On Leong Merchants Association Building

Click for Larger View     Address: 2216 S. Wentworth Ave.
Year Built: 1926-27
Architect: Michaelsen and Rognstad
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark:
December 1, 1993

Pagoda Corner The business association that commissioned this building was instrumental in creating Chicago's Chinatown in 1912. The building housed various meeting halls, a school, a shrine, and the association's offices. Its Oriental-style design was derived from the architecture of the Kwangtung district of China, the ancestral region of many of Chinatown's early residents. Indicative of Chicago's multi-ethnic character, its architects were of Norwegian ancestry.

Corner Storefront

Terra Cotta
 
1.Exterior, circa 1928
2.Pagoda tower, photo by Johnson Lasky Architects
3.Corner Storefront, photo by Bob Thall, 1997