So who was Mr. Piper?

“Piper’s Alley was opened in Nov. 1965 but was once was the H. Piper Baking Company and stables. It became a popular tourist spot in the 1960’s at 1608 N. Wells Street. There hung a huge Tiffany style umbrella between the Caravan store at 1606 N. Wells and the upscale That Steak Joynt at 1610 N. Wells. Many of us explored the narrow alley that led to a myriad of quirky shops.

You might remember Charlie’s general store with. Charlie a real live monkey. Farther along were Poor Richards, Second Hand Rose,  Jack B. Nimble Candle Shop,  John Brown’s Leather Works, and more. There was also the Aardvark Cinematheque Movie Theatre and the famous Second City improv theatre.

Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood was originally a farming community of German-immigrants settling in the 1840’s and anchored by St. Michael’s Catholic Church built in 1869, which survived great Chicago fire of 1871.

Wells Street by the way, before the 1909 Chicago street renaming and renumbering, was 5th Avenue. 

But let’s look at the fascinating history of Pipers Alley, How did Piper’s Alley get its name? Well it was originally the horse and wagon access to the H. Piper Baking Company.

And was there a Mr. Piper? There certainly was, his name was Heinrich “Henry” Piper (1840-1914) who built one of Chicago’s most successful bakery operation at 1610 N. Wells, famous for a wide variety of breads, German pumpernickel, sweets and much more. Henry lived there with his wife,  family and four servants.

Henry Piper was born on November 8 1840 in Germany. He married his wife Margaret. . He came to America in about 1866 and began his bakery business in 1868.

In 1887 expanded his bakery at 1610 N. Wells (which was then 607 N. Wells before the street renumbering) then occupying everything between 607 and 619 N. Wells.

He was one of the founders of the Chicago Bakers Association before the 1893 world’s fair. When the fair ended, he and other baking companies in Chicago had a bitter fight with the Bakers Union.

On December 30, 1898 Joseph Kasper, downtown merchant and holder of much Northside real estate became despondent over an arrest committed suicide in Henry’s office.

On the 1911 Sanborn map , Piper’s bakery had grown considerably.

Henry piper , two sons and two daughters, and four servants lived in the three-story stone building at 1610 N. Wells with his private office in the rear.

There were horse stables on the first floor behind 1618 and 1620 N. Wells with hay and feed stored on the second. There were two separate rooms for the mixing of dough, as well as one room for the nixing  of flour. In another section there was a wagon shop on the first floor and a baking on the second and third floors. Over the alley toward the back was flour storage on the second ,third, and fourth floors. There were no less than 10 ovens in various locations on the property.

As the business grew, 1947 through the 1950s,  there were dozens of want ads placed in the newspaper looking for route salesman, Packers, switchboard trainee, typists, delivery men and even an auto painter requested to be a “Ford man”.

As they steadily grew, the H. Piper baking Company expanded to other locations and even a garage in Des Plaines for their delivery vehicles. Piper’s served 12,000 grocers in 32 states.

At this time, offered an exclusive line of high quality bakery products including 30 special style breads and fancy brown n’serve rolls, cinnamon rolls, assorted coffee cakes, Boston Brown, dark rye, pumpernickel’s, high-protein and salt free bread,

In January 1957, Piper’s bakery had closed its operation on Wells street.,with much of his fixtures and equipment offered for sale.

In that same year, Old Town School of Folk Music was founded and became the catalyst for the development of Wells Street where Chicagoans came to shop, eat, drink, and enjoy the growing entertainment scene.

By 1965, Wells St. as well as Pipers Alley was crowded with tourists and shoppers. It was the place to be on a Saturday night. Traffic was a nightmare on weekends competing with hundreds of motor scooters. Parking was impossible. Wells Street was the place to be!

When I first got married, I lived on the third floor of 1606 N. Wells, above the Caravan in one of Henry piper’s beautiful buildings built about 1886. We lived in a beautiful seven room apartment which originally rented for $45 back in the day.. As I remember my rent was about $150, but well worth it. My back porch and stairway led down to pipers alley. On a few occasions when there was a tomy private event held in pipers alley, I would simply get dressed up and walk  down my back stairs, blending in and enjoying the festivities, complimentary wine and food.

Piper’s Alley was evacuated as fire is discovered on March 1, 1971 in the loft of the Playwright’s Center. Two thousand spectators watched from the street, and a hundred diners are evacuated from That Steak Joynt at 1610 Wells Street as a precaution.  Fire fighters say that every one of the 15 shops that make up the alley l suffered some smoke or water damage. All the Second City actors and employees were evacuated safely but their offices on the second and third floors were destroyed, the theater stages were intact and not severely damaged.

In September of 2015, a second fire occured, a grease fire in the Adobo Grill once was The Steak Joynt signalling the end of Piper’s Alley

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In November 2016, the building adjacent to the distinctive entryway to Piper’s Alley has been cleared for demolition.

It’s all gone now replaced by a lot of modern buildings with none of the character that we once enjoyed.

Henry Piper died September 28 1914. His funeral was held right there at his residence 1610 N. Wells, followed by a  solemn procession to Graceland Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

His son Adolph Henry Piper (1874-1961) took over the bakery business.

If you remember Pipers Alley or just enjoyed this story,  please leave a comment below and subscribe to this website so I can let you know when I release more stories. Signing up is free.

You can also contact me by email anytime bartonius84@hotmail.com

Stay safe, be well Barry Fleig

Please check out a couple other of my stories relating to Chicago. click on the links

Popcorn Peanuts and Crackerjack

Celebrating Hot dogs and Bicycles!