{"nrhp_refnum":"78001126","name":"Old Chicago Historical Society Building","other_names":["Chicago Historical Society Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"632 N. Dearborn St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.89362087200004,"lon":-87.63001069399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-11-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story granite building with a basement and attic at the northwest corner of Dearborn and Ontario streets, 632 North Dearborn, Chicago. It was built 1892-96 for the Chicago Historical Society and designed by Henry Ives Cobb.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an important example of a prominent Chicago architect adapting Richardsonian Romanesque to a public building. It is also notable for fireproof construction with early steel beams, and for its role as a cultural and educational center. Apart from the Newberry Library and University of Chicago buildings, it is the only surviving public monument in Chicago by Cobb.","narrative":"Built between 1892 and 1896 at the northwest corner of Dearborn and Ontario streets in Chicago, this granite building was designed by Henry Ives Cobb as the home of the Chicago Historical Society. It adapts the Richardsonian Romanesque style to a public building, with rusticated Wisconsin granite walls, twin turrets, a carved front porch and a Florentine-inspired double window. Inside are a skylighted stairhall, a two-story lecture hall and a library rising to a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Construction was fireproof and used steel beams then coming into use. The society occupied it for 35 years, until 1931. The Federal Music Project used it from 1937 to 1943, and the Institute of Design, a successor to the Bauhaus school, occupied it from 1946 until 1955. Afterward it was alternately vacant and used for short-lived commercial purposes. Original roof tiles have been replaced and interior rooms subdivided, but the exterior fabric is largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1892-96","architect_builder":"Henry Ives Cobb","architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as not in use, having alternately been vacant and housed short-lived commercial and other uses since 1955; condition listed as good with few alterations.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.303378-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/54/8923/28892354/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001126.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001126/a01f907aec-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001126/a01f907aec-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Cervin Robinson, Photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Historical_Society,_632_North_Dearborn_Street,_Chicago_(Cook_County,_Illinois).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cervin Robinson, Photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Historical_Society,_632_North_Dearborn_Street,_Chicago_(Cook_County,_Illinois).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892354","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_Chicago_Historical_Society_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5470081"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/old-chicago-historical-society-building-78001126/"}