Montgomery Ward Company Complex
- Architect
- Richard E. Schmidt
- Style
- Chicago School
- City
- Chicago, IL
- Collection
- the chicago school
The Montgomery Ward Company Complex on the North Branch of the Chicago River at 618 W. Chicago Avenue was the headquarters of Montgomery Ward, the country's oldest mail-order firm, until 1974. Its two earliest structures, the Administration Building and the Mail Order House, were built of reinforced concrete and designed by Richard E. Schmidt and Hugh Garden of the firm Schmidt, Garden and Martin; the complex was named a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 1978.
the building
The Administration Building. The 400,000-square-foot, eight-story Administration Building carries sword and torch motifs on its base, with vertical piers that run uninterrupted to a parapet decorated in matching motifs; a four-story tower with a pyramid roof was added to its northeast corner in 1929.
The rooftop statue. The roof of the Administration Building is crowned with a 22.5-foot replica of the bronze statue that originally topped the old Montgomery Ward Building.
the style
The reinforced-concrete construction and restrained ornament of the Administration Building and Mail Order House reflect the Chicago School's engineering-forward approach to commercial architecture.
More on Chicago Schoolthe architect
Richard E. Schmidt designed the complex's earliest buildings together with Hugh Garden as partners in the firm Schmidt, Garden and Martin.
significance
Designated a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 1978.
nearby
- The Montgomery
- St. John Cantius in Chicago
- Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral (Chicago)
- (Former) Cosmopolitan State Bank Building
- Chicago and North Western Railway Power House
- Merchandise Mart