Tucked beneath a stretch of the “L” downtown is one of the oldest post-Fire buildings in Chicago — a Chicago Landmark designed by one of Chicago’s first architects, Frederick Baumann. “Washington Block,” as it is known, built in 1874, was quite the impressive building in the years following the Great Fire of 1871. Multi-story Italianate buildings — often with cast-iron base details — started to pop up amidst the ashes of the 18,000 buildings lost in that 3-day calamity, and fortunately, a handful survived to show us what that era’s buildings looked like. These show us what architects came up with when offered a blank slate, modern technology, and all the encouragement that the re-emerging city of Chicago could muster. It is like an architectural relic of the “I Will” mentality (and motto) adopted by Chicagoans in the wake of disaster. Located just a few blocks west of the Cultural Center, at the SW corner of Wells and Washington, Washington Block can indeed be considered one of the first buildings of the “Second City” — the Chicago that rose like a phoenix from the ashes — and for this alone, is well worth a visit.

My blog’s most recent installment — the Equitable Building — sits on a “grave for trains,” but the ground on which Washington Block sits also carries a fascinating secret. The foundational structure of this building is a rare example of an “isolated pier foundation” — essentially, separate load-bearing piers beneath various load-heavy points of the building that could accommodate shifting weight as necessary. Remember that not too long before this building was built, this whole area was basically a big, onion-filled swamp: “Chicago'“ is the French mispronunciation of a Miami-Illinois word for what we call “ramps,” the wild leeks that are native to this area and that still pop up in our gardens. Building bigger and taller, being able to manage one’s weight in order to deal with ever-shifting soft, sandy ground was imperative. It seems that this “isolated pier” technique was so rare, in fact, particularly for tall buildings, that if you look up “isolated pier foundation” online, Washington Block is among your first results. Indeed, this building was a product not only of its time, but also its location: a foundational technique suited for soft, muddy ground; limestone (and sandstone?) from the area covering its facade.

The architects of this building were a couple of German cousins: Frederick and Edward Baumann (which, incidentally, translates as “building man” — rather appropriate for men fated to be great architects!). Frederick was born near Berlin in January 1826. In 1850, at age 24, he arrived in Chicago and joined Chicago’s very first architectural firm, run by the famous John Van Osdel (pictured above). Van Osdel, in fact, is considered Chicago’s very first professional architect, and opened his firm in 1844 at the age of 33. Both of these men were important to the development of Chicago’s earliest buildings, most of which were destroyed by the Fire. (How fortunate, then, are we to be able to see Washington Block today!) Both of them also lived long, productive lives: Baumann lived to be 95, with 11 children (seems designing buildings wasn’t the only thing he was doing in Chicago, HEY-OHHHH!), and is buried where many of his famous architectural peers are buried, in Graceland Cemetery. Van Osdel (Baumann’s boss) lived to be 80, and is buried at Rosehill Cemetery — which means I will be taking a field trip momentarily, as Rosehill is not too far from my casa.

Ah, Chicago: it’s impossible not to find treasure trails to great historical places and people, if you just keep your eyes open and follow the signs.

Washington Block: Post-Fire Chicago Tucked Beneath the L