West Town State Bank Building

Address: 2400 W. Madison St. Year Built: 1929 - 1930 Architect: Mundie & Jensen Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: October 1, 2003

Built to house a bank and rental offices, this unusual neighborhood mid-rise "skyscraper" is a distinctive visual landmark in the Near West Side community area. A smaller version of the soaring 1920s-era skyscrapers built in Chicago's Loop, it is finely detailed with both Art Deco- and Modern Classical-style ornament, including stylized eagles sculpted in limestone. Beginning in the 1930s, the building housed radio stations WSBC and WGES that broadcast pioneering African-American radio programs hosted by Jack L. Cooper and Al Benson.