Builders' Club

Builders' Club Soundex Code B436

"Builders Club Approaching its 60th Year." Chicago Daily Tribune Saturday, June, 4 1955.

The Builders Club of Chicago, the largest organization of building contractors in the United States is making plans to celebrate its 60th anniversary next December.

The club was incorporated Thursday, December 26, 1895, by a group of Chicago's leading builders so members of the building industry could meet to discuss problems and share experiences.

Today (1955) its membership is comprised of more than 600 members of the building and road construction industry of Chicago.

The first home of the club was at 118-20 Monroe Street. A year or two later, it moved to the Chamber of Commerce Building on the site now occupied by the American National Bank Building. It moved to its present (1955) quarters, the top floor of the Builders Building, when it was constructed in 1927.

Many of the buildings built by pioneer members of the organization are still (1955) standing. The Illinois Central Railroad Station was built in 1892 by the late Joseph Downey, the club's first president.

The late Henry Ericcson, a charter member, built the Manhattan Building, 431 S. Dearborn Street, in 1890. It was the first building in the world to attain a height of 16 stories.