Orginal Pinkerton Detective Agency, Kendall Block (1852-1871)

The Pinkerton Detective Agency was one of the first detective agencies in America and one of the most well-known detective agencies in the U.S. as well. Over the years, the agency was hired for several reasons, from detective work, security, and strikebreakers. Today, what was once a local detective agency has grown into an international business that is involved in security and risk management. Though Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations, the current name, has a global headquarters at 101 N. Main Street, Ann Arbor, MI, in the 1850s, their first office was right here at what was 80 Washington Street, Chicago, IL. 

 "Being a Pinkerton agent means we are your trusted partner. Because at Pinkerton, we never sleep."12

Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant to the United States, became involved with police matters after stumbling upon a counterfeiting ring; he later got a job at the county sheriff’s office. Eventually, he became a detective in Chicago in the late 1840s. Pinkerton would then join with local attorney Edward Rucker to form a business partnership. In 1850 they would rent an office on the corner of Washington Street and Dearborn Avenue, 80 Washington Street, in a building known as the Kendall Block. One James S. Kendall, Esq funded the Kendall block and the next two Kendal blocks that would occupy the space from 1871 to 1940. Pinkerton and Rucker would start a business known as the North-Western Police Agency. Over the next year, Pinkerton would form a uniformed police group, but sadly the business would only last for a year. However, joining his brother, who already had an established business as a railroad detective, the Pinkerton’s would form the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

Over the next few years, Pinkerton and the agency would continue to operate out of this building, performing various services. Today, they are known as one of the first private investigation services, with agents being known today as private investigators, a p.i., or a private eye. This term private eye comes from Pinkerton’s symbol, a giant eye most commonly paired with their slogan “We Never Sleep.” The Pinkertons, a common name used for the agency's employees, could be hired for many security reasons or perform detective work. Perhaps one of the well-known cases of the Pinkerton Agency would occur in 1861 when the organization stumbled on to and successfully stopped an attempt to assassinate the president-elect, Abraham Lincoln. In the following years, the agency would move west down the block to 92 and 94 Washington Street Chicago.

The Pinkerton Agency, though, is perhaps most remembered for being hired as strikebreakers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A well-known example of Pinkertons hired as strikebreakers occurred during the 1892 Homestead Strike in Pittsburgh. The Carnegie Steel Company’s contract with the Homestead factory was coming to a close in 1892, and to increase profits, they were going to cut the salaries of hundreds of workers at the plant. The company made little effort to hide their plans; additionally, they made little to no attempts at negotiating with workers, going so far as to seek out strikebreakers in advance. So, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency was hired on, a group well known at the time for being able to infiltrate and disrupt unions who were on strike. 300 Pinkertons agents were sent to Homestead, and gunfire erupted between the laborers and the Pinkerton strikebreakers. At the end of the chaos that ensued, seven workers had died, three Pinkertons as well, and the National Guard was called to take control of the town. 

           Before the Homestead Stike occurred in the 1890s, a fire would rage through Chicago's business district on October 10, 1871. The fire would destroy the original location, now the rebuilt Kendall block II, of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and many records contained with the buildings’ current location within the same district. This destruction and loss were not an end to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, though, as by this point, they had offices established both in New York and Philadelphia. The new Kendall block III would be built in 1873 and would remain there until 1940. Though most of the street names in Chicago would change once a grid system was adopted in 1909, the business district affected by the fire, an area today known as the Loop, would not be affected by the changes to addresses. The address change would occur after 1940 in 1962 when a new building began to be constructed, the Cook County Administration Building. Today, the Cook County Administration Building is located at 69 W Washington St, Chicago, IL 60602.

The federal government would grow in the 20th century, and organizations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation would be established to enforce federal law. So, the Pinkerton Agency would move more towards private security work and become a more global organization with a Hong Kong branch opening in 1969. Later on, in 1999, the agency would be bought a Swedish security company known as Securitas AB. So, now the Pinkerton Agency is a business in the risk management field and is hired by organizations to identify and stop threats to their capital and earnings. Think your business is at risk? Well, you can rest easy because the Pinkertons can still be hired today, and they never sleep. 

1. Weiser, Kathy. Pinkerton Detective Agency – For 150 Years, Legends of America. September 1st 2019. Accessed October 22nd 2020. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/pinkertons/.
2. "PINKERTON ON GUARD. THE MAN AND THE WINCHESTERS." Coronado Mercury (Long Beach) January 10th 1888. Volume II 45 ed, Advertisements sec, Page 3-Page 3.
3. Wilson, Mark R.. Pinkerton National Detective Agency, Encyclopedia of Chicago. Accessed October 23rd 2020. http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2813.html.
4. "Pinkerton's Police Agency." Chicago Tribune (Chicago) January 1st 1866. Vol 19 No. 212 ed, The City sec, Page 4-Page 4.
5. Kendall Block II, Chicagology. Accessed October 23rd 2020. https://chicagology.com/prefire/prefire121/.
6. Kendall Block III, Chicagology. Accessed October 23rd 2020. https://chicagology.com/rebuilding/rebuilding018/.
7. The Press and Tribune (Chicago) February 2nd 1860. Vol. 13 No. 184 ed, The City sec, Page 1-Page.
8. Bailey, John C. W.. Business Directory of Chicago. Volume 10. Chicago, Illinois. John C. W. Bailey, 1867.
9. Chicago Tribune (Chicago) September 22nd 1868. Vol. 22 No. 84 ed, Wanted=Male Help sec, Page 4-Page 4.
10. Cook County Administration Building, The Skyscraper Center. Accessed October 23rd 2020. http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/cook-county-administration-building/9866.
11. Cook County Administration Building, Emporis. Accessed October 25th 2020. https://www.emporis.com/buildings/116843/cook-county-administration-building-chicago-il-usa.
12. Overview, Pinkerton. Accessed October 25th 2020. https://pinkerton.com/our-story/.
13. Historic Risk Management Agency Opens Downtown Corporate Headquarters, Pinkerton. Accessed October 25th 2020. https://pinkerton.com/press-room/historic-risk-management-agency-opens-downtown-corporate-headquarters.
14. 1892 Homestead Strike, AFL-CIO America's Unions. Accessed November 17th 2020. https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/1892-homestead-strike#:~:text=Frick%20did%20what%20plenty%20of,than%20the%20entire%20U.S.%20Army.