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Nairrot Arabrab Franklin posted |
Schulze Baking Company Plant. (40 E. Garfield Blvd.(55th and Wabash). Built in 1913.It used to bake Butternut Bread. It was closed in 2004. The Feb 2009 photo below also shows protection over the sidewalk. It is to protect pedestrians from falling debris off the terra-cotta building.
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Google Map Photo |
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Workers are seen in 1916 when the bakery was one of the largest in the world. [Internet Archive] |
"It was the largest in a group of five bakeries that once flourished in Washington Park"
[DAinfo]
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SchulzeBurch |
Chicago Patterns Part 1 and Part 2 has more information on the building and the history of the bakery.
Update: this posting has pictures of a terra cotta building and a picture of what it looked like after they took off the terra cotta finishing. It illustrates that it is important that the developers repair and retain the terra cotta on the Schulze building.
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Tuesday Williams Bankston posted |
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Tuesday Williams Bankston posted |
The old Butternut Bread building on 55th and Garfield. I heard it hit LandMark status. Not sure what their gonna do with it. I still recall how great it smelled driving pass!A comment indicates one of the other five bakeries mentioned above:
Christine Trzos Your right ... Garfield Boulevard! Just a little bit further west was the SilverCup Bread factory.
Chad Brown posted four photos with the comment:
The Schulze Baking Company plant built in 1913 was located on 40 E. Garfield also known as 55th and Wabash. Was the home of Hostess brand Butternut Bread until 2004. Currently the building is undergoing rehabilitation for use as a data center.Chad Brown Loved going there..The bread was so fresh and the "other" things we used to get from there..Cupcakes, Twinkies etc... Definitely miss this place!!

Tess Dennis Schlagheck The Lakeside Press building is now a data center and the Motorola plant in Franklin Park was recently demolished to be replaced by another data center. That's the way of the world now.
[I thought the bread brand for Hostess was Wonder Bread. Maybe they had both brands --- Wonder and Butternut Breads. Certainly Twinkies was a Hostess brand. Before 1995, this plant was not Hostess. The cup cakes they smelled were probably Dolly Madison. [FundingUniverse]
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There were several postings in a row for Schulze (Butternut Bread) in Forgotten Chicago. Fortunately, it is a public group, so I'll just list the links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. and 6.
Update:
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Peter J Santora posted Lydia Lucas ![]() |
Damanbehindthamirroredball GrownfolkGrooves posted Butternut Bread Bakery 40 E. Garfield |
Midway Lopez posted 40e. Garfield , Washington Park area. Schulze Baking under construction. That Blue tone stands out always. |
What company purchased the building and is this for their data only. Will this create jobs for the community. With it being an extremely large building will other companies be located there. What is the approximate finishing time of the rehab and opening.
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