19 Oct photographic survey of chicago workers cottages in and around noble square
photographic survey of 19th century cottages and mixed-use commercial buildings in and around noble square.
this survey consists of images of cottages and commercial buildings, along with exterior ornament that i was able to readily identify based on my collection of profusely illustrated period catalogs of chicago-based foundries and/or fabricators. examples of frequently found architectural ornament used on both residential and commercial buildings erected between the mid-to-late-1880s include: “stock pattern,” red-glazed terra cotta by the northwestern terra cotta company; ornamental blocks by the chicago pressed brick company; stamped or pressed galvanized sheet metal cornices (likely made by knisley and miller, given the timeframe); and joliet or lemont limestone keystones, often accentuated with incised abstract floral motifs. the few single-story cast iron and steel storefronts with expansive plate glass windows included in the survey were either fabricated by the union iron works or dearborn foundry.
i’ve already amassed several thousand images of both extant and demolished 19th century chicago wood-framed and masonry cottages over the years for my “deconstructing chicago book,” which focuses on the materials and methods used to build these structures. but i feel now a real sense of urgency to devote even more time to documenting these cottages across the city, especially given the alarming rate at which they are being senselessly destroyed and replaced with new residential construction, damaging the fabric of the few neighborhoods that still retain historical integrity.
early next year i hope to have a publicly accessible database of extant and demolished structures, made available through the chicago workers cottage association (cwca), which i launched earlier this year. i created cwca not only to visually convey the importance of the workers cottage but, in addition, to sound the alarm over their susceptibility as targets of potential demolition—victims of the rapid growth of new development that has been effectively eradicating chicago’s architectural past for decades.
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