In 1854, Wesley Munger and George Armour started a Chicago grain-warehousing company called Munger & Armour. In 1863, Hiram Wheeler entered the firm, which became Munger, Wheeler & Co. The company owned large grain elevators next to the depot of the Chicago & North Western Railroad. When Wesley Munger died in 1868, his son Albert entered the firm. All three of the company's elevators, with a total capacity of 1.5 million barrels, were destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871, but the firm rebounded. In 1880, Munger, Wheeler & Co. owned 8 of the city's 23 large-scale grain warehouses; these eight elevators had a capacity of 6.4 million bushels. In 1889, the company was purchased by the City of Chicago Grain Elevators Co., Ltd., a corporation owned by English investors.

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.