16 Mar former f. hyman & company commercial building (1884) with noteworthy façade reduced to rubble
the last installment of images documenting the final days of the former f. hyman & company commerical building (1884) located at 1329 n. clybourn avenue. i was drawn to this building early on because of its unusual transistional facade comprised largely of lemont limestone (often referred to as “athens marble” in period building journals), accentuated with bedford limestone. the former was used almost exclusively in the 1870s, while the latter gained widespread popularity in the early 1880s as a more durable, weather resistant alternative to lemont’s vulnerability to chicago’s harsh climate and prolonged freeze/thaw cycles. by closely examining the exterior, one can quickly deduce the differences in appearance and stability (or lack thereof) since the time of installation in 1884.
note: i’ve included several images of the lightly incised cornerstone, which i carefully watched during the tailend of demoliton to determine whether a time capsule was buried within (it’s unusual for a commerial building of this type to have one, but i wanted to be sure).
