exceptional original and intact oversized albumen photographic print of daniel burnham and john root's masonic temple building as it appeared in 1892. the albumen print was made for or by e.r. walker & company, chicago, ills. the masonic temple building was a chicago school skyscraper designed by the firm of burnham and root at the corner of randolph and state streets in 1892. the 21-story building became the tallest building in the city when the board of trade building (1885) removed its clock tower. the building featured an interior central court ringed by nine floors of shops with offices above and meeting rooms for the masons on the uppermost floors. an observation deck was a popular tourist attraction during the late 19th and early 20th century. chicago's building height regulations - enacted in 1892 (the year the temple was completed) - didn't allow taller buildings until the 1920s. in 1939 the masonic temple was demolished, in part due to its poor internal services, but also due to the construction of the new state street subway, which would have necessitated expensive foundation retrofitting. a two-story "taxpayer" housing a walgreens drug store was erected in its place, and the joffrey tower currently stands on the former site of this building. both the building's primary designer, john wellborn root, and the masons' primary representative, norman gassette, died of natural causes during its construction.