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If you've driven into the city on the Kennedy, you know exactly where she is, near Division Street, up on a giant roof.
How Morton Salt's Elston Dock on Chicago's Near North Side was built in 1929-30, its design by a noted architecture firm, and the 2014 wall collapse that ended its salt operations.
Key Takeaways
- The Elston Dock was a purpose-built, fireproof salt storage shed designed to handle enormous salt piles.
- The 2014 wall collapse was a turning point that led Morton to end salt operations at the site within a year.
- The building's location and design reflected Chicago's river-based shipping, leather industry, and the company's 1920s relocation.
What the video covers
- The Morton Salt building near Division Street on the Kennedy Expressway was known for its roof with a girl-in-yellow-dress salt logo.
- On December 30, 2014, a wall burst open and tons of road salt spilled onto a neighboring car dealership, and Morton shut down salt operations there within a year.
- The Elston Dock replaced Morton's earlier warehouse at the mouth of the Chicago River, which was damaged by fire in 1927 and displaced by a planned bridge.
- Construction began in 1929 and finished in 1930 on the site of an old tannery in Chicago's leather district, since tanners were major salt customers.
- Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White, the firm behind the Wrigley Building and Union Station, designed the building.
- Fast-curing concrete allowed heavy salt trucks to use the pavement after only four days.
- The interior was a column-free shed where salt arrived by barge and conveyor, then was dropped into piles along the length of the building.
- Reinforced concrete lower walls, a brick upper wall, and buried steel tie rods resisted the outward pressure of the salt piles, and the shed was made fireproof after a 1903 warehouse fire.
- The Morton company dates to 1848, and Joy Morton, son of Arbor Day founder J. Sterling Morton, later founded the Morton Arboretum in 1922.
- The video also closes with thanks to viewers and Patreon supporters.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to the Morton Salt Building
- 00:40The 2014 wall collapse
- 01:35Origins of the Elston Dock and the move upriver
- 02:50Design by Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White
- 04:15Construction, concrete, and interior layout
- 06:10Structural engineering and fireproofing
- 07:30Morton company history and the Arboretum
- 09:09Closing remarks and thanks to supporters
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
A little girl in a yellow dress, umbrella up, pouring salt in the rain.
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For generations of drivers, that roof meant you were almost downtown, but most people never knew exactly what went on underneath it.
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On the afternoon of December 30th, 2014, Chicago got a look.
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A wall burst open and tons of road salt poured out onto the car dealership next door.
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Within a year, Morton had shut down its salt operations there.
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So, what was this building actually for?
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And how did it end up as one of Chicago's newest concert venues?
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Morton called it the Elston Dock.
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Salt came in by boat.
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It got stored in enormous piles, got packaged, and went back out by rail and truck all over the Midwest.
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Before Elston, Morton's Chicago warehouse sat out on a pier at the mouth of the Chicago River, right about where Lake Shore Drive crosses the river today.
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In 1927, a fire damaged that warehouse.
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And the city wanted the spot anyway for a new bridge to carry the outer drive across the river.
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So, Morton moved upriver.
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Construction on Elston started in 1929, and the complex was finished in 1930.
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And the location made sense.
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The land had been part of an old tannery, right in the middle of Chicago's leather district.
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Tanners were good salt customers because salt is how you cure a hide.
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To design it, Morton hired Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White.
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That's the same firm behind the Wrigley Building, Union Station, the Merchandise Mart, and the Shedd Aquarium.
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And here they were designing a shed for salt.
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Morton was in a hurry to open.
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So, the dock got a special fast-curing concrete pavement that could carry heavy salt-filled trucks after curing for just four days.
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Inside, the big shed is basically one giant room with no columns.
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Salt came off the barges and rode a conveyor up into that raised strip along the top of the roof.
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From there, workers could drop it anywhere along the length of the building, and it poured down into piles on the floor.
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That raised strip also had windows to let in light and air.
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A pile of salt that big doesn't just sit there.
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It leans on whatever's holding it in.
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So, the lower walls were built out of reinforced concrete with a brick wall above.
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Steel tie rods were buried under the floor to keep the walls from spreading apart.
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The shed was also built to be fireproof.
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Back in 1903, a giant wooden Morton warehouse in South Chicago had burned to the ground.
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And that logo is older than the building.
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The company traces back to 1848, when a salt business opened a sales office in Chicago.
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In the 1880s, a young man from Nebraska named Joy Morton bought in.
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And eventually, the business carried his name.
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His father, J. Sterling Morton, started Arbor Day.
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Joy loved trees, too.
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In 1922, he established the Morton Arboretum on his land out in Lisle.
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But guys, before we continue, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who's always so kind for liking, commenting, subscribing, and hyping this channel.
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All of that really does go a long way, and I greatly appreciate it.
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Also, I want to give a special thank you to my Patreon supporters.
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Your support helps make these videos possible.
Topics:Morton SaltElston DockChicago historyChicago Riverindustrial architectureGraham Anderson Probst and WhiteKennedy ExpresswayJoy MortonMorton ArboretumNear North Side
