northwestern terra cotta corp. grew out of the firm true, brunkhorst & co. composed of john tank, john brunkhorst, gustav hottinger, henry rohkam, and john r. true. all from chicago terra cotta works, the first factory opened in 1877 in the chicago lincoln park neighborhood on clybourn and wrightwood. adorning the face of great buildings of its time, including the rookery, the tacoma building, the home insurance building, the reliance building, the marquette building, the great northern hotel, and the heyworth building to name of few, the northwester terra cotta company produced a skyline of beauty and charm.

the company’s architectural, handmade terra cotta encompasses every product from extruding ashlar and shapes to ceramic veneer, chimney pots, tanks, tabletops, and “garden furniture” such as benches, vases, bird baths, garden border, decorative tiles. officers overseeing this production included h.j. lucas (president, general manager), rodney h brandon (vice president), arthur h. kaeppal (vice president, treasurer), burnette purcell (vice president, general superintendent), alphonse h. kaeppel (secretary), and e. w. reynolds (assistant secretary, assistant treasurer). under their direction and supervision, the company not only adorned the face of many stunning buildings, but contributed innovations to the field. the tacoma building’s work required the careful study and development of a technique of skeleton construction as applied to the facades of a high building. the shelf’s angle bolted or riveted to the outside face of the columns, directly supported the brick and terra cotta facing of the building at each story. these red hot rivets beaten into place held the steal of the tacoma building together. this construction was the direct result of the terra cotta co.’s  use of the shelf-angle system for supporting terra cotta bays for alder and sullivan for the auditorium and adopted by engineer paul mueller.