| Address | Primarily the 800- to 1100-blocks of W. Fulton Market St., the 900-block of W. Lake St., and the 800- to 1000-block of W. Randolph St. |
|---|---|
| Built | Various |
| Architect | Various |
| Status | Designated Chicago Landmark District |
| Designation Date | July 29, 2015 (Final)City Council Journal of the Proceedings, p. 4353 |
| Type | Commercial district |
Direct quotes from the Chicago Landmark Designation Report
“On Randolph there is a growing number of innovation-driven firms, restaurants, retailers and leisure-oriented businesses that are attracted to the area's unique sense of place, historic architecture and proximity to the Loop.”
“The Fulton-Randolph Market District functioned historically and currently as a meatpacking district, one of the city's most historically significant industries. Historic buildings on Fulton Market St. housed branch operations of Philip Armour, Gustavus Swift and Nelson Morris, the nation's “big three” packers and global brand names in the early-twentieth century.”
“Truck farming life and the Randolph St. market exercised fascination upon Chicagoans. They were the backdrop of Edna Ferber's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel So Big (1924). The main character in the novel was based on Antje Paarlberg, a Dutch immigrant and widow who ran a truck farm in South Holland, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago.”
“This is the great emporium for meat of all kinds in Chicago—Fulton Wholesale Market. The Fulton Street Wholesale Market Company buildings are the earliest-known meatpacking buildings in the district, although other packers soon established facilities nearby.”
“Third, the district includes a significant number of loft manufacturing and warehouse buildings that exemplify the importance of industry to the city's economic development. The district is the oldest food marketing district in Chicago with an ensemble of historic mercantile buildings that continue to function to a substantial degree as wholesale produce and meatpacking outlets.”
“The Fulton- Randolph Market district preceded all of these markets in the city's history, and it is the only one that continues to function as a place for the wholesale distribution of food.”
“The widened street and bell-towered market hall on Randolph St. are clearly visible in an 1857 “birds-eye” lithograph of Chicago by Christian Inger. Research has not yet identified the architect of these three additional market halls, although it is very likely that John M. Van Osdel received these commissions following his design of the first hall on State St.”
“The West Market Hall also housed the first police station west of the Chicago River. Within a decade of their construction, the State Street Market Hall and Market Street Hall buildings were demolished.”
“This bounty demanded systems of collection and channels of distribution that were provided by an intricate arrangement of wholesale food marketing districts in the city, including the old South Water Market, the Union Stock Yards and the Maxwell Street Market.”
“The first floor contained thirty-two stalls for food vendors while second floor contained five rooms which accommodated all of Chicago's government functions. Though growing in number, the population of the city was still too small to support wholesale markets and the vendors of the hall sold directly to Chicago consumers.”