Tracking Down a Rumor: Transporation Building History
When the editor asked me which building I planned to highlight for this issue of this newsletter, I selected the Transportation Building. At the time, it seemed a fairly straightforward assignment; since it was the tallest building in the neighborhood, surely its history must stand out as well.
After a trip to the Harold Washington Library and the Chicago Historical Society, I soon learned that information on the Transportation Building was rather scarce! What to do? Sure, I had heard the Eliot Ness rumor, but I had no idea how to chase down the story, let alone find other bits of knowledge on the grand building at 600 South Dearborn.
Fortunately, my dear editor and his wife invited me for coffee. As residents of the Transportation Building, they knew something of its history - boy did they ever! And oh, the treasures they shared: they loaned me their copy of "At Home in the Loop" by Lois Wille; newspaper clippings on Eliot Ness; showed me amazing aerial views of our community - both pre- and post-railroad tracks at Dearborn Station; and offered stories about the building and its history.
Here is what I've learned about the Transportation Building:
According to Lois Wille, the Transportation Building was considered a public health hazard and scheduled to be demolished by the City of Chicago. Luckily, it was one of the first buildings sought after to re-build the South Loop. Wille claims that Harry Weese's daughter talked with him at length about the wonderful New York SoHo lofts, converted from old commercial buildings and warehouses, and gave Weese the inspiration for creating loft-like apartments in the Transportation Building. Weese asked Larry Booth to take a look at the building; work began in 1981, financed by an $18 million FHA-insured loan. The result was 294 light, airy loft apartments.
The Transportation Building was built in 1911, and catered to railway offices and other small businesses. The tallest building in the neighborhood, it was a rather uniform, nondescript building which was architected in the Chicago school style. In the past, however, the regularity of the exterior was offset by the mosaic, marble and mahogany woodwork that pervaded the interior corridors and public spaces. Today's lobby is reminiscent of that past (the original woodwork and adornments long ago stripped away and sold).
And what about Eliot Ness, you ask? An article in the June 25, 1989, issue of the Chicago Sun-Times entitled "The Last Untouchable" offers insight into Ness through the eyes of the last survivor of Ness' team (Al "Wallpaper" Wolff) who stalked criminals and bootleggers during the Prohibition. Wolff claimed he could remember the layout of Ness' office in the Transportation Building at 600 South Dearborn. Ask residents of the Transportation Building where Ness' office resided, and they may tell you it was their unit. I am not certain we'll ever know for sure, but at least we know he did business there at one time.
Eliot Ness
Eliot Ness is best known as the man who brought down Al Capone. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Ness joined the Treasury Department's Bureau of Prohibition as an agent in 1927. From 1929-1933, he led a special unit of select federal agents, known later as "The Untouchables." Typically Irish or Italian and under 30, these men were honest and capable.
Ness took his job seriously. In his office, a huge map of Cook County covered an entire wall. The map was covered with colored pins, marking illegal gin mills scheduled for raids. He had a truck equipped with a battering ram made of railroad iron. In fact, one Tribune account from 1932 states that Ness and The Untouchables used the truck to crash through the steel doors at 2024 South State Street, a Capone brewery. Ness, a long-time nemesis of Capone, is credited with gathering most of the information needed to arrest Al Capone and 64 members of his gang.
Ness left Chicago for Cleveland in 1936. He died in 1957, after completing his book, "The Untouchables," on which the TV series is based.
