courtesy of ryerson and burnham, art institute of chicago.

further reading:

Chicago Tribune, December 4, 1896

THE LIND BLOCK, A LANDMARK IN RANDOLPH STREET.
The Lind Block, at the northwest corner of Randolph and Market streets, was partly destroyed by fire at 1 o’clock yesterday morning. The flames were confined, to the top story and the next lower story, but the damage from water ran the loss up to $25,000.

The Lind Block is a Chicago landmark. it was one of the few buildings that the fire of 1871 mysteriously skipped. In this it is like the Ogden mansion on the North Side and the office building that used to stand at the northeast corner of La Salle and Monroe streets. It was erected by Sylvester Lind, a Scotchman, and one of the oldest Chicago settlers, who kept a lumberyard on the site before he erected the building and who lost this and all the rest of his property during the war through the wildcat banks of that day.

The name of the Lind Block is now confined to the south half of the original building, which has had two stories added to it within the last six years. This part of the building now belongs to Edwin B. Wright and the site to Jonatnan Abel. The north half of the building and ground belongs to the McCormicks.

The Lind Block is said to have been the headquarters of the Fenlans at the time of the raid on Canada. It is now one of the two or three structures on which the city authorities have caused marks to be chiseled from which to determine city data.