Boston Store was founded by Charles Netcher, who had moved to Chicago from Buffalo in 1869 at the age of seventeen. After the 1871 fire he bought the Pardridge dry goods house, renamed it and started expanding it. By 1904, when Charles died the department store occupied almost the entire half-block on the north side of Madison between State and Dearborn in Chicago’s Loop.
An aggressive expansion started in 1905 and ended in 1917 with a 17 stories tall tower (designed by Holabrid & Roche). At some point, the old façade got a new look, the lovely old decorations being torn. I guess it was somewhere in the mid to late 1930s during the “simplify the store façade movement”. The department store was closed in 1948. Nowadays only the 1917 wing stands.
Below you have the evolution of the store from 1902-1907-1910-1915-1917.
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