page_title: George Armour
section_title: Tower
hierarchical_section_title: George Armour / Legacy / Commemorations / Tower
caption_attribution_description: English: Second Presbyterian Church, Chicago IL
context_page_description: George Armour was a Scottish American businessman and philanthropist known for his contributions to the global distribution process for commodities. He is credited with developing the grain elevator system, establishing grain trading standards as director and president of the Chicago Board of Trade, founding the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Commercial Club of Chicago, YMCA of Chicago, Merchants' Loan & Trust Company, the precursor to Continental Illinois, and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts which later became the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Art Institute of Chicago. He served as a director of several notable companies during his career.
  As founder of Armour, Dole & Co and other firms, he created the first extensive system of large mechanized grain elevators in Chicago and thus enabled the shipment of grains from the American Midwest to destinations all over the world. During his tenure, the CBT standardized the grading and selling of grains and established the first commodity futures markets. He was "popularly known as the father of the grain elevator system" or as a "rapacious, blood sucking insect."
context_section_description: The tower and bell were donated to the church and dedicated to George Armour by his family in 1884.
caption: Second Presbyterian Church Chicago, IL
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