First Leiter Building
The First Leiter building (or Leiter I) was a Chicago commercial structure built in 1879 by William Le Baron Jenney. It was renovated and extended in 1888, and demolished in 1972.
Leiter I Building | |
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Built | 1879 |
|---|---|
| Demolished | 1972 |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000910 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | Unknown |
| Removed from NRHP | 1972 |
Jenney designed this building, located at Washington and Wells Streets, as a department store for Levi Z. Leiter. This building marked a significant milestone in architectural engineering: it combined, for the first time, four essential elements of a modern skyscraper in one building. These were: its great height (Leiter I was originally five stories tall, and shortly after expanded to seven stories); an iron skeletal frame; terra cotta fireproofing materials on all of its structural members; and, vertical transportation via elevators. It also utilized a new type of glass in its windows.[1] Although the city building department required Jenney to build one exterior party wall as a traditional masonry loadbearing structure and the floors were of heavy timber construction, the rest of the building was a truly modern innovation.
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to First Leiter Building. |
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. IL-1021, "Leiter I Building, 200-208 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Cook County, IL", 2 photos, 6 measured drawings, 5 data pages, supplemental material