Sidney G. Courteen (1864–1945) was an American wholesale seed merchant of British descent.
In 1885, Courteen moved to Chicago and became a manager of the clover-seed department for the Albert Dickinson Company.
The building was at the time one of the strongest and heaviest structures in the city, with the ability to carry a live load of 400 pounds per square foot.
The building was designed and erected by The Barnett & Record Co.[2] In 1909, the Courteen Seed Company ran nearly $2 million dollars annually.
Courteen was known as a man of indomitable energy, push, keen, shrewd and intelligent in his business judgments.