Marquette Building

Address: 140 S. Dearborn St. Year Built: 1895 Architect: Holabird & Roche Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: June 9, 1975

In this building, an appropriate exterior aesthetic expression for the then-new, steel-framed skyscraper was found. The facade clearly reveals its underlying structure--with broad windows set in a framework of narrow piers and spandrels. Its open and well-lit interior layout, built around a central light court, significantly influenced the design of modern high-rise commercial structures. The building is named for Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary and explorer who, in 1674-75, wintered in the area that is now Chicago. The lobby is decorated with mosaic panels made by the Tiffany firm and bronze heads of native Americans, animals, and early explorers.