{"nrhp_refnum":"07000457","name":"Steuben Club, The","other_names":["Randolph Tower"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"188 W. Randolph St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.88455778800005,"lon":-87.63368194099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-05-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History","European"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 45-story mixed-use skyscraper at 188 West Randolph Street in Chicago's Loop, completed in late 1929 and designed by K.M. Vitzthum and Company, Inc. It combined retail, offices and a social club.","why_significant":"The building is significant as the headquarters of the Steuben Club, a German-American social organization that admitted women and members from many walks of life. It is also a notable example of Gothic-detailed, Art Deco-influenced skyscraper design with set-back massing, and its tower required innovative wind bracing.","narrative":"Rising 463 feet at the northeast corner of West Randolph and North Wells Streets, this 45-story skyscraper was completed in late 1929 as the home of the Steuben Club. A twenty-seven-story base carries an octagonal tower with repeated setbacks, and off-white terra cotta covers the main facades, adorned with pointed arches, tracery, finials and flying buttresses. The tower's delicate Gothic detailing required specially designed wind bracing that was considered innovative. The club, a German-American organization, planned the project as mixed-use: shops on the lower floors, offices on floors four through twenty-one, and club facilities and member rooms above, with the rents helping finance construction. Membership included people from many professions, and women were members in their own right. The site had been occupied by the Briggs House Hotel, linked to Abraham Lincoln's 1860 campaign. Architect Karl Vitzthum, himself a club member, designed the building, which cost nearly $7,500,000. The ground-floor storefronts were later altered.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"K.M. Vitzthum and Company, Inc. (architects); Paschen Brothers (general contractors)","architectural_style":"Skyscraper; Art Deco; Late Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Current function is listed as work in progress. The storefronts are described as in poor condition, and many original windows are also in poor condition.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.320739-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/8924/28892491/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/07000457.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000457/c73cc420da-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000457/c73cc420da-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Sknuteson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steuben_Club_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sknuteson</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steuben_Club_Building.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"12001238","name":"West Loop-LaSalle Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/west-loop-lasalle-street-historic-district-12001238/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892491","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph_Tower","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7291873"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/steuben-club-the-07000457/"}