• The Sollitt family, known for their exceptional skills in building cathedrals and fortifications, relocated from France to England following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV, which limited the rights of Protestants to practice their trades.
• The York Minister Cathedral needed repairs due to damage from the religious wars, and the Sollitt’s found steady work there for over 100 years. This project came to an end in its last stages of its repairs due to arson, and with no money to rebuild it James Sollitt and his three boys.
• John, Thomas and William were out of jobs.

• 1836 Thomas came to Chicago
• 1838 William came to Chicago and the brothers began building and worked for Azel Peck until 1840
• 1840 - 1845 Updike, Peck & Sollitt
• 1846 - 1850 Updike & Sollitt
• 1849 William got gold fever and went to California for 7 years

• John and Thomas had started Sollitt & Son's.
• In 1856 William returned to Chicago from California  and started his own Sollitt Construction Company in 1857; there were now two Sollitt construction companies.
• By the end of the Civil War Sollitt & Sons was one of the largest builders in Chicago. Among others they built the first Palmer House and first City County Building.

• October 8, 1871 the Chicago Fire left 100,000 people homeless after burning 3.3 square miles and 68% of structures. John Sollitt's office  and yard were destroyed by the fire, but William Sollitt's construction yard was saved.
• The three Sollitt brothers joined forces again and began to rebuild the city for their clients.

• The Sollitt brothers gave the company to the next generation, Thomas' sons Ralph, Thomas and Sumner who reinvented it as Sollitt Brothers Construction.
• 20 years after the fire, Chicago had rebuilt and celebrated with the Chicago World's Fair. Both Machinery hall and Transportation Building were two of many buildings built by Sollitt Brothers Construction.

• On April 7, 1908, Ralph T. Sollitt obtained a patent for his concrete mixing machine. Ralph's invention mixed the ingredients used in making concrete. Ralph's machine was able to ensure materials both before and after mixing were more economically and easily handled.
• Fig. 1 shows a side elevation, showing one form of the machine embodying Ralph's invention.
• Fig. 17 is a side elevation of a further modification, illustrating the application of Ralph's improvements to a self-moving or automobile machine.

• Ralph & Sumner Sollitt split Sollitt Brothers Construction into two companies as they believed this was the best way to keep the company growing while also training their sons to run the company.
• All three brothers sent their oldest children to Engineering School.
• The company was split into Ralph Sollitt & Sons Construction Company and Sumner Sollitt & Sons Construction Company.
• Both became major companies known throughout the country.

• The Sollitt's found themselves as leaders in construction of fireproof buildings and manufacturing plants here at Fort Sheridan.
• Ralph Shannon Sollitt was sent to France as a Captain in the Corp or Engineers. The remaining Sollitt's who did not go to war were left to run the business and built some of the major military facilities in the Midwest. Their record was building 86 building in 9 days
• As the war ended and the roaring twenties kicked off Ralph Sollitt was getting lots of orders for work in areas away from Chicago. He sent his son Ralph Shannon to South Bend, IN to start a branch company and kept his son George to focus on their existing clients.

• All 3 Sollitt construction companies were in good financial shape, and in much better financial shape than their competition. They were poised to serve the industrial needs of the war efforts of WWII.
• Sumner Sollitt was able to build military training facilities in the Great Lakes Naval Station.
• George Sollitt worked on improving transportation networks and airfields.
• Ralph Shannon Sollitt in South Bend was even better positioned as a heavy industrial contractor working on munitions plants, power generation plants and steel smelting facilities.

Mies Van Der Rohe Skyscraper, Circa 1950

• Sumner Sollitt Construction in Chicago was taken over by Sumner Sollitt Jr. and continued with building developer led projects like the Mies Van Der Rohe skyscraper apartment complex on Lake Shore Drive.
• Sumner Jr. also entered new construction international markets with projects consisting of dams and highways in Puerto Rico.
• He also became a builder of high-end churches for many different denominations.

• In South Bend, Ralph S. Sollitt and Sollitt Construction Company was by far the largest of the 3 companies having a 1951 ENR Ranking #5. Ralph continued to build in the power generating industry and built the largest dam east of the Mississippi in Virginia.
• He found other industrial clients in automotive, aerospace, steel and food processing.
• Sollitt began to build nuclear power projects which came to an abrupt halt following the Three Mile Island incident, which he sought to replace this loss with healthcare projects.

• In 1967 Ralph S., George and Sumner Jr. Sollitt had succession plans in place for their heirs to replace them so they could retire. At this time, the new generation, with approval of the older generation, were actively looking for new geographical and product type expansion opportunities.
• They moved into Florida, California and even went back to building for the World's Fair.

1978

"People are what made Sollitt Construction a great company" - Ralph Sollitt 1978

Many people who worked for the Sollitt Construction Companies worked there for their entire lives. Maurie Bontrager started working for Sollitt Construction in 1929 on Notre Dame Stadium and continued to work until he retired in 1986.

1976

Sollitt Becomes an Employee Owned (ESOP) Company.

The George Sollitt Construction Company became and ESOP November 30, 1976, after having been a profit-sharing company since December of 1969.

1984

Sollitt Becomes 100% Employee Owned (ESOP)

Today

The Sollitt tradition continues with the 100% employee-owned George Sollitt Construction Company. It is thriving in a strong construction market in Chicago having weathered four separate recessions and completely new corporate leadership. Recent Presidents have been John Pridmore Sr., Don Maziarka, Howard Strong, John Pridmore Jr., James Zielinski, and currently Henry Ryan.