The Auditorium Theatre, which opened Dec. 9, 1889, will celebrate its 125th anniversary Tuesday. (Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

It's easy to pick the instant when Chicago's ongoing run of architectural greatness began.

That moment isn't Oct. 8-10, 1871, when the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the downtown and sparked a revolutionary rebuilding. Nor is it March 1, 1884, when a permit was issued to build the Home Insurance office building, the first large commercial building supported by a skeleton of metal, not walls of masonry. As important as those dates are, they pale in comparison to Dec. 9, 1889.

On that night, whose 125th anniversary will be celebrated Tuesday, President Benjamin Harrison and Vice President Levi Morton joined a throng at the glittering opening of the Auditorium Theatre, a masterwork designed by architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. Taking in the vast, jaw-dropping space of the theater earlier in the day, Harrison reportedly turned to the vice president, a Manhattan banker, and remarked: "I say, Mr. Morton, New York surrenders, eh?"

Replied the vice president: Yes......Continue Reading

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