Schulze Baking Company Plant
Encyclopedia
Schulze Baking Company Plant is a factory
building located on the South Side
of Chicago, Illinois, United States
. It is located at 40 East Garfield Boulevard (also described as 55th Street and Wabash Avenue) in the Washington Park community area
in Cook County
. Built in 1914, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on November 12, 1982. Originally built for the Schulze Baking Company, it is now the home of the Butternut Bread Company.
The building features a terra cotta
exterior with ornamentation that pays tribute to Louis Sullivan
. The original flooring is made of reinforced concrete
. In the early 21st century, the building fell into a state of disrepair.
and the Dan Ryan Expressway
along a section of Garfield Boulevard that formerly hosted prominent businesses such as the Wanzer Milk Company and the Schulze Baking Company. The area has suffered from economic decay and crime. One of the few significant remaining businesses in the old Black Belt is the Butternut Bread Company, which occupies the building.
As of March 2011, it is the home of The Bakery. The Bakery is a private indoor BMX course featured on ESPN. According to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, it currently functions as an Industry/Processing/Extraction - processing site, and its original historical function was as an Agriculture/Subsistence - processing site.
business entity. Although, according to Form 10-K
filings by the Interstate Bakeries Corporation
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
, the Schulze Baking Company was not formed until 1927, many records contradict this claim. Historical accounts of Chicago claim that Paul Schulze, 1910-11 president of the National Association of Master Bakers, started the Schulze Baking Company in 1893 with his brothers. In 1912, prior to the construction of the plant, the company had four baking plants throughout the city of Chicago and general offices in the Chicago Stock Exchange
Building on LaSalle Street
in the Chicago Loop
. In the 1910s, the company had extensive legal battles regarding protecting its trademark
s. Interstate's own company history even confirms the 1893 beginning of Schulze.
structure designed by John Ahlschlager in 1914 for the Schulze Baking Company. The terra cotta walls were five storeys high. The building featured blue lettering, foliated cornice
ornamentation, and stringcourses of rosette
s. The building uses 700 windows grouped to complement the ornamentation's allusion to themes of nature and purity. The ornamentation is considered abstract
, Sullivanesque
and modern. The company used Apron conveyor
manufactured by the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company of Columbus, Ohio
. A lengthy low industrial complex extends northward behind the main five-story building.
The structure has a flat concrete slab
floor with four-way reinforcement designed to support 300 pound per square inches (2,068.4 kPa). The dimensions of the building 298 in 4 in (90.93 m) by 160 feet (48.8 m) and it is composed of floor space segmented into 17 in 6 in (5.33 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m). The second floor is 9 inches (22.9 cm) thick except in the 7 in 6 in (2.29 m) square surrounding each column where it is 14 inches (35.6 cm) thick.
As of late 2008, the building was showing signs of wear, disrepair and neglect. At least one terra cotta cornice
was missing, and the building had numerous walkway coverings to protect passersby from falling debris such as further terra cotta loss. One side wall was propped up with wood beams at 45 degree angles. In addition, the building has some graffiti
markings.
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
building located on the South Side
South Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
of Chicago, Illinois, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is located at 40 East Garfield Boulevard (also described as 55th Street and Wabash Avenue) in the Washington Park community area
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
in Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
. Built in 1914, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on November 12, 1982. Originally built for the Schulze Baking Company, it is now the home of the Butternut Bread Company.
The building features a terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
exterior with ornamentation that pays tribute to Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
. The original flooring is made of reinforced concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
. In the early 21st century, the building fell into a state of disrepair.
Location and function
The building is located between the western edge of Washington ParkWashington Park (Chicago park)
On December 6, 1879, former U.S. President Ulysses Grant took part in a tree planting ceremony in the park. A memorial boulder with a plaque commemorated the event. In the 1920s black semiprofessional baseball teams played at Washington Park...
and the Dan Ryan Expressway
Dan Ryan Expressway
The Dan Ryan is an expressway in the city of Chicago that runs from the Circle Interchange with I-290 near downtown Chicago through the South Side of the city. It is designated as both Interstate 94 and Interstate 90 south to 66th Street, a distance of...
along a section of Garfield Boulevard that formerly hosted prominent businesses such as the Wanzer Milk Company and the Schulze Baking Company. The area has suffered from economic decay and crime. One of the few significant remaining businesses in the old Black Belt is the Butternut Bread Company, which occupies the building.
As of March 2011, it is the home of The Bakery. The Bakery is a private indoor BMX course featured on ESPN. According to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, it currently functions as an Industry/Processing/Extraction - processing site, and its original historical function was as an Agriculture/Subsistence - processing site.
Baking company
The business was once Chicago's largest wholesaleWholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
business entity. Although, according to Form 10-K
Form 10-K
A Form 10-K is an annual report required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , that gives a comprehensive summary of a public company's performance...
filings by the Interstate Bakeries Corporation
Interstate Bakeries Corporation
Hostess Brands, Inc. is the largest wholesale baker and distributor of fresh bakery products in the United States, and is the owner of the Hostess, Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake's brands. For many years it was based at 12 East Armour Boulevard, Kansas...
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...
, the Schulze Baking Company was not formed until 1927, many records contradict this claim. Historical accounts of Chicago claim that Paul Schulze, 1910-11 president of the National Association of Master Bakers, started the Schulze Baking Company in 1893 with his brothers. In 1912, prior to the construction of the plant, the company had four baking plants throughout the city of Chicago and general offices in the Chicago Stock Exchange
Chicago Stock Exchange
The Chicago Stock Exchange is a stock exchange in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The exchange is a national securities exchange and self-regulated organization, which operates under the oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . The Chicago Stock Exchange is the third most active stock...
Building on LaSalle Street
LaSalle Street
LaSalle Street is a major north-south street in Chicago named for Sieur de La Salle, an early explorer of Illinois. The portion that runs through the Loop is considered to be Chicago's financial district...
in the Chicago Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
. In the 1910s, the company had extensive legal battles regarding protecting its trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
s. Interstate's own company history even confirms the 1893 beginning of Schulze.
Architecture
The building is a white terra cottaTerra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...
structure designed by John Ahlschlager in 1914 for the Schulze Baking Company. The terra cotta walls were five storeys high. The building featured blue lettering, foliated cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
ornamentation, and stringcourses of rosette
Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
s. The building uses 700 windows grouped to complement the ornamentation's allusion to themes of nature and purity. The ornamentation is considered abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
, Sullivanesque
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
and modern. The company used Apron conveyor
Conveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
manufactured by the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company of Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. A lengthy low industrial complex extends northward behind the main five-story building.
The structure has a flat concrete slab
Concrete slab
A concrete slab is a common structural element of modern buildings. Horizontal slabs of steel reinforced concrete, typically between 10 and 50 centimeters thick, are most often used to construct floors and ceilings, while thinner slabs are also used for exterior paving.In many domestic and...
floor with four-way reinforcement designed to support 300 pound per square inches (2,068.4 kPa). The dimensions of the building 298 in 4 in (90.93 m) by 160 feet (48.8 m) and it is composed of floor space segmented into 17 in 6 in (5.33 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m). The second floor is 9 inches (22.9 cm) thick except in the 7 in 6 in (2.29 m) square surrounding each column where it is 14 inches (35.6 cm) thick.
As of late 2008, the building was showing signs of wear, disrepair and neglect. At least one terra cotta cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
was missing, and the building had numerous walkway coverings to protect passersby from falling debris such as further terra cotta loss. One side wall was propped up with wood beams at 45 degree angles. In addition, the building has some graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
markings.