Owner and operator of a drug store at this intersection, Dr. H. H. Holmes bought the adjacent lot and proceeded to construct a mammoth building. The three-story building had a 162' x 50' footprint, and was dubbed "The Castle" in the neighborhood. Holmes named it "The World's Fair Hotel", and it served as a hotel during the World's Columbian Exposition (aka The Chicago World's Fair) in 1893.

Holmes constructed a variety of rooms with the intent of killing his boarders, and carried out numerous murders in "The Murder Castle." He sold the skeletons of his victims to medical schools, while stealing the belongings of the deceased.

The "Murder Castle" was burned from the inside by arsonists in 1895, but the building survived and remained in use until it was torn down in 1938.

The story was retold in Erik Larsen's book The Devil and the White City, and an adaption of this work by Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio is in production.

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