Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company traces its antecedents to a dry goods store opened at 137 Lake Street in Chicago, Illinois in 1852 by Potter Palmer, (1826–1902), eponymously named P. Palmer & Company. In 1856, 21-year-old Marshall Field (1834–1906) moved to the booming midwestern city of Chicago on the southwest shores of Lake Michigan from Pittsfield, Massachusetts and found work at the city's then-largest dry goods firm – Cooley, Wadsworth & Company. Just prior to the American Civil War, in 1860, Field and bookkeeper Levi Z. Leiter, (1834–1904), became junior partners in the firm, then known as Cooley, Farwell & Company. In 1864, the firm, then led by senior partner John V. Farwell, Sr., (1825–1908), was renamed Farwell, Field & Company. only for Field and Leiter to soon withdraw from the partnership with Farwell when presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.
Prairie Avenue
Marshall Field lived at 1905 South Prairie and purchased 1919 South Prairie for Marshall Field, Jr. It is believed that Solon Spencer Beman had contributed to the design of what is now known as the Marshall Field, Jr. Mansion. Then, Field hired Daniel Burnham to design extensions and additions to the property after purchasing it 1890. In 2007, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks announced the rehabilitation of the Marshall Field Jr. Mansion, which had been vacant for 40 years and which was renovated as six private residences, won a Preservation Award.