Four Nineteen Building, Historic filling station in Chatham, Chicago, United States
The Four Nineteen Building is a 1928 filling station with a wooden canopy supported by brick piers extending to two garage bays on either side. The structure features clinker bricks laid in a decorative skintled pattern and a distinctive clay tile parapet roof in the Mission style.
Built in 1928 by architects William D. Meyering and David L. Sutton, this station follows the Domestic style that made gas stations resemble modest homes. Its listing on the National Register of Historic Places reflects how this design approach was an important transition in the era when fuel stations began appearing in residential neighborhoods.
The building mimics the form of a residential home, which was an unusual choice for early gas stations in the neighborhood. This design approach helped the structure blend in with the surrounding block rather than stand out as industrial.
The building is located in Chatham at East 83rd Street and retains its original architectural features including the wooden canopy and brick construction. Daytime visits offer the best views of the facade and structural details.
Among the original Domestic-style filling stations in Chicago, this building is one of only a handful that still retains both its canopy and garage bays intact. This rare preservation makes it a valuable record of how early gas stations were designed to coexist with residential neighborhoods.
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