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Chicago Daily Tribune, November 19, 1893.

Aldis had completed an amateur translation of Father Jacques Marquette’s journals, and it is commonly assumed that this was the reason for the building’s name.

But Russell Tyson, the Aldis & Company employee responsible for leasing the Marquette, cited the name from 1885 when Shepherd Brooks discussed plans for a different property. “After the purchase of the Grannis [Block] (in 1884) S.B. had christened it the Marquette Building.” Perhaps this name was just another fortuitous synergy of the common interests and passions these men shared.

© John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation