{"nrhp_refnum":"88003245","name":"Northwestern Terra Cotta Company Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1701--1711 W. Terra Cotta Pl.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.92779159200006,"lon":-87.67147607899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-02-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick office building at 1701-1711 West Terra Cotta Place in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, built in 1905 as the administration office of the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company plant.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it meets Criterion A as the primary surviving 20th-century remnant of one of the nation's largest architectural terra cotta producers. It symbolizes the once-thriving Chicago terra cotta industry and links to many landmark buildings that used Northwestern's products. Most of the 24-acre plant has been demolished.","narrative":"Built in 1905, this two-story brick building at 1701-1711 West Terra Cotta Place in Chicago served as the administrative office of the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, whose plant once covered 24 acres. It has buff common brick walls with orange brick header courses, a flat tar roof, a small rooftop penthouse, and restrained terra cotta trim in a splattered orange and green finish. A date plaque and a terra cotta name panel identify the company on the facade, and brick medallions show Prairie School influence. The company was among the nation's largest terra cotta producers, supplying the Rookery, the Wrigley Building, and the Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company building, among others. At its 1920 peak the plant employed about 800 workers. The company entered receivership in 1932, and most of the plant has since been demolished, leaving this office as the main surviving reminder of the operation. The building is currently vacant.","period_of_significance":"1905-1932","architect_builder":"Andresen, Theodore","architectural_style":"Late 19th and early 20th century American movements/Commercial style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant/not in use; the main entrance has been altered, metal screens added to first-floor windows, and a few windows bricked shut.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.469331-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/8926/28892627/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/88003245.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88003245/6b0226bd3c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88003245/6b0226bd3c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Andrew Jameson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NorthwesternTerraCottaCoBldgChicago.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Andrew Jameson</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:NorthwesternTerraCottaCoBldgChicago.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892627","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwestern_Terra_Cotta_Company_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85789804"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/northwestern-terra-cotta-company-building-88003245/"}