represents the brewery's direct control over distribution which was a defining feature ofthe tied-house system.
The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are part of a great number of buildings built in Chicago by the Schlitz Brewery, whose association with the city may be traced back to the aftermath ofthe Fire of 1871, when the brewery sent water and, in particular, beer to the ravaged city, establishing a loyal customer base in Chicago, and solidifying its motto "The beer that made Milwaukee famous."
The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-House at 11400 S. Front Avenue and the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S Front Ave. are rare surviving buildings from "Schlitz Row," a complex that originally included three tied-houses, housing for Schlitz workers and a company stable located just outside the "Dry" industrial town of Pullman.
Criterion 4: Exemplary Architecture
Its exemplification of an architectural type or style distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.
The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses represent a distinct and recognizable building type in Chicago's neighborhoods typified by such features as their display of brewery insignia, their prominent comer locations on neighborhood commercial streets, their comer entrances marked by prominent turret or other ornamental features, and their use of high-quality masonry construction and picturesque styles of architecture.
The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are fine examples of picturesque styles of architecture, including the then-popular Queen Anne and the more rare in Chicago German Renaissance Revival style. Popular in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, these styles emphasize visually-pleasing characteristics and motifs drawn from earlier periods, and these styles helped the brewery-tied houses to present a legitimate and socially-responsible image amidst growing opposition to drinking establishments.
The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 3456 S. Western Ave., 958 W. 69th St., 2159 W. Belmont Ave., and 11400 S. Front Ave. and the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S. FrontAve. exemplify the Queen Anne style of architecture with their picturesque mixture ofbuilding materials, the combination of classical and
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medieval ornamental motifs, varied rooflines, and decorative-metal bays, turrets, and cornices.
The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at 3159 N. Southport Ave. exemplifies the German Renaissance Revival style of architecture with its tapestry brick bond pattern, the distinctive "bonnef' roof over the oriel window, and the slim vertical piers with their limestonefinials.
Each ofthe Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building display exceptionally fine craftsmanship and detailing in high-quality historic materials, displayed through such common materials as patterned tapestry brick and pressed-metal architectural ornament at turrets, window bays and cornices
Characteristic of Chicago's brewery-tied houses, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses each displays a Schlitz "belted globe" insignia on its facade, the design of which is based on sculptor Richard Bock's design for Schlitz's exhibit at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
Criterion 5: Work of a Significant Architect or Designer
Its identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
Two of the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and the Schlitz Brewery Stable Building are the work of a significant architect. The (former) Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses at
3159 N Southport and 11400 S Front Avenue, as well as the (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at 11314 S FrontAve. were designed by Frommann and Jebsen, a significant architectural firm in Chicago in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.
Several of Schlitz brewery's most handsomely detailed and high-style tied houses, as well as "Schlitz Row" outside of Pullman, were designed by the architectural partnership Frommann & Jebsen who made a significant contribution to Chicago's architecture from the 1880s through 1917, and from 1917 until the mid-1920s by Frommann. Known surviving tied houses designed by the firm of Frommann & Jebsen include 3159 N. Southport (1903), 1870 S. Blue Island (1899), 8900 S. Normal Ave., as well as 11400 S. FrontAve. (1906) which is attributed to the firm.
Frommann & Jebsen designed the Humboldt Park Receptory and Stable building (1895-96), a designated Chicago Landmark, and a fantastically picturesque and romantic combination of rural German vernacular architecture.
Frommann & Jebsen's body of work includes a number of large residences in a range of popular historic styles of architecture commissioned by prominent members ofthe city's German ethnic community. Examples of these residential commissions are found in the Wicker Park, Mid-North, Logan Square, and Ukrainian Village and Hawthorne Place Chicago Landmark Districts, as well as in the Sheffield and Meekerville National Register Districts in Chicago.
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Criterion 6: Distinctive Theme
Its representation of an architectural, cultural, economic, historic, social, or other theme expressed through distinctive areas, districts, places, buildings, structures, works of art, or other objects that may or may not be contiguous.
The Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building represent distinctive architectural, cultural, economic, historic and social themes, including: the rise ofthe tied-house system in Chicago which reflects broader patterns of economic development in the nation; the role of immigration in the cultural and social history of the city; and the brewing industry's response to pressure from those who sought to limit alcohol consumption in American society, a movement which ultimately led to the experiment with national Prohibition; and
Integrity Criteria
The integrity of the proposed landmark must be preserved in light of its location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and ability to express its historic community, architecture or aesthetic value.
Overall, the Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building retain excellent physical integrity, displayed through their siting, scale- overall design, and historic relationships to their surrounding neighborhoods. Each building retains the maj ority of its historic materials, design, and detailing to express its historic, community, architectural, and aesthetic interest or value.
The buildings feature the majority of physical characteristics that define their historic significance. These include historic wall materials in brick, limestone, prominent bays or turrets, original ornamentation in pressed metal, gabled or turreted rooflines, the insignia of the brewing company that built the building, large storefront windows and original comer and side entrances to the tavern.
Common alterations to Chicago's brewery-tied houses and associated buildings are the replacement of windows, doors, and storefront windows, although these changes have generally been undertaken in a manner sympathetic with the buildings' historic visual character. Contemporary signage has also been installed on the facades of several buildings. In a few instances, some changes to parapets and cornices and other ornamental features has occurred. These changes are typical for commercial buildings of this age and reversible, and do not detract from the overall physical integrity of the building.
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Significant Historical
and Architectural Features
Whenever a building, structure, object, or district is under consideration for landmark designation, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is required to identify the "significant historical and architectural features" of the property. This is done to enable the owners and the public to understand which elements are considered most important to preserve the historical and architectural character of the proposed landmark.
Based upon its evaluation ofthe Five Schlitz Brewery Tied-Houses and One Schlitz Brewery Stable Building, the Commission recommends that the significant features be identified as follows:
All exterior elevations, including rooflines, of each building.
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Selected Bibliography
Ade, George. The Old-Time Saloon: Not Wet-Not Dry, Just Histoiy. New York: R. Long &
RR. Smith, 1931. Andreas, AT. History of Chicago, III. S.l: s.n, 1893
Baron, Stanley, and James H. Young. Brewed in America: A History of Beer and Ale in the
United States. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1962. Print. Bock, Richard W, and Dorathi B. Pierre. Memoirs of an American Artist, Sculptor, Richard
W. Bock. Los Angeles, Calif: CC. Pub. Co, 1989. Chicago Brewing Equipment Directory. Chicago: Zymotechnic Alumni Association, 1911. Chrucky, Serhii. "Tied Houses."Forgotten Chicago, <http://forgottenchicago.com/features/
chicago-architecture/tied-houses/>. Duis, Perry. The Saloon: Public Drinking in Chicago and Boston, 1880-1920. Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 1983. Grossman, James R, Ann D. Keating, and Janice L. Reiff. The Encyclopedia of Chicago.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. George, John E "The Saloon Question in Chicago," American Economics Association,
Economic Studies II (April 1897). Helas, Volker. Villenarchitektur/Villa Architecture inDresden. Cologne: Taschen, 1991. A History ofthe City of Chicago Its Men and Institutions : Biographical Sketches of
Leading Citizens; Illustrated. Chicago: Inter Ocean, 1900. Hitchcock, Henry R. German Renaissance Architecture. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University
Press, 1981.
"Home Town in Baden Honors Uihleins." Milwaukee Journal 1 Mar. 1931.
Huss, John. What I Found in Pilsen. Chicago: Chicago City Missionary Society, 1890.
Knox, D. M. "The Development of the Tied House System in London" Oxford Economic
Papers, New Series, vol. 10, no.l (Feb 1958) 66-83. LeMasters, E E. Blue-collar Aristocrats: Life-styles at a Working-Class Tavern. Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1975. Melendy, Royal L. "The Saloon in Chicago" The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 6, No.
3 (Nov., 1900), pp. 289-306. Mickelson, Gunnar. "Rise of Uihlein Dynasty, Canny August Spread Schlitz Fame to Corners
of Earth." Milwaukee Sentinel, January 17,1932. Milde, Karl. Neorenaissance in der deutschen Architektur der 19 Jahrhundrets (Dresden:
VerlagderKunst, 1981), 278-300. Notz, John K. "Edward G Uihlein, Advocate for Landscape Architect Jens Jensen." Wisconsin
Academy Review, vol. 44, no. 3 (Summer 1998), pp. 8-14. One Hundred Years of Brewing: A Complete History of the Progress Made in the Art,
Science and Industry of Brewing in the World, Particularly During the Nineteenth
Century. Chicago and New York: H.S. Rich & Co, 1903. Pierce, Bessy Louise. A History of Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Reilly, Michael R. Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co.: A Chronological History 1933-1969. Sinkevitch, Alice, and Laurie M. G. Petersen. AIA Guide to Chicago. New York: Harcourt
Brace, 1993.
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Simon, Andreas. Chicago, Die Gartenstadt: Unsere Parks, Boulevards Und Friedhofe, in
Wort UndBild: Nebst Anderen Skizzen: Ein Lesebuch Fur Naturfreunde. Chicago:
Franz Gindele Print. Co, 1893. Skilnik, Bob. Beer: A History of Brewing In Chicago. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2006. Slack, Martin. "Local and Regional Breweries in America's Brewing Industry, 1865 to 1920."
The Business Histoiy Review. Vol. 74, No. 3 (2000): 435-463. Stege, C E. Stege, a Main Trunk and Several Branches. Villa Park, IL: CES Associates,
1981.
"The Death Roll." American Brewers 'Review 1 Sept. 1908:474.
Uihlein, Edward G Memories of My Youth. 1917. Unpublished manuscript. Translated into
English by Rosina Lippi, 1978. Chicago History Museum. Vredeman, de V. H, Heiner Borggrefe, Thomas Fusenig, and Barbara Uppenkamp. Hans
Vredeman De Fries UndDie Renaissance Im Norden. Munchen: Hirmer, 2002. Year Book of the United States Brewers'Association. New York: The Association, 1909,
1918, 1919.
51
Acknowledgments
CITY OF CHICAGO
Richard M. Daley, Mayor
Department of Housing and Economic Development
Andrew J. Mooney, Commissioner
Patricia A. Scudiero, Managing Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Planning and Zoning Brian Goeken, Deputy Commissioner, Historic Preservation Division
Project Staff
Matt Crawford, research, writing, layout and photography
Susan Perry, research
Terry Tatum, editing and layout
Brian Goeken, editing
Illustrations
Chicago Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning: pp. 2, 19, 21 (middle and bottom rows), 23, 24, 26 (top), 27,
29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41 (top 2), 42 (left), 43, 44-49 (all). Chicago Daily News negatives collection, courtesy of the Chicago History Museum; p. 5 (top left, DN-0000729;
bottom left, DN-0009097; bottom right, DN-0000341), p. 10 (bottom, DN-0008122). One Hundred Years of Brewing: p. 7 (top left). The Western Brewer 1898: p. 7 (top right).
The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago, Siebel's Brewing Academy, c. 1902-1904, Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-17537): p 7 (bottom).
Westerville Public Library, Westerville, Ohio; online archives of the Anti-Saloon League: p. 10 (top right and left). Perry Duis, The Saloon: Public Drinking in Chicago and Boston, 1880-1920: p. 12. ProQuest Historical Newspapers Chicago Tribune: pp. 14, 17 (bottom).
Wisconsin Historical Society online, H. H. Bennett Studio Collection: p. 17 (top left, Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, circa 1888).
A History of the City of Chicago Its Men and Institution: Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens; Illustrated: p. 17 (top right).
Memoirs of an American Artist, Sculptor, Richard W. Bock: p. 21 (top right). Sussex-Lisbon Area Historical Society, www.slahs.org/schlitz/1893exhibit.htm: p. 21 (top left). Hans Vredeman de Vries und die Renaissance im Norden: p. 26 (middle left). German Renaissance Architecture: p. 26 (middle right).
Chicago History Museum, Western Avenue South 1-3999, ICHI 24944, March 1971: p. 41 (bottom). Chicago History Museum, call number 1996.67, contact sheets from Schlitz Brewing Company Saloons in Chicago, no date, photographer unknown: p. 42 (top right).
52
COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
Rafael M. Leon, Chairman John W. Baird, Secretary Phyllis Ellin Yvette M. Le Grand Andrew J. Mooney Christopher R. Reed Edward I.Torrez Ben Weese Ernest C. Wong
The Commission is staffed by the:
fS ids Department of M HOUSING and
ECONOMIC
V DEVELOPMENT
Department of Housing and Economic Development, Bureau of Planning and Zoning
Historic Preservation Division 33 N. LaSalle St., Suite 1600 Chicago, Illinois 60602
Printed October 2010; revised and reprinted April 2011.
City «f Chicago Richard M. Daley, Mayor
Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning
Patricia A. Scafero tonrniisskmer
Smite 1600
33 North LaSalfe Street Chicago. Illinois 606f>2 (312) 744.3200 . (312) 744-9140 (FAX) (312) 744-2950 (TTY)
EXHIBIT B
DEPARTMENT OF ZONING AND LAND,|;SEf l ANMNt;
December 2. 2010
Report to tbe Commission on Chicago Landmarks
on the
Brewery-Tied Houses
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied Houses
18.01 W. Division St
11400 §. Front Av.
3456 S. Western Av.
958 W. 69th SL
2159 W. 'Belmont A v
1944 N.Oakley Av.
3159 N. Southport Av.
5120 U. Broadway (later Winona Gardens)
( Former) Schlitz Stable'
11314 S. Front Ave.
The Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning finds that the proposed
designations of the above-referenced Brewery-Tied Houses and associated stable building as Chicago Landmarks support the City's overall planning goals and are consistent with the City's governing policies and plans.
From the 1890s up to passage of Prohibition in 191.9, brewing companies built and operated their own taverns, or "tied-houses" throughout Chicago's neighborhoods. Brewing companies employed high-quality architectural designs and popular historical styles of architecture for their tied houses, and those that survive contribute to the historic architectural character'of Ihe city's neighborhoods. The identified buildings: were all built by the Milwaukee-based Schlitz Brewing Company from 1898 to ] 906; and many are (ami liar for the-brewery's ^behe^ displayed on their
facades.
TliG.prOposed designations 6("these buildings would compliment lite'City's efforts to identify and presence the rich architectural and historical heritage of Chicago's, diverse neighborhoods. Several of the buildings are: located in areas that have an area. rcdevdopriient. tax increment financing plan and/or enterprise:zone designation. (see Table;A, attached hereto, and incorporated, herciri),: and the'goals and object n^
ofiinportant historic resources, through landmark designation and economic incentives. All the buildings Occupy or are near prominent ^intersections of neighborhood commercial streets, arid, in concert witiviWei'r distinctive
architectural and historical character, are visual landmarks in their respective neighborhoods.
Seven of the nine buildings are located in Business and Commercial ("B" and "C") zoning districts that are intended to accommodate retail, service and commercial uses which are compatible with the character of existing neighborhoods. The remaining two buildings are legal non-conforming uses located in Residential ("R") zoning districts which primarily accommodate residential use types but which also allow compatible nonresidential uses.
Preserving buildings such as these provides many long-term benefits to the City. Chicago Landmark designation assists in the preservation of Chicago's architectural heritage, unique neighborhood character, and the visual evidence of our rich history. By retaining existing buildings and adapting them to modern conditions, historic preservation contributes to the city's efforts to encourage sustainable development. It also maintains the unique features of our city as a continued draw for tourists, visitors and new residents.
DZP Report Table A
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied Houses
Zoning Zoning and Land Use
Ward Designation Community Area designations and plans
1801 W. Division St.
J_B3-2 West Town_Orange in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey
11400S. Front Av.
B3-2 _Roseland
Southeast Side Enterprise Community
Orange in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey
3456 S. Western Av.
_12_C1-2 McKinleyPark
Archer/Western TIF Enterprise Zone #1
958 W. 69th St.
17_RS-3 Englewood
69th Street Corridor Redevelopment Area Enterprise Zone #6
Englewood Enterprise Community__
2159 W. Belmont Av.
32
C1-2 North Center
1944 N. Oakley Av.
32_B3-1 Logan Sguare Orange in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey
3159 N. Southport Av.
32 B3-2 Lake View
Orange in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey
5120 N. Broadway (later Winona Gardens)
46
C2-3 Uptown
Lawrence/Broadway TIF
(Former) Schlitz Stable
11314 S. Front Ave.
RS-2 Roseland
Southeast Side Enterprise Community
Orange in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey
(Former) Schlitz Brewery- Tied House
95H W. Mill Si. Date: IXVS Architect: Unknown
11314 S. FrontAve. Date: 19(16
Architects: Frommann & Jebsen (attributed)
ifff"!* City of Chicago
' Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning
(!)
(Former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied house
I 140(1 S. I"unit Ave. Hate. I "(16
CERTIFIED WANSi&ff
In The Matter Of £XH IB IT
COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
LANDMARK HEARING March 22, 2011
LANDMARK HEARING 3-22-2011
Page 1
COMMISSION ON CHICAGO LANDMARKS
PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING
THE PROPOSED CHICAGO LANDMARK DESIGNATIONS FOR FIVE (FORMER) BREWERY-TIED HOUSES AND ONE (FORMER) BREWERY STABLE BUILDING
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 9:3 0 A.M. Docket No. 2011-02
Ms. Phyllis M. Ellin, Chairperson
Commission on Chicago Landmarks
Mr. Arthur S. Dolinsky, Senior Counsel, Real Estate and Land Use Division, Law Department, City of Chicago
Mr. Brian Goeken, Deputy Commissioner, Landmarks Division,
Department of Planning and Development
Urlaub Bowen & Associates, Inc. 312-781-9586
LANDMARK HEARING 3-22-2011
Page 2 1 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: Good morning. I 2 would like to call this public hearing to order. 3 My name is Phyllis Ellin, and I'll 4 be the hearing officer for today's hearing. 5 Seated next to me on my left is 6 Brian Goeken, Deputy Commissioner of the Historic 7 Preservation Division of the Department of Housing 8 and Economic Development; and on my right, Arthur 9 Dolinsky, Senior Counsel of the Real Estate 10 Division ofthe City's Law Department, who is the 11 Commission's counsel for today's public hearing. 12 I'll now summarize the nature of 13 today's hearing. 14 The Commission on Chicago Landmarks 15 was established and is governed by the Municipal 16 Code of Chicago. The procedure for today's 17 public hearing are contained in Article n of the 18 Commission's Rules and Regulations governing 19 hearings on landmark designations. 2 0 The purposes and duties of the 21 Commission are set forth in the Municipal Code and 22 include the identification, preservation, protection, 2 3 enhancement, and encouragement of the continued 2 4 utilization and the rehabilitation of such areas, |
Page 4 \ 1 proposed designations that have led to today's 2 hearing. 3 Then I will rule on any requests for 4 party status to the hearing by property owners, as 5 well as other individuals or organizations. ! 6 After that, the Historic Preservation 7 Division staff will make a presentation summarizing 8 the Preliminary Landmark Recommendation and 9 Preliminary Summary of Information for the proposed 10 five (former) Brewery-Tied Houses and one former 11 Brewery Stable Building. 12 After the staffs presentation, 13 property owners or other individuals who have been 14 granted party status will have the opportunity to 1 15 ask questions of the staff. 16 Then those granted party status by j 17 me will be able to make a presentation regarding 18 the proposed landmark designation. 19 Lastly, any members of the public 2 0 who wish to make brief statements concerning the 21 proposed landmark designation may do so. 22 All property owners, or their 2 3 representatives, have the right to make a statement 2 4 for or against the proposed designation without j |
Page 3 1 districts, places, buildings, structures, works of 2 art, and other objects having a special historical, 3 community, architectural, or aesthetic interest or 4 value to the City of Chicago and its citizens. 5 The Commission carries out this 6 mandate by recommending to the City Council that 7 specific areas, districts, places, buildings, 8 structures, works of art, and other objects be 9 designated as official Chicago Landmarks. The 10 Commission bases its recommendations on the seven 11 criteria set forth in the Municipal Code and the 12 integrity criterion. 13 The purpose of today's hearing is 14 for the Commission to receive relevant facts and 15 information to assist the Commission in deciding 16 whether to recommend that these five (former) 17 Brewery-Tied Houses and one (former) Brewery Stable 18 Building each meet the criteria for designation as 19 a Chicago Landmark. 2 0 The format of this hearing will be 21 as follows: 2 2 First, Brian Goeken, Deputy 2 3 Commissioner of the Historic Preservation Division, 2 4 will review the chronology of events related to the |
Page 5 1 having to request party status. They also have the j 2 right to ask questions of the Historic Preservation J 3 Division staff at the conclusion of the staff ! 4 summary of the Commission's preliminary landmark 5 recommendation for the proposed designations. 6 The Landmarks Ordinance also 7 allows property owners and other individuals and 8 organizations to request status as a formal party to 1 9 the hearing. Parties to the hearing's proceedings I 10 can make longer and more detailed presentations for j 11 or against the proposed landmark designation that j 12 can include submitting photographs and other j 13 documents, as well as presenting testimony from | 14 their own experts. ( 15 Parties may also ask questions about | 16 the presentations of any other parties in addition j 17 to questions asked of Landmark staff after their { 18 presentation. Only those who want to make a more 19 detailed presentation, beyond a statement or j 2 0 question, need to request party status. Those who 21 are wishing to request party status should fill out j 22 a blue appearance form, which is by the door, and 2 3 return it to a member ofthe Historic Preservation [ 2 4 Division staff in the front row. These forms are j |
2 (Pages 2 to 5)
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| Page 6 1 at the table. 2 If you wish to be a party, and you 3 have fdled out a blue appearance form requesting 4 party status, I will call on each of you in turn 5 and consider your party request. If you have not 6 fdled out a blue appearance form, but wish to be a 7 party, please do so now. 8 Otherwise, property owners and 9 members of the general public who wish to simply 10 make statements in support of the proposed landmark 11 designation should fill out a green appearance 12 form, giving their name and the address of their 13 property of the organization they represent, if 14 any. Property owners and members of the general 15 public who wish to make statements in opposition to 16 the proposed landmark designation should fill out a 17 pink appearance form. 18 I want to note, finally, that the 19 Commission's Rules and Regulations strictly limit 2 o presentations at this landmark designation public 21 hearing to information solely relevant to whether 22 or not the proposed landmark designations meet 2 3 the criteria for Chicago Landmark designation. 2 4 Information relating to zoning, permit applications, |
Page 8 | 1 group of eight (former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied Houses 2 and one (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building as 3 Chicago Landmarks. Based on the Commission's 4 findings that each building appeared to meet three 5 of the seven criteria for designation, as well as 6 the integrity criterion, identified in the Chicago 7 Landmarks Ordinance. The Commission also found 8 that the building at 31 - - excuse me - the 9 buildings at 3159 North Southport Avenue, 10 11400 South Front Avenue, and 11314 South Front 11 Avenue also met an additional fourth criteria for 12 landmarks designation. 1 13 This preliminary recommendation, 1 14 identified as Commission Document 1, initiated the I 15 consideration process for further study and 1 16 analysis for their possible designation as Chicago j 17 Landmarks. As part of this recommendation, the 18 Commission preliminarily identified the significant 19 historical and architectural features of these j 2 0 eight (former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied Houses and one 21 (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building proposed 22 for designation as: j 23 * All exterior elevations including j 2 4 rooflines of the buildings. j |
Page 7 1 the building code, or potential economic impacts 2 are not to be heard or entertained during these 3 proceedings, as they are not issues that the 4 Commission may consider under the Landmarks 5 Ordinance or the Commission's Rules and Regulations. 6 Please note that if the Commission recommends the 7 designation of die properties to City Council, 8 there would be an opportunity to raise other issues 9 before the Council's Committee on Historic Landmark 10 Preservation, and the Council may consider any 11 issue when considering a designation. 12 Now, I will ask Mr. Goeken to 13 outline the chronology of events relating to the 14 proposed landmark designations of the five (former) 15 Brewery-Tied Houses and one (former) Brewery Stable 16 Building that have led up to this public hearing 17 and incorporate the Commission's documents that are 18 relevant to the proposed designations into the 19 record. 2 0 Mr. Goeken? 21 MR. GOEKEN: Thank you, Commissioner Ellin. 2 2 At its regular meeting of October 7, 23 2010, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks voted to 2 4 approve a preliminary landmark recommendation for a |
Page 9 1 As part of the Commission's 2 preliminary landmark recommendation, the Commission 3 adopted a preliminary summary of information, 4 dated October 7, 2010, identified as Commission 5 Document 2. 6 The former Department of Zoning and 7 Land Use Planning, on behalf of the Commission, 8 notified the owners of these eight (former) Schlitz 9 Brewery-Tied Houses and one (former) Schlitz 10 Brewery Stable Building of the Commission's 11 preliminary landmark recommendation in a letter, 12 dated October 14, 2010, which is identified as 13 Commission Document 3. 14 The research notebook compiled by 15 the Commission staff regarding the proposed Chicago 16 Landmark designation of the eight (former) Schlitz 17 Brewery-Tied Houses and one (former) Schlitz 18 Brewery Stable Building is identified as Commission 19 Document 4. 2 0 At its regular meeting on 21 December 2, 2010, the Commission received a report, 2 2 listed as Commission Document 5, from Patricia A. 2 3 Scudiero, then Commissioner of the Department of 24 Zoning and Land Use Planning, stating that the |
3 (Pages 6 to 9)
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Page 10 1 proposed landmark designation of the nine buildings 2 supports the City's overall planning goals and is 3 consistent with the City's governing policies and 4 plans. 5 In a letter dated December 21,2010, 6 the Commission officially requested the consent to 7 the proposed landmark designation from the owners 8 of the nine buildings. Copies of these letters, . 9 which requested the return of forms indicating 10 consent or non-consent by February 4,2011, are 11 identified as Commission Document 6. 12 As of February 4th, owners of two of 13 the nine buildings consented to the designation and 14 one requested an extension of 120 days to submit a 15 response pursuant to Section 2-120-650 of the 16 Chicago Landmarks Ordinance; these three buildings 17 are not the subject of today's public hearing. 18 Of the remaining six buildings, all 19 the subject of today's hearing, 2159 West Belmont, 2 o LLC, the owner of the (former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied 21 House at 2159 West Belmont Avenue, responded with a 2 2 non-consent to the proposed designation, and that's 2 3 identified as Commission Document 7b; and the 2 4 Commission received no response to its request- |
Page 12 | 1 identified by Commission Document 1, are: 2 * All exterior elevations, including 3 rooflines, of the building. 4 Notice of today's hearing was posted 5 in the public rights-of-way at each of the buildings 6 subject to today's hearing. A letter from Chicago 7 Department of Transportation Commissioner Bobby L. 8 Ware, identified as Commission Document 10, attests 9 that signs advertising the hearing were posted on 10 March 4, 2011. A legal notice for the public 11 hearing was also published in the Chicago Sun-Times, 12 and a certificate from the Sun-Times attesting to 13 its publication on March 1, 2011, is identified as 14 Commission Document 11. The public hearing notice 15 was also posted on the Department of Housing and 16 Economic Development's web site. A set of copies 17 of photographs used in the Historic Preservation 18 Division staffs presentation at today's hearing is 19 Commission Document 12. 2 0 That concludes the chronology of 21 events and Incorporation of Commission documents. 2 2 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: Okay. Thank you, 2 3 Mr. Goeken. 2 4 Next we will move on to rulings on |
Page li 1 for-consent from the owners of the other five 2 properties which are: 3159 North Southport Avenue, 3 11400 South Front Avenue, 3456 South Western 4 Avenue, 958 West 69th Street, and 11314 South Front 5 Avenue. 6 In a letter dated February 25, 2011, 7 identified as Commission Document 9, the Commission 8 notified the property owners who either did not 9 consent or did not respond to the Commission's 10 request-for-consent of the public hearing being 11 held today. Again, the six properties that are the 12 subject of today's hearing are: 13 * 2159 West Belmont Avenue; 14 * 3159 North Southport Avenue; 15 * 11400 South Front Avenue; 16 * 3456 South Western Avenue; 17 * 958 West 69th Street. 18 And these five buildings are all 19 (former) Schlitz Brewery-Tied Houses and also the 2 0 (former) Schlitz Brewery Stable Building at: 21 11314 South Front Avenue. 2 2 The significant historical and 2 3 architectural features preliminarily identified by .24 the Commission for each of these six buildings, as |
Page 13 1 requests for party status. At this time, I do not 2 have any blue appearance forms from property owners 3 or other parties requesting party status. 4 Is there anyone, a property owner or 5 other organization, who is requesting party status G at this time? 7 Let the record show that there are 8 no requests for party status. 9 In fairness to any potential 10 parties, after this point in the hearing, I will 11 not allow other parties to declare themselves later 12 in the hearing. 13 We'll move on then to the next 14 item in the agenda, the presentation by Historic 15 Preservation Division staff. Matt Crawford of the 16 Historic Preservation Division staff will summarize 17 the preliminary landmark recommendation for the 18 five (former) Brewery-Tied Houses and one (former) 19 Brewery Stable Building and whether the proposed 2 0 landmark designations meet the criteria set forth 21 in Section 2-120-620 of the Municipal Code pursuant 22 to Article II of the Commission's Rules and 2 3 Regulations. 2 4 Yes. Mr. Crawford, go ahead. |
4 (Pages 10 to 13)
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LANDMARK HEARING 3-22-2011
J " " Page 14 1 MR. CRAWFORD: Thank you, Commissioner. 2 The Commission preliminarily found 3 that each of the five brewery-tied houses and the 4 one brewery stable building that are subject to 5 today's hearing meet three of seven criteria for 6 landmark designation. These are: 7 Criterion 1, for their importance 8 as a critical part of the city's architectural, 9 historic, and cultural heritage. 10 Each building conveys important 11 themes from Chicago and American history from the 12 late 19th and early 20th centuries, including: 13 The industrial revolution which 14 transformed small-scale crafts like brewing into 15 large industries; 16 A competitive economic climate that 17 encouraged consolidation and vertical integration 18 in business, including brewing; 19 Chicago's growth due to its access 20 to transportation, grain, and fresh water which 21 supported various industries including brewing; 2 2 The role of ethnic immigration in 2 3 Chicago's history, including the prominent role of 2 4 German immigrants played as both brewers and |
Page 16 ; 1 economic, historic, and social themes, including: 2 The rise of the tied-house system in 3 Chicago which reflects broader patterns economic 4 development in the nation; j 5 The role of immigration in the 6 cultural and social history of the city; 7 And the brewing industry's response 8 to pressure from those who sought to limit alcohol j 9 consumption in American society, which ultimately 10 led to Prohibition. 11 In addition to these three criteria, j 12 the Commission preliminarily found that three of j 13 the six buildings meet Criterion 5, as the work of 14 an important architect. 15 Finally, the Commission preliminarily 16 found that the six buildings each meet the separate 17 integrity criterion, retaining significant 18 integrity in terms of location, design, setting, 19 materials, and workmanship to express their 2 o historic, community, architectural, and aesthetic 21 value. 2 2 The six buildings subject to today's 2 3 hearing were all built by the Milwaukee-based 2 4 Schlitz Brewing Company between 1898 and 1906. |
Page 15 1 consumers; 2 The role of drinking establishments 3 in the social life of the city's neighborhoods; 4 And the national question about the 5 role of alcohol in society which would later 6 culminate in national Prohibition. 7 The Commission also found that 8 buildings meet Criterion 4, for exemplification of 9 important architecture distinguished by innovation, 10 rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, 11 detail, materials, and craftsmanship, specifically: 12 The brewery-tied house and 13 associated stable building exemplify a distinct and 14 rare type of commercial architecture in the city; 15 The buildings are fine examples of 16 historic styles of architecture, including the then 17 popular Queen Anne and the more rare in Chicago 18 German Renaissance Revival style; 19 And the buildings are distinguished 2 0 by their overal 1 quality of design, detai 1, 21 materials, and craftsmanship. 2 2 Under Criterion 6, the Commission 2 3 found that the buildings meet Criterion 6 for 2 4 representing distinctive architectural, cultural, |
Page 17 1 Five of the six buildings were tied houses, or 2 taverns owned by Schlitz which sold only their 3 beer. Developed in Britain, the tied-house system 4 was a form of vertical business integration that 5 became common in Chicago in the late 19th century 6 when economic, legal, and social conditions 7 compelled brewing companies to own and build 8 saloons, as they were then called. 9 The sixth building, at the lower 10 right-hand corner of the screen was built by 11 Schlitz to stable their horses used to deliver beer 12 to tied houses. Though not a tied house, the 13 stable building represents the brewery's direct 14 control over distribution which was a defining 15 feature of the tied-house system. 16 Compared to independent saloon i 17 keepers, breweries had more abundant financial | 18 resources which they could pour into the l 19 architecture of their tied houses. As a result, | 2 0 the common store-and-flat building type that were | 21 used to that was typically used for saloons in f 2 2 general was elevated through the use of popular | 2 3 styles of architecture, and a high degree of f 24 craftsmansju£jin traditional materials. j |
5 (Pages 14 to 17)
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Page 18
1 Like many commercial property
2 owners, breweries used architecture to attract
3 customers, but also to project a socially-
4 responsible image amidst growing opposition to
5 drinking establishments.
6 Of the great number of tied houses
7 that once existed in Chicago, at least 40 are known
8 to survive. The group of five tied houses and one
9 stable building subject to today's hearing are
10 among the best remaining and representative examples
11 of the tied-house system in Chicago.
12 The origins of the saloon in Chicago
13 go back to the city's days as a pioneer settlement
14 in the 1830s when taverns served alcohol for on-
15 premise consumption. Examples of these early
16 drinking establishments included the Green Tree
17 Tavern and the Hotel Sauganash, both located near
18 the fork of the Chicago River.
19 As the city's population grew in the
20 19th century, so too did the number of neighborhood
21 drinking establishments, then known as saloons. 2 2 Prior to the arrival of the brewery-tied houses,
2 3 Chicago's saloons were usually architecturally
2 4 undistinguishable from other neighborhood store-
Page 20 |
1 Chicago, and the city ranked sixth in national beer
2 production. Most Chicago breweries were founded
3 and managed by German immigrants, including many
4 who became prominent businessmen active in the
5 city's affairs, such as Peter Schoenhofen, Francis
6 Dewes, Conrad Seipp, and Michael Brand.
7 While the alcohol trade was growing
8 into an important part of the national economy in
9 the 19th century, so too did concerns about the
10 role of alcohol in society. By the end of the 19th
11 century, dry reformers began to attack the saloon
12 as a source of numerous social ills.
13 In Chicago, dry reforms against
14 saloons often had unintended consequences. Efforts
15 to reduce the number of saloons by raising license
16 fees in 1888 forced brewers to pay the fee for
17 independent saloon owners who lacked the means.
18 Soon licenses were traded as a commodity among
19 brewery owners. Once they had begun subsidizing 2 0 saloon owners, brewing companies took the next
21 logical step by actually building and operating
2 2 saloons in the tied-house system in the 1890s. 23 By this time, Milwaukee-based
2 4 Schlitz Brewery had grown into one of the largest
- Page 19
l front buildings. ^2_- These early saloons were mom-and-pop
3 businesses owned by independent saloonkeepers who
4 bought their beer from the brewery offering the
5 lowest wholesale price, resulting in cut-throat
6 competition and lower profits for brewing companies.
7 Breweries in Chicago also began as
8 small ventures, much like this frame building at
9 upper left which housed John Huck's Brewery in
10 Chicago in 1847. The Lill and Diversey brewery
11 traced it's origins in the city to 1833, and by the
12 time of the Great Fire occupied a large building
13 near the Water Tower, as shown at lower left.
14 Following the Great Fire, the
15 Milwaukee-based Schlitz brewing company sent
16 supplies of fresh drinking water and beer to
17 Chicago. This goodwill gesture established the
18 brewery's loyal customer base in the city, and
19 later the brewery became the leading builder of 2 0 tied houses here.
21 Despite outside competitors like
2 2 Schlitz, the local brewing industry was an
2 3 important part of Chicago's economy. By 1885 there
, 2 4 were 33 breweries employing 2,000 people in
Page 21
breweries in the nation. Under the leadership of Edward Uihelin, the manager of their Chicago market, Schlitz became the leading builder of tied houses in Chicago, building at least 57 tied houses in the city from 1897 to 1905.
Chicago's brewery-tied houses represent a distinct building type with common characteristics: They are typically rectangular in plan, two to three stories in height with a roofline enhanced by false gables, turrets, or decorative pilasters.
Another common characteristic of the tied house is their location on corners of commercial streets in what were originally working-class ethnic neighborhoods. Tied houses were typically well-served by elevated and streetcar lines, and were often near industries with large numbers of employees. The primary entrance is often located at the chamfered comer of the building, and often marked with a projecting bay or turret above it.
Another common feature of the tied houses is that they are often branded with 24 insignias of the brewing company, rendered in I
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
6 (Pages 18 to 21)
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| Page 22 1 carved stone, terra cotta, or pressed metal. 2 Perhaps the most recognizable is Schlitz's belted 3 globe. The design is based on sculptor Richard 4 Bock's design for the Schlitz exhibit at the 1893 5 World's Columbian Exposition. 6 Though it served a different 7 function than the tied houses, the Schlitz stable 8 building shares many of the common characteristics 9 of the tied houses with its high level of 10 architectural quality and craftsmanship. The 11 stable also represents the vertical integration of 12 the brewing industry during the tied-house period 13 where brewers controlled production, distribution, 14 and retail sale of their product. 15 The brewery-tied houses and 16 associated stable building employed picturesque and 17 popular styles of architecture such as the Queen 18 Anne. Five of the six buildings subject to today's 19 hearing exemplify this style. Typical features of 2 o the style include a mixture - a picturesque 21 mixture of building materials, the combination of 2 2 classical and medieval ornamental motifs, varied 2 3 rooflines, and decorative metal bays, turrets, and 2 4 cornices. The tied house (at lower left) and |
Page 24 j 1 of tied houses built to serve workers from the 2 adjacent industrial town of Pullman. Frommann & 3 Jebsen's best-known building in Chicago is the 4 Humboldt Park Receptory Building from 1896, which 5 is a designated a Chicago Landmark. 6 The five former brewery-tied houses 7 and one stable building subject to today's hearing 8 are summarized here in chronological order of 9 construction. 10 The first was built in 1898. This 11 Queen Anne-style tied house is located at 958 West 12 69th Street at the intersection of the prominent 13 arterial street of Morgan Avenue in the Englewood 14 neighborhood. Bordered by large industrial 15 employers including the Union Stockyards and the 1 16 Standard Oil Company, Englewood developed as a 17 primarily working class community of English, 18 German, and Scotch immigrants. 19 The design of the building includes 20 a chamfered comer with a steeply-pitched gable 21 framing a terra cotta Schlitz globe and a 2 2 projecting window bay above the comer entrance. 2 3 The front elevation is clad at the 2 4 second story with smooth limestone, and the j |
Page 23 1 stable (at lower right) were part of a larger 2 complex known as Schlitz Row that included other 3 larger Schlitz tied houses (since demolished) and 4 employee housing. They are more simplified 5 examples are the Queen Anne style which perhaps 6 reflects their subsidiary relationship to the 7 original large tied house that anchored the row. 8 Comparatively, the former tied house 9 at 3159 North Southport exemplifies the German 10 Renaissance Revival style of architecture, an 11 exotic relative to the Queen Anne. Typical 12 features of the style include the building's 13 tapestry brickwork, the distinctive bonnet roof 14 over the oriel window at the comer, and the slim 15 vertical piers with their limestone finials. 16 Three of the six buildings are the 17 work of a significant architect: 3159 North 18 Southport and 11400 South Front Avenue, and the, 19 stable building at 11314 South Front Avenue. The 2 0 buildings were designed by Frommann & Jebsen, a 21 significant architectural firm in Chicago in the 2 2 late 19th and early 20th centuries. The firm 2 3 received 27 commissions from Edward Uihelin and the , 2 4 Schlitz Company, including Schlitz Row, a complex |
Page 2 5 j 1 projecting bay is supported by brackets over an j 2 arched entrance opening which frames the original 3 entrance door. : 4 Other significant features include: j 5 decorative limestone piers and stringcourses, 6 blind-arched window openings at the second floor, j 7 a band of ~ and a band of tapestry brick, and a 8 second window bay. > 9 The Commission preliminarily found 10 that the building meets three criteria for 11 designation. These include: 12 * Criterion 1, for heritage of the City of 13 Chicago; j 14 * Criterion 4, for architecture; 15 * Criterion 6, for its representation of 16 distinctive themes, as well as the separate 17 integrity criterion. 18 Changes to the building are minor i 19 and include the infill of the original storefront j 2 o windows with brick, as well as the bricking up of [ 21 the first floor window and door openings on the j 22 side elevation. The second floor windows have also 1 2 3 been replaced. For the most part, these changes 24 are typical for commercial buildings of this |
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| Page 26 1 vintage, they're reversible, and do not detract 2 from the overall physical integrity of the 3 building. 4 The second building was designed by 5 the architectural firm of Kley & Lang in 1899, this 6 Queen Anne-style tied house is located at 3456 South 7 Western Avenue in the McKinley Park community at 8 the intersection of 35th Street, a major arterial 9 street, and fronts the city's historic park 10 boulevard system. 11 The surrounding area industrialized 12 rapidly following the Chicago Fire of 1871 as 13 industries established steel mills and brickyards 14 in the neighborhood. Employment in these factories 15 initially encouraged the settlement of German and 16 Irish immigrants to this working-class neighborhood. 17 Both street elevations of the 18 building are clad in warm yellow face brick with 19 limestone trim around the window openings. 2 0 The design has a prominent comer 21 turret which is clad with pressed metal rendered 2 2 with panels and colonettes and topped with a 2 3 witch's hat roof. A terra cotta Schlitz belted 2 4 globe is at the side elevation set within a |
Page 28 1 Perhaps the best-known tied house in 2 Chicago is located at 3159 North Southport in the 3 Lakeview neighborhood at the comer of Belmont and 4 Southport, both major arterial streets. During the j 5 1880s and 1890s, several large industrial concerns j 6 ranging from breweries to brick-making plants were { 7 established in the Lakeview community, leading to j 8 the development of nearby working class residential [ 9 neighborhoods that included German, Swedish, and I 10 other European immigrants. [ 11 The building was designed in 1903 I 12 by the important Chicago architectural firm of J 13 Frommann & Jebsen which received some 27 commissions I 14 from Schlitz, mostly for tied houses. i 15 The unusual German Renaissance 1 16 Revival design relies on excellent craftsmanship in I 17 traditional brick masonry, particularly in the 18 dark-red face-brick set in decorative tapestry 19 bonds against a warm-yellow, face-brick background. 2 0 The German Renaissance Revival style 1 21 is relatively rare in Chicago, but its evocation of | 2 2 German culture must have appealed to Chicago j 2 3 brewers like Schlitz who were predominantly German | 2 4 immigrants. j |
Page 27 1 bull's-eye. Other stylistic features include: 2 limestone piers and window surrounds, a string- 3 course, a second bay window on the side elevation, 4 also clad with pressed metal. 5 The Commission preliminarily found 6 that the building meets three criteria for 7 designation, including: 8 * Criterion 1, for heritage of the City of 9 Chicago; 10 * Criterion 4, for architecture; and 11 * Criterion 6, for its representation of 12 distinctive themes, as well as the separate 13 integrity criterion. 14 Changes to the building include: 15 The replacement of the original storefront with a 16 modem glass and aluminum storefront system; the 17 infill of the first floor windows and a door 18 opening on the side elevation; and the removal of a 19 cornice at the front and side elevations. These 2 0 changes are typical of commercials buildings of 21 this age, they're reversible, and do not detract 2 2 from the building's ~ from the overall physical 2 3 integrity of the building and its ability to convey ,24 its significance. |
Page 2 9 j 1 Typical features of the style at 2 3159 North Southport include the steeply-pitched j 3 false gable, the slim vertical piers with their 4 limestone finials, the distinctive bonnet roof over 5 the corner oriel window, and the tapestry brick 6 bonding patterns. Other stylistic features 7 include: window openings surrounded with 8 alternating colors of brick, a stringcourse, and 9 copper metalwork. 1 o The Commission found that the 11 building meets four criteria for designation. 12 These are: 13 * Criterion 1, for the heritage of the City of 14 Chicago; 15 * Criterion 4, for architecture; | 16 * Criterion 5, for significant architect; and i 17 * Criterion 6, for its representation of j 18 distinctive themes, as well as the separate I 19 integrity criterion. § 2 0 Changes to the building have been I 21 particularly minimal and include the replacement of 1 2 2 some windows and doors. The storefront glazing and 1 2 3 framing are not original, but were replaced in a I 2 4 manner sympathetic with the building's historic 1 |
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Page 30 1 visual character. The building has been very well 2 maintained and houses Schuba's Tavern, a long-time 3 popular music venue. 4 Designed in 1903 by architect 5 Charles Thisslew, this Queen Anne-style tied house 6 is located at 2159 West Belmont Avenue at the 7 intersection with Leavitt Street in the North 8 Center neighborhood. The area developed as a 9 working-class community, first settled in the 1880s 10 by German, Irish, and Swedish immigrants who found 11 jobs in nearby brick and terra cotta manufacturing 12 plants, William Deering's harvester works, and the 13 Clybourn slaughterhouse. 14 The two-story building is clad with 15 a combination of glazed brick at its base and 16 yellow face-brick, and trimmed with limestone. 17 The highlight of the design is the 18 building's comer turret bay window with classical 19 decoration in pressed metal, including a pediment 2 0 and acroterion above the comer window. The turret 21 is capped with a third balustrade with a blind 2 2 balustrade and a Schlitz globe in a lunette framed 2 3 by volutes. A second pressed metal window bay on 2 4 side elevation also features classical motifs. |
Page 32 j 1 originally included three tied houses, housing for 2 Schlitz workers, and a company stable. The design 3 is attributed to Frommann & Jebsen who are known to i 4 have designed the other buildings in the Row. | 5 The exterior is constructed of two 1 6 colors of face brick, with decorative bond patterns. | 7 The two street-facing facades of building are i 8 nearly identical, both articulated with large, 1 9 arched openings framed framing recessed wall I 10 areas punched with windows and doors openings and | 11 stucco panels. 1 12 The street-facing elevations meet at 13 a chamfered comer which includes a terra cotta 14 Schlitz globe at the parapet level. In addition to 15 the arches, corbelled brick piers articulate the 16 facade as a series of receding and projecting wall 17 planes, a characteristic ofthe Queen Anne style. 18 Other stylistic features include: The use of 19 alternating colors of brick at the arched openings, 1 2 0 limestone stringcourse and sills, a band of tapestry 21 brick at the parapet level, and the unusual lime-2 2 stone coping ornament on the piers. 2 3 The Commission preliminarily found 2 4 that the building meets four criteria for |
Page .31 1 Other stylistic motifs include: limestone string- 2 courses, a pressed-metal cornice, and windows with 3 limestone keystone openings. 4 The Commission preliminarily found 5 that the building meets three criteria for 6 designation, including: 7 * Criterion 1, for heritage of the City of 8 Chicago; 9 * Criterion 4, for architecture; and 10 * Criterion 6, for its representation of 11 distinctive themes, as well as the separate 12 integrity criterion. 13 Changes to the building are minor and 14 include the replacement of windows and doors and 15 the glazed storefront. These changes are typical 16 for commercial buildings of this age and are 17 reversible, and do not detract from the overall 18 physical integrity of the building. 19 Built in 1906, this tied house is 2 0 located at 11400 South Front Avenue in the Roseland 21 neighborhood, separated from the originally dry 2 2 industrial town of Pullman by the tracks of the 2 3 Illinois Central Railroad immediately to the east. 24 It was part of Schlitz Row, a complex that |
Page 3 3 1 designation, including: 2 * Criterion 1, for heritage of the City of 3 Chicago; j 4 * Criterion 4, for architecture; 5 * Criterion 5, for significant architect; and 6 * Criterion 6, for its representation of 7 distinctive themes, as well as the separate 8 integrity criterion. 9 Changes to the building are 10 relatively minor and include the replacement of 11 doors and the second-story windows. These changes 12 are typical for commercial buildings of this age 13 and reversible and do not detract from the overall 1 14 physical integrity of the building. I 15 Also part of Schlitz Row, this 1 16 two-story brick stable building is located at I 17 11314 South Front Avenue in the Roseland I 18 neighborhood. It was built in 1906 by Schlitz for | 19 its delivery horses. Together this stable and the | 2 0 tied house one block south at 11400 South Front f 21 Avenue are the only surviving commercial buildings j 22 from the Schlitz Row complex designed by Frommann & s 23 Jebsen. 1 2 4 The design also includes the use of 1 |
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| Page 34 1 two colors of brick, projecting piers and arches in 2 combination with recessed wall areas of brick and 3 stucco, and two unusual equine sculptures. Other 4 stylistic features include: blind arched openings, 5 limestone stringcourse and sills, and corbelled and 6 decorative brick patterns. 7 The Commission preliminarily found 8 that the building meets four criteria for 9 designation, including: 10 * Criterion 1, for heritage of the City of 11 Chicago; 12 * Criterion 4, for architecture; 13 * Criterion 5, for significant architect; 14 * Criterion 6, for its representation of 15 distinctive themes, as well as the separate 16 integrity criterion. 17 Changes to the building are minimal 18 and limited to the replacement of exterior doors. 19 This change does not detract from the overall 2 0 physical integrity of the building. 21 To conclude, the Commission 22 preliminarily identified the significant historical 2 3 and architectural features for the five brewery-2 4 tied houses and one brewery stable house as |
Page 36 1 the buildings are definitely worthy of landmarking 2 and worthy of preservation. 3 The only concerns that they have 4 expressed to us have been about that the City 5 might be able to do things to help owners of such 6 buildings. And in one particular case, the 7 emphasis was really not so much on help for him, 8 but helping other property owners steward their 9 buildings in a way that could eventually lead them 10 to becoming landmarks as well. And so he asked 11 that we take that into consideration, and the 12 Alderman thought it was important that we mention 13 that during the hearing today. 14 But we haven't heard any arguments 15 from any of the three that are included in the 32nd 16 Ward that they should not be landmarked, just some 17 concerns about, you know, ramifications for the 18 ownership and stewardship of the buildings. So we 19 wanted to note that, but that they also have 2 o indicated to us, at least in the discussions we've 21 had with them, support for the concept of 2 2 landmarking the buildings and preserving them. 2 3 The Alderman also wanted to commend 2 4 the staff on the thorough work that they're done on |
Page 35 1 follows: 2 * All exterior elevations, including 3 rooflines of each building. 4 Thank you. 5 THE HEARING OFFICER: Okay. Thank you, 6 Mr. Crawford. 7 Before we take questions from 8 property owners, I believe we have representative 9 from Alderman Waguespack's office who can't stay 10 for the whole hearing, Paul Sajovec. 11 Did you want to make a statement 12 now? 13 MR. SAJOVEC: Sure. 14 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: Okay. 15 MR. SAJOVEC: Hi, I'm Paul Sajovec, Alderman 16 Waguespack's chief-of-staff. He couldn't be here 17 today, but he asked me to come and say some words 18 on his behalf. 19 He's an enthusiastic supporter of 2 0 this thematic district and the buildings in the 21 32nd Ward that have been included. 2 2 We've had significant discussions 2 3 with a couple of the property owners involved, , 2 4 and excuse me, the everyone can agree that |
Page 37 1 these these buildings are architecturally, you 2 know, significant gems in the community, both from 3 the standpoint of the architecture themselves and 4 there are also local histories involved. And I 5 think the work that the staff has done has really 6 kind of brought that to life and help focus some 7 additional attention on them. And we hope that 8 that may eventually lead to others that could 9 potentially fall in the same category down the 10 down the line as well. j 11 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: Okay. Thank you very 1 12 much. I 13 MR. SAJOVEC: Thank you. j 14 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: All right. Now, j 15 we'll just finish off the staff presentation. 16 At this time, any property owners of j 17 the six buildings or their representatives can ask 18 questions of the staff about their presentation if 19 they wish. 2 0 Are there any who wish to do so? 21 Yes, sir. 22 MR. LUBOVICH: Yeah. I'm Nick Lubovich. I'm 2 3 with Friends of Pullman. 24 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: Sorry. This is- | |
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| Page 3 8 1 right now it's only - are you a - do you own one 2 of the six properties? 3 MR. LUBOVICH: Yes. Argus Brewery. 4 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: Oh, okay. 5 MR. LUBOVICH: The stables. 6 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: Yes. 7 MR. LUBOVICH: Yeah. No. We're very excited 8 about this. Just wanted to see how the process was 9 going to be because, you know, going forward with 10 changes, there's not too many, I guess, photographs 11 of our building and what it was. Are we going to 12 have help as far as, you know, kind of making the 13 proper changes to the front of the building? 14 MR. CRAWFORD: We do have a permit review 15 staff who are architects trained in historic 16 presentation who, if you were proposing some work 17 to the building, if you wanted to come to them with 18 some kind of design concepts that they could look 19 at before you get too far down the road, that they 2 0 would be able to help you to determine what's 21 appropriate and what would be the guidelines, 2 2 rather than you trying to figure it out on your 23 own. 2 4 MR. LUBOVICH: Are there going to be programs |
Page 4 0 ; 1 I believe there are no other aldermen or their 2 offices present to comment. Is that correct? I 3 Yes, that is correct. 1 4 We'll move on then to statements by I 5 members of the general public regarding the I 6 proposed landmark designations. | 7 As a reminder, statements are mainly 1 8 expressions of opinion or an individual's feelings jj 9 on the proposed landmark designation. Anyone 1 10 wishing to make a statement in favor of the I 11 proposed designation should have filled out a green | 12 appearance form, and those who wish to speak in I 13 opposition to the proposed designation should fill jj 14 out a pink appearance form. If you haven't already j 15 completed a form and want to speak, the Historic 1 16 Preservation Division staff have the forms at the 1 17 table. I 18 We ask that statements from the 1 19 general public be limited to three minutes each. 1 2 0 Please state your name, address, and the interest, 1 21 organization, or company you represent, if any. 1 2 2 We'll start with statements in favor 23 of the designation. And I have one form submitted 24 so far here, and that is from Jonathan Fine |
Page 3 9 1 that are going to help with, I guess, the cost as 2 well, or is that kind of just one of those things? 3 MR. CRAWFORD: There is a permit fee waiver 4 program for landmarked buildings, which is 5 reimbursement for permit fees. If the building was 6 landmarked, you'd be able to take advantage of 7 that, and there are other advantages in terms of 8 incentives that you could avail yourself to. 9 MR. LUBOVICH: Thank you. 10 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: All right. And are 11 there any other owners present who want to ask 12 questions? 13 There are none it appears. 14 In that case - one moment. 15 MR. GOEKEN: And, sir, can we just make sure 16 that you fill out one of the forms so that we're 17 got the spelling of your name and everything for 18 the record since it is a public hearing. And if 19 you want to include your phone number on that, then 2 0 the staff can follow up with you to give you more 21 information relative to your question. 22 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: Okay. Thank you. 2 3 We've already heard from a 2 4 representative of Alderman Waguespack's office and |
Page 41- 1 representing Preservation Chicago. 2 MR. FINE: Good morning. 3 Again for the record, my name is 4 Jonathan Fine, and I'm the executive director of 5 Preservation Chicago. 6 First of all, we'd like to commend 7 the staff for this incredibly wonderful thematic 8 designation. The work that the staff has been 9 doing on these thematic designations is really 10 exemplary. We have the firehouse designation, the 11 historic railroad bridge designation, and numerous 12 others. And this just adds to that excellent work. 13 We are particularly thrilled because 14 there are so many other Schlitz tied houses that 15 one day could be swept into this designation. So | 16 this designation is - could be thought of as the I 17 down payment for numerous other landmarks in the I 18 future. So we really commend for this forward- I 19 thinking inclusive nomination. 1 2 0 Preservation Chicago first became 1 21 aware of the work of Frommann & Jebsen back when we | 2 2 were a brand-new organization. In 2001 we were | 2 3 working on trying to preserve the comer of State j 24 and Division Street, and that's when we first |
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Page 42 1 became aware of this, at that time relatively 2 unknown architecture firm of Frommann & Jebsen. 3 Shortly after that, we were very 4 saddened to witness the demolition of one of the 5 brewery-tied houses on Front Street just a little 6 bit, I believe, to the south of the one that you're 7 landmarking today. At that same time, the Schlitz 8 stable had been vacant and was in a state of 9 disrepair. So we're thrilled that there is a new 10 owner who is appreciative of the architecture, and 11 is excited about its landmarking and its future 12 preservation. 13 With that, we would just like to 14 wrap up and say keep up the good work. So with 15 whole-hearted support, we are very thrilled about 16 this today. 17 Thank you. 18 HEARING OFFICER ELLIN: All right. Thank 19 you. 2 0 I do not have any other comment 21 forms requesting to speak either in support or in 2 2 opposition of the designations. 2 3 Is there anyone else present who 24 wants to speak? |
Page 44 ; 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS ) ) SS: 2 COUNTYOFCOOK ) 3 4 I, Marcia Yoshizumi, a Certified 5 Shorthand Reporter in and for the County of Cook 6 and State of Illinois, do hereby certify that 1 7 reported in shorthand the proceedings of said 8 hearing as appears from my stenographic notes so 9 taken and transcribed under my direction. 10 11 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set 12 my hand and affixed my seal of office at Chicago, 13 Illinois, this 28th day of March 2011. j 14 | 15 16 Illinois CSR License 84-003537 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 |
Page 4 3 1 There are none. 2 That concludes then today's public 3 hearing. The Commission will consider the entire 4 record, including the transcript of today's hearing 5 at its regular meeting on April 7th, 2011, and will 6 determine whether to make a final recommendation to 7 City Council on the proposed landmark designations 8 of these five (former) brewery-tied houses and one 9 (former) stable building. 10 The meeting will be open to the 11 public and will take place at 12:45 p.m. in this 12 room on April 7th. 13 Thank you all for attending today. 14 (The hearing in the above- 15 entitled matter was adjourned.) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 .24 |
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