A veteran of the Civil War, Colonel W.W. Wicks was a Bloomington businessman who owned one of the area's economically dominant limestone quarries.

Because of his prosperity, he decided to diversify his business; as a result, he chose to open a general store and to enter the retail market.

Below the second story and above the third are prominent horizontal limestone piers: the lower carries large letters proclaiming "The Wicks Company," while the higher lacks written details but is far taller from top to bottom.

Similar details are reproduced in the stone of the building's summit; it is crowned by the tips of the piers, which rise slightly above the main roofline.

[1] Key to this designation is its unusual style: no other Bloomington building that survives to the present day was built according to the Chicago school.