Solon Spencer Beman

Solon Spencer Beman (October 1, 1853 – April 23, 1914) was an American architect based in Chicago, Illinois and best known as the architect of the planned Pullman community and adjacent Pullman Company factory complex, as well as Chicago's renowned Fine Arts Building. Several of his other largest commissions, including the Pullman Office Building, Pabst Building, and Grand Central Station in Chicago, have since been demolished. Beman designed numerous Christian Science churches and influenced the design of countless more.

Career Arcade Park in Pullman surrounded by picturesque buildings in historical styles, including the Gothic Revival Greenstone Church.Beman was born in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, to a father who was fascinated with architecture and who maintained an extensive collection of books on the subject. The house was purchased in 1959 by Margaret Taylor-Burroughs and became the first home of what is now the DuSable Museum of African American History in 1961. The house is a designated Chicago landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. right Grand Central Station (Chicago), designed by Beman in the Romanesque Revival style.

In 1879, Beman received a commission from George Pullman to design what would become the nation's first planned company town, and he relocated to Chicago to carry out the extensive work involved. Pullman arranged for Beman to design the many buildings involved, while landscape architect Nathan Franklin Barrett created the street and park system.

Legacy A number of architects trained with Beman, including William L. Steele (1875-1949), Charles Draper Faulkner (1890-1979),