The building at 647 W. Lake Street in the Loop, built in 1899, is currently an office building, but it was once the home of plumbing supply manufacturer the Weil Brothers.
The company was founded as a hardware supplier in 1881 by Isador and Benjamin Weil. They were originally located at what used to be 35 W. Randolph (around where the River Center building is located). Around the turn of the century, they moved briefly to what was 15 N. Clinton (near Clinton and Lake) before moving a few blocks away to their new headquarters in this building.
They remained here until 1918, when they acquired a main supplier, J.H. McLain Company. The company was subsequently renamed Weil-McLain and boiler plant operations were moved to Michigan City, Indiana. They are still in business today.
Filed under: Epigraphs
Tags: Chicago history, Epigraph, West Loop
