Jewelers Building

Landmark Context

Jewelers Building is located at 15-17 S Wabash Av in the city's landmark record. Even in summary form, the record keeps together a construction date of 1881-82 and credits Dankmar Adler with Louis H. Sullivan. It was designated on December 8, 1981. Jewelers Building already has a usable public frame for work on commercial development, architectural branding, and corridor and downtown change.

Jewelers Building is best approached by paying attention to storefront depth, upper-floor expression, and corner treatment, how the facade addresses pedestrian traffic, and later signage, infill, or reuse. This is where the landmark shifts from designation to evidence about how commercial architecture stayed visible even as the economic life around it changed.

Research Starting Points

Jewelers Building starts to deepen once research reaches trade press and city directories, permit files and assessor records, and historic photographs and newspaper coverage. That is usually how a short landmark record turns into a fuller account of use, alteration, and neighborhood setting.

Jewelers Building can hold the first facts in place while the larger history catches up.