Marquette Building (Chicago)

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For other buildings of the same name see Marquette Building

View from Dearborn South of Adams

View from Dearborn North of Adams

The Marquette Building, completed in 1895, is a Chicago landmark that was built for the George A. Fuller Company. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 9, 1975 and is considered an archictural masterpiece. It was a named a National Historic Landmark in 1978. It is located at 140 South Dearborn Street in the Chicago Loop at the corner of West Adams Street. It was one of the early steel frame skyscrapers of its day. The building originally had a reddish, terra-cotta exterior that is now somewhat blackened due to decades of Loop soot. It has since 2002 been undergoing a 4 year renovation by its current owners, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The building was named after Father Jacques Marquette, the first European settler in Chicago, who explored the Chicago region in 1674 and wintered in the area for the 1674-5 winter season. It was designed by William Holabird and Martin Roche, with Coydon T. Purdy, architects of the firm Holabird & Roche.

The building features several distinct elements. It is considered an exemplary model of the Chicago School of Architecture. The architect used trademark "Chicago windows" on the Marquette Building. These are large panes of glass flanked by narrow sash windows. The lobby is decorated with mosaic panels made by the Tiffany firm and bronze heads of native Americans, animals, and early explorers. The two-story rotunda lobby contains panels of lustered Tiffany glass, mother-of-pearl and semi-precious stones that depict scenes of the early history of Illinois. The hexagonal railing around the lobby atrium is decorated with a mosaic frieze by the Tiffany studio depicting events in the life of Jacques Marquette. Additional decoration includes bronze heads of native Americans, animals, and early explorers. The revolving door panels feature carvings of panther's heads.

In the 1930s the building was the downtown headquarters for over 30 railroad companies. Its lobby connects with the D.H. Burnham & Company designed Edison Building to the west providing a pedway from Dearborn to Clark.

The preservation of this building was championed by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois.