26 Jan continued photo-documentation of 19th century architecture in and around wicker park

unlike last year, where i focused heavily on digitizing and disseminating images and ephemera on a wide range of topics revolving around chicago architecture, i feel reinvigorated to carve out more time to revisit past efforts photographing pockets of well-maintained 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament adorning extant buildings deeply entrenched in neighborhoods across the city.

i began again late last year, where i carefully navigated through neighborhoods on the west side of chicago documenting exemplary chicago workers cottages retaining distinctive ornament i hoped to identify through my vast collection of period trade catalogs to further develop a comprehensive analysis of both materials and methods used in the construction of both residential and commercial buildings within a given neighborhood.

the images included in this photographic survey focus primarily on worker cottages and ornament found in around the wicker park neighborhood. nearly all the wood-framed and masonry structures date to the late 19th century.

further reading: