more wrecking on wells street: john voltz hall demolished over the weekend

last month, chicago architecture reported the "demolition derby" on wells street, with two sites making way for a 39-story apartment block and 22-story residential tower. the wreckage continues this month at 800 n. wells street. joining the graveyard of century-old buildings turned into high rises, a 4-story brick commercial building known as "voltz hall" was recently razed in anticipation of a 24-story condominium tower development.

john voltz came to chicago with a wave of germanic immigrants during the 1850's and 1860's. voltz was an entrepreneur and nearly a decade after the great fire of 1871 built a new structure on the site of a german private school, located at the corner of chicago avenue and wells street. in this building he opened a saloon on the ground floor, while he lived on the second level and rented out the spacious third story. voltz hall, as it was later named, brought in a steady stream of revenue, which soon enabled voltz to build a rental apartment building in the backyard of the saloon.

during the 1880's saloon owners across the city were in conflict with the city lawmakers and temperance activists who sought to close saloons on sundays. the dilemma placed working class immigrants at odds with predominantly upper class elite who viewed liquor as a source of immorality. closing saloons on sundays was seen by many german immigrants as an attack on their way of life, since sundays were the only day off for many laborers. large marches were held on the northside of chicago, with some ending in rallies held on voltz's third floor.

in 1881, a warrant was issued for the bar owner on a charge of selling liquor to a minor, which many saw as harassment, and a scare tactic toward enforcing temperance regulations. the 1880's and 1890's saw great labor unrest, and chicago became the hub for this movement. voltz hall served as a meeting place for discontent workers: on record is an event held march 3, 1892, in which 250 women employed at selz, schwab & co. shoe factory walked off the job and marched to voltz hall for a rally. again, in 1905, members of the city's large swedish community rallied at the hall to raise money for the 20,000 iron and steel workers locked-out of sweden's mills and shipyards. among the public records of events at the 189 chicago avenue address are meetings listed of the liberty association at voltz hall, in february 1905, with a swedish attorney speaking on the subject of "socialism." note: see more at chicago designslinger for additional information.

though the building was reduced to rubble, multiple bottles were unearthed in the aftermath, including two antique embossed hutchinson-style blobtops fabricated for thomas hennessy of chicago, il. these were found in a "hidden" alley behind the former saloon, a space which is documented in a legal dispute during 1884, at which time neighboring property owners henry kuecken and bertha reinke tried to compel the opening of an alley on the western edge of voltz' property.

two 19th century "blobtop" bottles unearthed in a "hidden" alley behind the former saloon