{"nrhp_refnum":"78001133","name":"Swift House","other_names":["Chicago Urban League Headquarters"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4500 S. Michigan Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.81295507500005,"lon":-87.62343849399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-06-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A granite mansion at 4500 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, built in 1892 for Mr. and Mrs. Edward Morris, with a coach house added about 25 years later. It now serves as the headquarters of the Chicago Urban League.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an excellent example of the large Richardsonian residence built for Chicago's wealthy in the 1890s. It was the home of two members of the Gustavus F. Swift family and of Edward Morris, a competing meat packer. The exterior and interior remain largely intact.","narrative":"Built in 1892 at 4500 South Michigan Avenue, this Chicago mansion is faced in grey granite laid in rustic courses and shows strong influence from the architect H. H. Richardson. Decoration is limited to turned stone columns with carved capitals, dentil work at the cornice, and relief carving in the gable ends. Inside, the main rooms, halls and stairs are paneled in oak, and six major fireplaces survive. A coach house was added about 25 years after the main building. The first owners were Edward Morris, president of Morris and Company, and his wife, a daughter of meatpacker Gustavus F. Swift. Its connection to two leading packing families adds to its interest. The design may be the work of Willett & Pashley, and it echoes Richardson's Glessner and McVeagh houses in Chicago. The house later served as a funeral home and now houses the Chicago Urban League, whose alterations have been reversible.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Possibly Willett & Pashley (attribution suggested by the form, not confirmed)","architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition and unaltered; occupied and used as the headquarters of the Chicago Urban League, having earlier served as private residences and a funeral home.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.934354-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/42/8922/28892242/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001133.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001133/aa9f97f48b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001133/aa9f97f48b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Thshriver","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swift_House_2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Thshriver</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:Swift_House_2.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"12000040","name":"Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/chicago-park-boulevard-system-historic-district-12000040/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892242","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85804485"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/swift-house-78001133/"}