SeeHistoric siteBronzeville

Chicago Bee Building

The home of the Chicago Bee newspaper, which was founded by Anthony Overton to promote black businesses and issues. The art deco building has an elegant terra cotta façade and today houses the Chicago Bee Branch Library.

Heritage listed

Address: 3647-3655 S State St
Hours: Mon-Thu 9AM-8PM, Fri Sat 9AM-5PM
Price: Free

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Listing from Wikivoyage: Chicago/Bronzeville, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Updated 28 Sept 2026. Something wrong? Tell us.

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SeeHistoric siteBronzeville
Overton Hygienic Building
Built by the wildly successful African-American entrepreneur Anthony Overton to house the headquarters of his nation-wide cosmetics franchise. The building housed several of his other businesses, including Victory Life Insurance Company and Douglass National Bank, America's first national African-American bank. The building is now owned by the Mid-South Planning and Development Commission. Just across the street from the now demolished, notorious Robert Taylor Homes, the formerly beautiful art-deco building is in a sad state of disrepair.
Heritage listed · Built 1923
SeeLibrary
Chicago Bee Branch Library
3647 South State Street
Open now · closes 8 pmWi-Fi
DoPark
Stateway Park
3658 South State Street
SeeBronzeville
Wabash Avenue YMCA
Bronzeville's YMCA, housed in a huge 1913 brown-pressed brick building, was a major social and cultural center for the neighborhood in its heyday, providing job training and housing for recent arrivals in addition to its more common functions. A painstaking restoration was completed in 2000 and the YMCA is again open to the community.
Free