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 second in a series of posts about head office and factory locations in Chicago.

In researching Arnold, Schwinn & Co. location there were two things about Chicago addresses that caused confusion for me. The two things were Chicago building numbering in addresses and second, the change in street names.

In preparation for the 1893 Worlds Fair the City of Chicago annexed some of the surrounding communities. These new districts of Chicago maintained their address numbers and street names. So there were multiple streets in Chicago with the same name.

Edward Paul Brennan, a citizen of Chicago, was frustrated with this situation and developed a system for numbering building addresses. His system was adopted by the City of Chicago in 1908 and implement beginning Sept. 1, 1909. The number of the building on streets in Chicago changed, but the street names or numbers did not.

Arnold, Schwinn & Company’s 1895 location at the Davis&Rankin Building was 240 – 254 West Lake street. The building still exists today but the building number is 900. The building numbers for Arnold, Schwinn & Co. plant No. 1 in 1902 are 945 to 947 North 43rd Ave. In 1910 the building numbers are 1718 to 1732 North 43d Ave.

Mr. Brennan also worked on renaming streets. Numbered avenues in some parts of the city were changed to names. The new names came into effect August 15, 1913. North 43 Ave. became North Kildare Ave. and North 44th Ave. became North Kostner Ave.

So when looking at addresses for Arnold, Schwinn & Company you need to take the date into account. Addresses prior to August 15, 1913 will not match current addresses in Chicago.

Sources:

“Street Names” by Beverly Barsy. Chicago Magazine, Spring 1968.

Rationalization of Streets, Encyclopedia of Chicago, 2004.
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410052.html

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410052.html