National Historic Landmark · building complex · Chicago, Illinois

Montgomery Ward Company Complex

Condominium building in Chicago, Illinois. Added to the National Register in 1978, and a National Historic Landmark.

National Historic Landmark Listed 1978 Chicago SchoolRichard E. Schmidt

Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 6 in the Commons category

What it is

The Montgomery Ward Company Complex is the former national headquarters of Montgomery Ward, the United States' oldest mail order firm. The property is located along the North Branch of the Chicago River at 618 W. Chicago Avenue in Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark on June 2, 1978.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

Property type	Building
Address	619 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
County	Cook County
Listed	Jun 2, 1978
Listed for	Commerce, Architecture
Level of significance	National
Also known as	Montgomery Ward and Company Administration Building and Mail
Reference number	78001125
Architect	Richard E. Schmidt
Type of place	building complex
Style	Chicago School
Designations	National Historic Landmark
Contributing resources	2 buildings

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Address	619 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL
Coordinates	41.8972° N, 87.6437° W · Directions ↗
Also in Chicago	419 listed places in Chicago → · walking tours →
Nearest national park unit	Pullman National Historical Park · 14 miles · on Park Atlas
Federal campgrounds nearby	West Beach Picnic Shelters 29 miles · Chellberg Farm Picnic Shelters 34 miles · Dunbar Group Site 36 miles

Listing on the Register does not open the door. Unless a museum or park runs it, treat this as private property and see it from the sidewalk.

At a glance

State: Illinois
County: Cook County
Listed: 1978
Type: Building
Landmark: Yes
Architect: Richard E. Schmidt

Cell signal

Verizon: 5G (fast)
AT&T: 5G (fast)
T-Mobile: 5G (fast)

Outdoor coverage as modeled by carriers in FCC filings as of 2025-12-31. This product uses FCC APIs and/or Data but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.

Official links

Sister site

Park Atlas

Every unit of the National Park System, with its fees, hours, alerts and campgrounds.

Open Park Atlas →

This record is built from National Park Service sources, re-read every Saturday, and Wikidata, re-read on the first Saturday of each month. Register Atlas is independent and is not affiliated with any agency, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. How the data is built →

Explore

Map

Nearby in Cook County

All listings in Cook County →

Building · 0.7 km

Dawson Brothers Plant

BuildingListed 1985

Building · 0.7 km

Smith, J. P., Shoe Company Plant

BuildingListed 1985

Building · 0.8 km

Peck and Hills Furniture Company Warehouse

BuildingListed 2015

Building · 0.8 km

J. P. Smith Shoe Company Factory

BuildingListed

Local history books for Chicago

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Sears in Chicago
Val Perry Rendel, 2019
Find at Bookshop.org
Chicago Rink Rats
Tom Russo and Darius "D-Breez" Stroud, 2017
Find at Bookshop.org
Chicago Haymarket Affair
Joseph Rulli, 2016
Find at Bookshop.org

Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Illinois

Looking for Lincoln in Illinois
Erika Holst, 2018
Find at Bookshop.org
Route 66 In Springfield
Cheryl Jett, 2010
Find at Bookshop.org
Cemeteries of Illinois
Hal Hassen and Dawn Cobb, 2017
Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

When was Montgomery Ward Company Complex listed on the National Register?

Jun 2, 1978. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.

Source: National Park Service

Who designed Montgomery Ward Company Complex?

Richard E. Schmidt, working in the Chicago School style.

Source: Wikidata

Where is Montgomery Ward Company Complex?

619 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. The nearest national park unit is Pullman National Historical Park, 14 miles away.

Source: Pullman National Historical Park

What does the Montgomery Ward Company Complex listing include?

The listing counts 2 contributing resources. Those are 2 buildings. A contributing resource is a part of the listed property that carries its historic significance.

Source: National Park Service

Where is the nomination form for Montgomery Ward Company Complex?

The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.

Source: National Archives

Are there campgrounds near Montgomery Ward Company Complex?

Three federal campgrounds are within reach. The closest is West Beach Picnic Shelters, 29 miles away. Chellberg Farm Picnic Shelters is 34 miles away, and Dunbar Group Site is 36 miles away.

Source: Campsite Atlas

Is there cell service at Montgomery Ward Company Complex?

FCC coverage maps show Verizon 5G, AT&T 5G, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.

Source: FCC Broadband Map

Sources

Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 78001125. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.