Jane Addams’ Hull House and Dining Hall

Landmark Context

Jane Addams' Hull House and Dining Hall enters Chicago's public landmark record at 800 S Halsted St. The current city data lists it as dating to a construction date of 1856 and credits Unknown; Pond & Pond, 1905 Dining Hall. It was designated on June 12, 1974. Jane Addams' Hull House and Dining Hall gives researchers a way to connect domestic design, residential development, and block-by-block neighborhood change to one actual site.

Jane Addams' Hull House and Dining Hall gains definition in the field when attention concentrates on lot width, setbacks, porches, bays, and rooflines, the rhythm between neighboring houses, and alterations that show changing domestic use. Together, those clues make it easier to understand how one domestic building can still clarify the growth of an entire residential block.

Research Starting Points

Jane Addams' Hull House and Dining Hall gains a fuller record through real-estate atlases and fire insurance maps, permit files and census or directory material, and historic photographs and neighborhood histories. Those records make it easier to test what changed, what remained, and how the building fit into a larger local story.

Jane Addams' Hull House and Dining Hall remains most useful when later evidence keeps returning to the site itself.