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The Motor Row District is a historic district in the Near South Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The district was built between 1905 and 1936 by various architects, including Holabird & Roche, Alfred Alschuler, Philip Maher, Albert Kahn, and Christian Eckstorm.
This group of commercial buildings on Chicago's Near South Side is considered to be the largest, intact early "automobile row" in the United States. Auto rows developed in numerous cities shortly after 1900 as car companies sought to create districts where the sale and repair of cars could become an easy urban shopping experience. At its peak, as many as 116 different makes of automobiles were being sold on Motor Row. Some are familiar today, including Ford, Buick, Fiat, and Cadillac, while others are better known to historians and old-car buffs, including Hudson, Locomobile, Marmon, and Pierce-Arrow.
The range of buildings in Motor Row illustrates the evolution of the automobile showroom and related product and service buildings, from simple two-story structures used for display and offices to multi-story buildings housing a variety of departments for the repair, storage, painting, and finishing of automobiles. Many of these buildings were designed by significant architects, including Holabird & Roche, Alfred Alschuler, Christian Eckstorm, Philip Maher, and Albert Kahn.
It was designated a Chicago Landmark on December 13, 2000.[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 18, 2002.[1]
[edit] Location
Located in the Near South Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Including the following specific addresses and blocks: 1444, 1454, 1737, 1925, 2000 S. Michigan Ave., 2200-2500 blocks of S. Michigan Ave., 2246-3453 S. Indiana Ave., and 2211-47 S. Wabash Ave.
[edit] Revitalization
On the Southeast corner of Michigan and 23rd st. sits the Cadillac building, designed by Holabird and Roche and built in 1911. It is currently part of a loft condo conversion project called Motor Row Lofts. Other conversion/rehabilitation and new construction projects include Motor Row Condos and Lofts on the Row I & II.
[edit] References
