The Wrigley Building turned 100 years old September 2021! You cannot miss this beautiful French/Spanish Renaissance Revival Style building located on the Northwest corner of the DuSable Bridge on Michigan Avenue. Completed in 1921 by architects Graham, Anderson, Probst and White.
This is one of the most recognizable building in Chicago with its walls of Indiana limestone and many shades of white terra cotta starting with a bluish white on the bottom to a gleaming white on the top. Terra Cotta becomes the material that is used for fireproofing after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and we see its beauty in the Wrigley Building with over 250,000 terra cotta tiles. The clock tower was inspired by La Giralda which is in Seville Spain and has some gigantic hands with the smaller hand measuring 6 feet 4 inches and the larger hand 9 ft and 2 inches long. The North tower stands 21 stories while the South Tower is 30 stories they are connected by a 14th floor bridge (not open to the public).
The Wrigley building was the first building to be built north of the DuSable bridge which was completed in 1920. When you view the building from the south side of the bridge you can see how the building fits on the land it stands on. There are no right angles and the triangular shape leads your eye down the Magnificent Mile. Prior to the bridge and the Wrigley building being built this area was filled with industrial plants and factories. The completion of the bridge and the Wrigley Building was the beginning of the transformation from an industrial area to a commercial one.
The building was built as the headquarters for The Wrigley Chewing Gum Company. Mr. Wrigley moved to Chicago from Philadelphia in 1891 with $32 dollars in his pocket and started a company - Wrigley's Scouring Soap. One of his great marketing ideas was to give away baking powder when you purchased the soap. Soon the baking powder became more popular than the soap so he started selling baking powder and giving away chewing gum as a premium when you purchased the baking powder --- you can guess what happen next - the gum was such a hit and the Wrigley Chewing Gum was formed making Wrigley his fortune. Wrigley also invested in Chicago when he bought a minority stock of the Chicago Cubs in 1916 and by 1921 was the majority owner.
As beautiful as this building is in the day…you must see it at night. Night time illumination was a key component to the design and it was one of the first skyscrapers to use an extensive lighting system.
Don't miss this Chicago icon!
The Wrigley Building
400-410 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
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