Chicago's oldest-surviving White Castle building is located at the corner of East Cermak Road and South Wabash Avenue. Built in 1930, it was the 16th location built in the city by the White Castle System of Eating Houses, Inc. It was designed by local architect Lewis E. Russell, along with Lloyd W. Ray, White Castle's construction superintendent, who was responsible for all the building designs of the late '20s and '30s. This white glazed brick structure was inspired Chicago's landmark water tower. The White Castle System of Eating Houses was founded in Wichita, Kansas in 1921 by hamburger stand proprietor J. Walter "Walt" Anderson and Edgar Waldo "Billy" Ingram, a real estate and insurance agent. The company was the first fast-food hamburger chain and responsible for changing the perception of the hamburger, which had been viewed (and rightfully so) as "carnival food" due to questionable quality, in part fueled by Upton Sinclair's seminal book, The Jungle, which exposed the deplorable working conditions of the meatpacking industry, which was centered in...Chicago. White Castle #16 was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2011. #Chicago #ChiTown #SouthsideChicago #NearSouthSide #SouthLoop #ArtDeco #Modernism #ProgrammaticArchitecture #archi_ologie #ModMondayz #BrickStory #thedecodarling #ChicagoHome #VisitChiTown #EnjoyIllinois #ThisPlaceMatters #WhiteCastle (at White Castle No. 16) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0YuvMuFpRL/?igshid=1m6zmhjt4qcti
