Bygone DePaul is a series highlighting DePaul’s campus and how it has changed through the years.
During the Roaring ’20s, the Chicago Loop underwent a huge building boom. By this point, DePaul University was already a presence downtown because the Law School and the School of Commerce were at 84 E. Randolph, which DePaul rented. Due to the high real estate prices and the success of downtown classes, DePaul decided that building its own skyscraper in the area would be a wise investment.
An organization called the DePaul Educational Aid Society was created in order to lease three lots at Lake Street between Michigan and Wabash: 64, 66, and 68 E. Lake Street. The lease for this land was priced at $56,000 annually ($697,735 when adjusted for inflation to 2009 dollars). The buildings currently on these lots were razed, and in 1928 a new 17 story building was erected. The 1st and 8th- 12th floors were rented out to help defray costs for the University; the 2nd-7th floors were used by DePaul for a theater hall, administrative offices, a Secretarial School, and liberal arts classes; the 13th-16th floors were used for commerce and law, and a social lounge was created on the 17th floor. At this point, DePaul had significantly more classroom and office space in the Loop than in Lincoln Park, and served many more students there.
64 E. Lake Street was a social nexus for DePaul University students from the time it was built. Pixley and Ehlers, the restaurant that rented the 1st floor, was considered by many to be DePaul’s cafeteria. Sock-hops were held monthly on the 4th floor, and there was a healthy fraternity and sorority life at the downtown campus. The lounge (complete with jukebox!) on the 17th floor and the unused classrooms, as well as hallways and stairwells, all functioned as socializing space.
Unfortunately in 1929, the year after the building was completed, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. DePaul had trouble renting the 8th-12th floors, and soon went into debt paying the lease. The classrooms were furnished with barely adequate equipment, and debt haunted DePaul throughout its ownership of the building. The lease was allowed to expire and the building sold in 1963 after the Lewis Center was acquired as a gift from Frank J. Lewis. The address of the building has since changed to 70 E. Lake Street. Although DePaul no longer owns the building and its address has changed, 64 E. Lake Street still carries a piece of its history in the DPU medallions adorning its stone facade.
Contact DePaul’s University Archives for more information.
No mention of dePaul’s move to East Jackson? I believe that’s where the Lewis Center campus was. And who got the 64 E. Lake building? City Colleges of Chicago, original site of lts Loop College campus.
Thanks for reading! We have another post in the “Bygone DePaul” series that talks about the downtown campus move to the Lewis Center. And you’re correct–Harold Washington College (originally known as Loop Junior College) occupied space in the 64 E. Lake Street building before moving to 30 E. Lake Street.
Brings back fond memories for me. My first teaching job was in Chicago at both dePaul’s uptown campus and the Lewis Center, at 25 E . Jackson. Then moved to the Loop College campus at 64E. Lake. By the time I was hired there, they’d dropped the “junior” from their official title. Anyway, thanks for the memories.
Thanks for the photos/postcard. My father attended law school there. Any other photos from the 1930’s building?
Thanks for reading, Dan! You can find more images of the 64 E. Lake Street building in the Collection on DePaul University Buildings in our Digital Collections
Any images of the buildings prior to this please? My ancestor ran a wholesale cigar business from 64 Lake up until at least 1900.
Thanks for reading, Lindsay! Unfortunately, we do not have any images of the building that existed on the lot prior to DePaul’s lease of the land.
Do you have any photos of the building at 64 Lake previous to this please? My ancestor operated a wholesale cigar business from there back in the early 1900s. Thank you.
Great post thanks for the memories
Attended 64 E 1957 58. BUSINESS Law schools. Traversed the floors sharing the elevator wit BB COACK RAY MEYER WITH A COFFEE CAN RAISING MONEY FOR THE TEAM NEW JERSEYS CONVINCED COACH TO MEET WITH US AT LOCAL BAR . RAISED MORE MONEY IN ONE HOUR THEN COACH RAISED ALL WEEK BECAME A FIXTURE ON WED & FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR FUN TIMES. GREAT SCHOOL IN THOSE DAYS.