The factory building at 3636 S. Iron Street was once the home to S. A. Maxwell and Company, a manufacturer of window shades and other treatments. S. A. Maxwell’s business is one of hundreds of companies that once occupied space in the Central Manufacturing District, one of the most important sites in Chicago’s history.

In the first decade of the twentieth century, investor Frederick H. Prince developed the district on land adjacent to Chicago's Union Stock Yard and the Central Junction Railway. The CMD built and leased factory and office space to area businesses-- an easy sell given its proximity to the south branch of the Chicago River and to the railway, as well as its location in the geographic center the city.

The district had its own fire company and police force, bank, club for its tenants' higher-level employees, and financing office, which helped tenants struggling with financial burdens. Throughout its history, the district housed over two hundred enterprises, including many of the meat and candy companies, like the Wrigley Company, so important to Chicago’s economy.

The original 265-acre district occupied the land between 35th Street on the north, Pershing on the south, Ashland on the west, and Morgan on the east (a walk through the district will reveal dozens of historic factory buildings). The success of Prince's planned industrial park led him to open another just south of Pershing in 1915, increasing the size of the CMD by 90 acres. A later expansion brought the district even further west to Western Avenue. The CMD model was replicated elsewhere in Chicago and in its suburbs.

Urban decentralization and the development of the highway system in the mid-twentieth century lured companies away from Chicago, greatly reducing the number of businesses utilizing space in the CMD. Many buildings lay vacant or have been destroyed (like the historic Wrigley factory, demolished in 2014), though some businesses continue to utilize space in the district.

The original eastern portion of the CMD was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in early 2016

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