{"nrhp_refnum":"70000238","name":"Rookery Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"209 S. LaSalle St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.87910805300004,"lon":-87.63215761599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-04-17","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1975-05-15","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eleven-story commercial office building with a basement at 209 South LaSalle Street in Chicago, Illinois, completed in 1886 and designed by the firm of Burnham and Root.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a prime example of the development of the multi-story commercial structure, using the best construction methods then available. Its skeletal construction and fine ornamental detail place it in the mainstream of the Chicago School of architecture. Its pioneering plan of shops and offices around a semi-private court is also noted.","narrative":"Rising eleven stories and 164 feet above a Chicago corner at Adams and LaSalle Streets, the Rookery is an office building completed in 1886 to designs by Daniel Burnham and John Root. It covers its entire lot and wraps around a large interior light court, so every floor receives daylight. The lower two stories of the Adams and LaSalle facades are granite, with dark brown brick and terra cotta above, while the court walls and secondary streets use cast-iron columns and spandrel beams, combining masonry and skeletal construction. In 1905 Frank Lloyd Wright remodeled the court lobby, replacing much of Root's iron ornament with geometric designs, white marble stair casing, marble urns and new light fixtures. The building was recognized for its early use of skeletal construction, refined ornament and its plan of shops and offices around a semi-private square. It represents the work of two influential Chicago School architects, whose partnership produced about 250 structures, many of them in Chicago since demolished.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (completed 1886)","architect_builder":"Daniel Burnham and John Root (Burnham and Root); lobby remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905","architectural_style":"Chicago School","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and unaltered, on its original site; in occupied commercial use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.785712-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/8925/28892527/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/70000238.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000238/1930a5941e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000238/1930a5941e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Marlene Calderon","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Rookery,_Chicago,_IL.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marlene Calderon</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Rookery,_Chicago,_IL.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892527","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rookery_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3441853"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/rookery-building-70000238/"}