{"nrhp_refnum":"82000393","name":"Schulze Baking Company Plant","other_names":["Interstate Bakeries: Chicago South Plant"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"40 E. Garfield Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.79547462900007,"lon":-87.62471295199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A bakery plant at 40 East Garfield Boulevard in Chicago, Illinois, made up of four buildings. Three were designed by John Ahlschlager & Son and built in 1913-1914; a fourth, linking building was added in 1936 to designs by Fox & Fox.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it architecturally the finest major bakery building built in early-twentieth-century Chicago, with a modern design in white enameled brick, blue terra cotta and black tile that broke from austere red-brick industrial plants. It was the only industrial plant published in Architectural Record in 1914. It is also tied to Paul Schulze, a nationally important baker and Chicago civic leader, and to changing consumer attitudes toward bread.","narrative":"Located on Chicago's Garfield Boulevard, this bakery plant combines three buildings designed by John Ahlschlager & Son in 1913-1914 with a 1936 garage and loading structure by Fox & Fox that ties them together. The main building is five stories of reinforced concrete, faced in white enameled brick and decorated with black tile, blue terra cotta and sculpted chevrons carrying wheat and corn motifs. A former horse stable and truck garage stand to the north. The plant was built for the Schulze Baking Company, led by Paul Schulze, who wanted a bakery that rejected the plain red-brick look of Chicago industrial buildings and advertised cleanliness to the public. It was the only industrial plant published in Architectural Record in 1914, and trade journals praised it. Its significance rests on its exterior design, its link to Schulze's role in the growing baking industry, and its place among early modern industrial architecture. Later changes have been modest and mostly used matching materials.","period_of_significance":"1913-1914; 1936","architect_builder":"John Ahlschlager & Son; Fox & Fox","architectural_style":"Modern style, with geometrical, floral and chevron ornament that avoids historical styles","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in industrial use; the form says the building retains a very high degree of original integrity, with some windows bricked in and a few decorative chevrons lost.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.390944-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/56/8922/28892256/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/82000393.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82000393/844550e1c9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82000393/844550e1c9-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"en:Western Architect","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1914-15_Schulze_Baking_Company_Factory.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">en:Western Architect</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1914-15_Schulze_Baking_Company_Factory.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/28892256","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schulze_Baking_Company_Plant","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7432999"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/schulze-baking-company-plant-82000393/"}