{"nrhp_refnum":"85002286","name":"Swedish American Telephone Company Building","other_names":["Denoyer-Geppert Co."],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5235--5257 N. Ravenswood","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.97749224300003,"lon":-87.67429263899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-09-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","European","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of timber-framed brick factory buildings at 5235-57 North Ravenswood Avenue in Chicago's Andersonville/Edgewater area. The north building dates from about 1895, the south building from about 1900, and a connecting addition from 1901.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the complex is a well-preserved example of a 1890s heavy timber mill building, with more careful brick facade composition than typical industrial buildings. It also housed three successful industries: Betz medical supplies, Swedish American Telephone Company and Denoyer-Geppert maps and models. It was the first large industrial building in the neighborhood and provided jobs and an economic base for the Swedish community of Andersonville.","narrative":"Three connected factory buildings on North Ravenswood Avenue in Chicago make up this industrial complex. The two-story north section dates from about 1895, the three-story south section from about 1900, and a 1901 addition joined them. All are timber-framed with common brick bearing walls trimmed in Joliet stone or Bedford limestone. Pilasters, saw-tooth brick panels and brick lunettes give the facades more careful composition than most industrial buildings of the period. The architect of the north building is unknown; Irving W. Kelley designed the addition and probably the south building. The complex first housed Frank S. Betz's medical supply firm, then the Swedish American Telephone Company, and later the Denoyer-Geppert Company, maker of school maps and anatomical models. As the first large factory in the neighborhood, it employed local workers, mostly German and then Swedish, and helped form the economic base of Andersonville. Its few owners kept it largely intact, and most alterations are reversible.","period_of_significance":"1895-1900 (original construction); 1901 (addition)","architect_builder":"Original architect unknown; addition by Irving W. Kelley (south building probably also by Kelley); addition built by Frank S. Betz & Co.","architectural_style":"Heavy timber mill construction (industrial)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied and private; condition good and altered, with relatively few reversible alterations. Denoyer-Geppert ceased operation after its 1984 absorption by Rand-McNally.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:36.007188-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/8924/28892434/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/85002286.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002286/c3db00ad49-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002286/c3db00ad49-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM)","credit_html":"TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20080704_Swedish_American_Telephone_Company_Building.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892434","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_American_Telephone_Company_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20710466"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/swedish-american-telephone-company-building-85002286/"}