Arnold, Schwinn & Company was established in Chicago in the last quarter of the year 1895. Over the years the company rented, purchased, and built several facilities in Chicago. This is the first in a series of posts about head office and factory locations in Chicago. This series of posts is only concerned with Arnold, Schwinn & Co., later to be renamed as the Schwinn Bicycle Company, up to the year 1992 when the Schwinn family gave up control of the Schwinn brand name due to financial difficulties.

What is the need for this series?

In researching Arnold, Schwinn & Co. I found a several print articles and web pages that confused me about the company locations in Chicago. The confusion is about several things including: addresses in Chicago, the order in which Schwinn plants were built, the location of the factories designated as Plant No. 1 and Plant No. 2, and the location and addresses of the head office as this changed over time.

This series of posts about Arnold, Schwinn & Co. is my attempt to add clarity and rebut some misconceptions about Schwinn locations in Chicago.

Here are some examples of early Arnold, Schwinn & Company addresses.

Davis&Rankin Building location:

The first Arnold, Schwinn & Co. built factory which was their main bicycle factory until 1972.

These advertisements with addresses are a few examples for the factory on Lake Street and the factory on what was to become North Kildare Avenue. Arnold, Schwinn & Company also had at least four other locations at various times in west Chicago.