You guys are good. Was it the distinctive facade or the signage that gave it away? Or was it clues to the historic significance? Whatever the case, another CornerSpotter has been solved. The building in question is the Overton Hygienic Building, a 1920s development of notable banker and manufacturer Anthony Overton. Among Overton's accomplishments as an African-American entrepreneur are the founding of the first major black-owned business conglomerate in the cosmetics-producing Hygienic Manufacturing Company; the nation's second nationally-chartered black-owned bank (Douglass National Bank, present in the old photo); and the founding of the Chicago Bee newspaper. The landmarked Hygienic Building spent decades in service of entrepreneurial enterprise before lapsing into use as the Palace Hotel flophouse. Recently, its old mission has been resurrected for a Bronzeville business community still very much in need of incubation.
·Overton Hygienic Building [Wikipedia]
·Hint: Built to Showcase Entrepreneurism, This Structure is All That's Left of its Era at This Location [Curbed Chicago]
·CornerSpotter [Curbed Chicago]
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