City Hall-County Building

The City Hall-County Building, commonly known as City Hall, is a 12-story building in Chicago, Illinois, that houses the seats of government of the City of Chicago and Cook County. The building's west side (City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St.) holds the offices of the mayor, city clerk, and city treasurer; some city departments; offices of alderpersons of Chicago's 50 wards; and the Chicago City Council's chambers. The building's east side (County Building, 118 N. Clark St.) houses offices of the Government of Cook County, including the Cook County Board of Commissioners' chambers.

The building spans a city block bounded by Randolph Street to the north, Washington Street to the south, Clark Street to the east, and LaSalle Street to the west. It is the seventh building to serve as Chicago's city hall, the fourth built at its location, and the third shared by the governments of Chicago and Cook County. Its location has served as the seat of the city and county governments since 1853, except for a period from 1871—when the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the building—to 1885.

The building was designed by the architectural firm Holabird & Roche in the classical revival style. Its two sections were finished three years apart: the county building (east) was completed in 1908; the city hall (west) was completed in 1911. It was officially dedicated on February 27, 1911.

The "fifth floor" is sometimes used as a metonym for the office and power of the mayor, whose office is located on the fifth floor of the building.

The first Chicago City Hall in 1837 was in leased chambers in the Saloon Building on the corner of Lake and Clark Streets. The city next leased space in a building owned by Nancy Chapman, from 1842 until 1848, when Old Market Hall was constructed in LaSalle Street. The city owned market hall held city council business on its second floor, with shops below until 1853. A new combined city hall and county courthouse was then constructed in the public square made by Randolph, LaSalle, Washington, and Clark Streets (this building, which later burned, is sometimes referred to as, Old Chicago Courthouse). President Abraham Lincoln's body lay in state at the old courthouse city hall prior to his burial in Springfield in 1865. The courthouse bell was rung in 1871 to raise the alarm during the Great Chicago Fire before the hall burned to the ground.

A hastily constructed hall nicknamed the 'old rookery' was built around a water tank that survived the fire at LaSalle and Adams streets—today, that site houses the Rookery Building (built 1888). In 1885, the city and county completed construction of a new combined building in the French Empire style at the present site (and the site of the old courthouse). This building was demolished and replaced in 1905 by the present and larger classical revival structure.

The city and county jointly sponsored an architectural competition that Holabird & Roche won by unanimous vote. Construction of the county building (east wing) began in 1905, and by 1907 some county offices were already beginning to move in. Construction of city hall (the west wing) was delayed until 1909 because the city had to wait for the State to increase its borrowing authority. Despite the delay, the two wings were easily linked together because the builders of the first wing arranged all necessary steel structural connections on its westernmost wall (where the wings meet) in anticipation of the second wing. Four construction workers died during the demolition of the old building and construction of the new one.

The building is distinguished by its colossal, 118 feet-tall, 9 feet-wide Woodbury granite Corinthian orders – among the largest ever built. The columns are hollow and were built in 5 feet-high segments. Altogether, the outer walls and orders are clad in 180,000 cubic feet of granite weighing 30 million pounds.