A National Historic Landmark at the Marquette Building illustrating the history of Chicago and the Illinois country.
Owen F. Aldis was a real estate developer, fanatic historian, and one of the building’s original owners, who translated Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette’s original journal in 1891, thus christening the structure with his name and inspiring artists to illustrate the explorers’ journeys with their Native American companions at the Marquette Building, a national historic landmark honoring the history of Chicago’s expedition by Marquette and Jolliet.
Courtesy Photo: GHung
Before 1894, Realtor Owen Aldis had completed a professional translation from French into English of Jesuit Priest Jacques Marquette’s travel journals along the Chicago River with Scout Louis Joliet from Québec, Canada, accompanied by Native American Indian Chief Chicagou and the Council of Chiefstains for the Michiganea tribes who lived by Lake Michigan in the area we know today as Illinois in the U.S.A. Real Estate developer Owen Aldis’ historic efforts documenting the journey of Marquette and Joliet, inspired the Marquette’s building christening and the famous fine art mosaics by Louis Comfort Tiffany illustrating historic moments in the exploration of the Chicagoland area in Illinois by Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet with the Michiganea Chief Chicagou.
Marquette was a Catholic Jesuit missionary who explored the Chicago River and the Illinois region with Louis Joliet between 1674-1675. As a building owner and investor in the Marquette Building, Owen Aldis devoted personal and professional attention and business resources dedicated to the authenticiy of the artistic design and historic legacy of the Marquette Building at the corner of Dearborn and Adams Streets, Downtown Chicago.
The Marquette Building is a 16-floor architectural masterpiece designed by master architects Holabird & Roche, funded by Shepherd and Peter Brooks, and built by the George A. Fuller Company contractors in 1894. Real estate developer Owen Aldis managed all aspects of the planning and construction of the Marquette Building. Completed in 1895, the Marquette Building is a real chef d’oeuvre that honors Chicago’s history and reminds everyone of the Windy City’s fine arts in architectural design and construction which gave a name to the “Chicago School of Architecture”.
The rotunda mosaic was designed by J.A. Holzer of the Tiffany Company. These fine arts glass and gold mosaics are detailed artworks conveying the story of Marquette and Joliet’s pioneer journey and travels along the Chicago River in Illinois. Authentic gold medallions, trophies, and Native American Indian Chieftstain’s apparel represent original historic period costumes, coats of arms, weapons, and timeless icons of Chicago history in Illinois.
Nowadays the Marquette Building is owned by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s global headquarters.