{"nrhp_refnum":"72000449","name":"Chicago Public Library, Central Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"78 E. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.88392059300003,"lon":-87.62505783299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-07-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Central Building of the Chicago Public Library, a monumental masonry public library at 78 East Washington Street in Chicago, Illinois, at the northwest corner of Grant Park. It was constructed 1893-97 and designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a landmark of national significance for its unaltered neoclassical design and its mosaic, cosmati and Tiffany glass work, including the Grand Staircase and Tiffany domes. It was the first permanent home of the Chicago Public Library and is one of very few such monumental public buildings left in the region. It also housed a Civil War museum and used innovative load-tested log-pile foundations.","narrative":"Built between 1893 and 1897 at 78 East Washington Street, Chicago's Central Library is a large stone building with neoclassical facades on three sides, set at the northwest corner of Grant Park. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge of Boston designed it, with C. A. Coolidge credited for the main design. Its interiors are the main attraction: a white Carrara marble Grand Staircase, mosaic and cosmati inlay, coffered plaster ceilings, and two Tiffany favrile glass domes. The mosaic concept is attributed to Robert C. Spencer and the work was carried out by J. L. Holzer. Engineer William Sooy Smith supported the building on deep-driven log piles and load-tested them beforehand, and the structure has not appreciably settled. The building was the first permanent home of the Chicago Public Library and houses a Grand Army of the Republic Civil War museum. Its supporters presented it as a rare, largely unaltered monumental public building at a time when demolition was being considered.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (constructed 1893-97)","architect_builder":"Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge (chief design credit to C. A. Coolidge); foundation engineering by Gen. William Sooy Smith; mosaics designed by Robert C. Spencer and executed by J. L. Holzer","architectural_style":"Neoclassical facade in a combination of historical styles; academic monumental design","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and substantially unaltered, in use as a library and Civil War museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.607542-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/8922/28892224/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/72000449.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000449/5e8b7a1d22-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000449/5e8b7a1d22-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.5","author":"The original uploader was DS1953 at English Wikipedia.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Cultural_Center.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">The original uploader was DS1953 at English Wikipedia.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Cultural_Center.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892224","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Cultural_Center","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2398614"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/chicago-public-library-central-building-72000449/"}