Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House

Landmark Context

Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House enters Chicago's public landmark record at 618 W Chicago Av. Even in summary form, the record keeps together a construction date of 1907-08 and credits Richard E. Schmidt, Garden and Martin. It was designated on May 17, 2000. Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House keeps domestic design, residential development, and block-by-block neighborhood change attached to one building instead of dissolving into general background.

Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House becomes easier to read on site when attention turns to lot width, setbacks, porches, bays, and rooflines, the rhythm between neighboring houses, and alterations that show changing domestic use. This is where the landmark shifts from designation to evidence about how one domestic building can still clarify the growth of an entire residential block.

Research Starting Points

Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House usually reveals its next layer in real-estate atlases and fire insurance maps, permit files and census or directory material, and historic photographs and neighborhood histories. Those materials are where architecture, use, and later stewardship begin to line up against each other.

Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House is already usable now without pretending the historical work is finished.