>> FULTON MARKET IS HOME TO SOME
OF THE TRENDIEST RESTAURANTS AND
HIGHEST REFERENTS BUT THE
HISTORY IS HARDLY NEW.
GEOFFREY BAER TAKES US BACK IN
THIS WEEK'S EDITION OF "ASK
GEOFFREY".
>> HELLO.
>> THIS QUESTION COMES FROM
RAY...
>> WELL, AS YOU POINTED OUT,
TODAY WE KNOW OF THAT WEST LOOP
AREA FOR ALL THE HIGH-END
RESTAURANTS, LOSTS AND CORPORATE
HEADQUARTERS LIKE GOOGLE AND
McDONALD'S IS THERE AND THIS
IS A FAR CRY FROM THE AREA'S
FORMER LIFE WHEN IT WAS AN
INTEGRAL PART OF CHICAGO'S
MEATPACKING INDUSTRY WHERE
ANIMALS WERE PROCESSED AND SOLD
WHOLESALE IN LARGE QUANTITIES.
IN FACT, THE BUILDINGS THAT OUR
QUESTION ASKER ONCE OWNED ARE
THE OLDEST MEATPACKING
BUILDINGS.
ONCE HOME OF THE FULTON STREET
MARKET COMPANY.
THESE BUILDINGS ONCE HOUSED
DOZENS OF MEAT WHOLESALERS.
AND YOU CAN SEE IN THE
ILLUSTRATION PUBLISHED SHORTLY
AFTER THE BUILDING OPENED IN
1887, THE COMPANIES SOLD DRESSED
BEEF, HOGS AND VEAL.
THEY SOLD THEIR WARES TO HOTELS,
RESTAURANTS GROCERY STORES AND
BUTCHERS AND IT WAS COMMON SOLD
THE HIDES AS WELL.
AND IT BOOMED IN THIS WEST LOOP
AREA OVER THE NEXT FEW DECADES.
SEVERAL DOZEN ADDITIONAL
COMPANIES POPPED UP.
LOOK AT THIS VIEW OF FULTON
WHOLESALE BUILDINGS.
THIS CAME FROM 1955.
ORGANIZED CHAOS.
IT WAS IN THESE BUILDINGS THAT
OUR QUESTIONER'S FATHER WORKED
AT WHAT WAS CALLED A STATIONARY
ENGINEER.
HE TOOK CARE OF THE BOILER IN
THE BUILDING.
HIS SON RAY JR. EVENTUALLY OWNED
THE BUILDINGS INCLUDE THE ONES
HIS FATHER WORKED IN AS AN
ENGINEER.
HE OWNED THEM FOR A FEW YEARS IN
THE MID-1980s.
>> HOW WAS FULTON MARKET RELATED
TO THE STOCKYARDS ON THE SOUTH
SIDE?
>> THE STOCKYARDS WERE THE
CENTER OF INDUSTRIAL SCALE
MEATPACKING.
BRING PORT, SOUTH BRANCH OF THE
CHICAGO RIVER FAMOUS FOR MAKING
CHICAGO HOG BUTCHER IN THE
WORLD.
SO FULTON MARKET UP ON THE NORTH
SIDE WEST OF THE LOOP, WAS
MOSTLY MADE UP OF SMALLER
INDEPENDENT MEAT PACKERS AND
WHOLESALERS.
ALTHOUGH EARLY ON SOME OF THE
MAJOR COMPANIES FROM THE
STOCKYARD ARMOR AND SWIFT SETUP
LOCATIONS ON FULTON STREET TO
EXPAND THEIR DISTRIBUTION.
THE AREA WAS A NATURAL FIT FOR
THE COMPANIES BECAUSE JUST A FEW
BLOCKS SOUTH OF FULTON IS
RANDOLPH STREET.
ONCE THE HOME TO A MASSIVE OPEN
AIR PRODUCE MARKET THAT SUPPLIED
MUCH OF CHICAGO'S FRESH FOOD.
RANDOLPH STREET'S HISTORY AS A
MARKET GOES BACK TO THE
BEGINNINGS OF CHICAGO IN THE
1850s.
THE CITY BUILT A STRUCTURE
CIRCLED IN RED CALLED THE WEST
MARKET HALL WHICH WAS RIGHT IN
THE MIDDLE OF RANDOLPH STREET AT
DES PLAINES IN 1850 AND THAT
SPAWNED A SPRAWLING WHOLESALE
MARKET THAT ATTRACTED LOCAL
FARMERS AND OTHER COMPANIES TO
RANDOLPH STREET AND THAT LED TO
THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERMANENT
WHOLESALE BUILDINGS KNOWN AS
THEY WERE CALLED COMMISSION
HOUSES.
AND LIKE ITS NEIGHBOR ON FULTON
STREET MANY OF THOSE BUSINESSES
ARE GONE.
BUT THEY HAVE LEFT THEIR
PERMANENT MARK ON THE
NEIGHBORHOOD.
THINK, IF YOU'VE BEEN DOWN TO
RANDOLPH STREET, GOING TO
RESTAURANTS LOOK HOW WIDE THAT
IS.
SO YOU WILL NOTICE IT'S VERY
WIDE WITH EXPANDED LANES ON
EITHER SIDE BECAUSE THE STREET
WAS WIDENED SEVERAL TIMES AROUND
THE TURN OF THE CENTURY TO
ACCOMMODATE THE TRUCKS AND
WAGONS THAT WERE FREQUENTING THE
WHOLESALE WAREHOUSES TO OGDEN
AVENUE NEW.
>> AND TODAY MOST OF THE
BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN REPURPOSED?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
STARTING IN THE 1980s AND
90s, THE NEIGHBORHOOD SAW A
HUGE INFLUX OF RESTAURANTS AND
OTHER COMPANIES MOVING TO THE
LOOP.
MANY PEOPLE CITE OPRAH WINFREY'S
HARPO STUDIOS MOVED TO RANDOLPH
AND MAY STREETS AS THE START OF
THE NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE.
SOME OF THE CITY'S TOP
RESTAURANTS CAN BE FOUND ALONG
RANDOLPH AND FULTON TODAY.
AND THEN AS WE SAID BEFORE HUGE
COMPANIES LIKE GOOGLE HAVE SETUP
SHOP.
AND McDONALD'S MOVED THEIR
HEADQUARTERS TO THE FORMER SITE
OF OPRAH WINFREY'S STUDIOS.
THAT BUILDING WAS TORN DOWN AND
THE HEADQUARTERS WAS BUILT.
BUT THERE ARE STILL A FEW
MEATPACKING COMPANIES AROUND.
MANY OF THEM HAVE DOWNTOWN ROOTS
IN THE AREA.
AND PIONEER MEATPACKING COMPANY
THEY PACK AND SELL LAMB, VEAL,
POULTRY AND OTHER PRODUCTS.
AND I HAVE TO GIVE A PLUG HERE
WE WILL BE FEATURING THIS WEST
LOOP AREA IN MY NEW UP COMING
SHOW, CHICAGO BY L.
WHICH IS GOING TO BE DEBUTING ON
MARCH 4TH ON WTTW.
>> WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO
THAT.
AND IT MAKES SENSE THAT THE
COMMUNITY RESTAURANT ROW
PROVIDING A LOT OF FOOD TO
CHICAGOANS.
>> RETAIL NOW.
>> YES.
THANK YOU GEOFFREY.