The area's greatest shipyard, located in South Chicago, was founded in 1890 as a subsidiary of the Globe Iron Works of Cleveland. By 1900, just after it became part of the American Shipbuilding Co. (also based in Cleveland), the Chicago Ship Building Co. employed 1,200 men and ranked as the leading builder of steel ships on the Great Lakes. The company, which remained part of American Shipbuilding, continued to operate on a relatively small scale through World War II; it never regained the leading position it had held in the 1890s.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.