Hull House was opened by
Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889 to offer art and literary education
to the residents of what was then a poor immigrant neighborhood in the West Loop.
By 1911 the facility had grown into a 13-building settlement house and was
the first of numerous such facilities throughout the country. The organization
was relocated in 1963 when the neighborhood was demolished for the University
of Illinois Chicago campus.
The Hull House Museum building was originally an Italianate mansion
built by developer Charles Hull in 1856. It and the 1905 dining hall were
spared in the University development and a 1967 renovation of the mansion
for museum purposes restored it to its 1856 appearance. However, the removal
of Addams' third floor addition and replacement of the exterior brick
made it an architectural anachronism that bore little resemblence
to the facility as it appeared during days as the settlement house headquarters.
Separately from the museum (which is run by the university), the Hull House
Association continued in operation as a service organization until 27 January 2012.