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[REV 25-NOV-2014]
Vintage photos of:
Cleveland circa 1912. "Rockefeller Building, Superior Avenue." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
My guess is that no East-bound cars stop there any more. I rode Cleveland street cars to kindergarten and downtown in the late '40s, and in hindsight I suspect some of the cars that carried me had been in service since before this photo was taken.
This handsome structure looks just as good today, built to last:
Who wants to climb the fire escape ladder on the building in the left foreground?
... it's Sullivanesque! This is one of the most faithful imitations of a Louis Sullivan Chicago School skyscraper to be found anywhere. The Rockefeller Building, completed 1905, was designed by the Cleveland firm of Knox and Elliot. The four bays at the far left are an addition of 1910, designed to match the original block exactly. It would be too beautiful if the architects had once worked for the architectural firm of Adler and Sullivan, but in fact they both worked for another Chicago firm, Burnham and Root. And yes, the client for this building was John D. Rockefeller Sr.
I imagine this grand and great building was designed by Louis Sullivan or someone of his ilk.
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