the bldg. 51 archive (led by its owner, eric j. nordstrom) has devoted nearly several years to painstakingly build a thoroughly researched and systemattically organized database pertaining to the universe of downtown chicago’s commerical buildings dating from its pioneer days to the present.
the database contains a multitude of sub-collections identified by the commerical photographic companies (e.g., chicago architectural photographing company, kaufmann and fabry, hornby and freiberg, etc.) that visually recorded the erection, alteration, renovation, and in many cases, demolition or destruction of downtown structures during the 19th and 20th centuries.
a partial inventory or sampling of digitized images (with descriptive captions) from the ever-expanding photographic database is provided below.
original james w. taylor mounted albumen photographic print of william w. boyington’s chicago board of trade building (1882-1929), located at jackson and lasalle street, chicago, il.
the tower was deconstructed (deemed structurally unsound) in 1894 and the building was demolished in 1929 to make way for holabird and root’s chicago board of trade building, completed in 1930.
original 1927 kaufmann and fabry photographic images of holabird and roche’s beaux arts-style stevens hotel (1927) and michigan avenue streetwall (looking north).
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.original 1927 kaufmann and fabry photographic images of holabird and roche’s beaux arts-style stevens hotel (1927) and michigan avenue streetwall (looking north).
early 20th century photographic image (scanned from copy negative) of treat and foltz’s st. regis hotel (1872-1874), located at 516 north clark street (southwest corner of grand avenue and clark street), chicago, il.
the post-fire six-story building was built as the albany hotel in 1873. it was renamed the grand palace hotel in1888 and st. regis in 1914.
original 1930s aerial survey company photographic image of downtown chicago and river looking west.
note the top of herbert hugh riddle’s terra cott-clad 38-story mather tower (1928), located at 75 east wacker drive in foreground.
early 1900s photographic image (scanned from copy negative) of burnham and root’s 16-story great northern hotel (1892-1940) located at the northeast corner of jackson boulevard and dearborn street, chicago, il. the adjoining great northern office and theater building was demolished in 1961 to make way for the dirksen federal building.
the grand pacfic and a scrapyard.
photographic image (scanned from copy glass plate negative) of william w. boyington’s grand pacific hotel (1873-1920) located at the northeast corner of jackson and lasalle street, chicago, il.
the west half of the hotel was demolished in 1895 to make way for d.h. burnham’s illinois trust and savings bank building (1897-1923). the east half of the building was remodeled by jenney and mundie.
the grand pacific continued to operate until 1921 when it was demolished to make way for graham, anderson, probst and white’s continental illinois bank building (1922).
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
19th century photographic image (scanned from original glass plate negative) of william w. boyington’s gothic style lemont limestone chicago water tower (1869) located at 806 north michigan avenue, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1930 photographic image (scanned from original negative) of stephen v. shipman’s 1888 daniel a. jones memorial hospital building, located at 1753 west congress parkway, chicago, il.
the majority of the red slip-glazed terra cotta (fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company) was salvaged during its demolition in the spring of 2016.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
original hedrich-blessing construction photographic prints of mies van der rohe’s crown hall (1955), located at 3360 south state street, chicago, il.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
photographic print of thielbard and fugard’s art deco style trustees system service building or century tower (1930), located at 182 west lake street, chicago, il.
exterior and interior ornament executed by eugene and gwen lux and edgar j. miller.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
early 1930s chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of vitzhum & burns’s 45-story gothic style terra cotta-clad steuben club or randolph tower building (1929), located at 188 west randolph street, chicago, il.
the terra cotta ornament was fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, il.
aditional detail image of 18-story tower.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
original 1920s linen-backed photographic image of schmidt, garden, and martin’s italian renaissance style illinois women’s athletic club (1926) located at pearson and rush streets, chicago, il.
possibly photographed by the chicago architectural photographing company.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
original 1928 kaufmann and fabry photographic print of abraham epstein’s stock yards national bank (1925), located at 4150 south halsted street, chicago, il.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
kaufmann and fabry photographic image (scanned from copy negative) of holabird and root’s 37-story art deco style palmolive building located at 919 north michigan avenue, chicago, il.
the image was taken shortly after it was completed in 1929.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
work in progress.
c. 1899 photographic image (scanned from the original 8 x 10 glass plate negative) of louis sullivan-designed sculpted clay cartouche by modeler kristian schneider for the schlesinger & mayer store (1899).
the patterns used for the ornamental ironwork were made by special arrangement at the northwestern terra cotta company for the winslow brothers, who fabricated the building’s interior and exterior ironwork.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
original 19th century james w. taylor albumen print of burnham and root’s 10-story brick and terra cotta insurance exchange building or continental bank building (1883-1912), located at 208 south lasalle street, chicago, il.
the hydraulic-pressed and shaped face brick was fabricated by chicago anderson pressed brick company. northwestern terra cotta works executed the ornamental terra cotta. the hardware (likely yale and towne stock pattern), was furnished by orr and lockett of chicago.
image courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
original late 19th century james w. taylor photographic print of h.h.
richardson’s marshall field wholesale store (1887) bound by quincy, franklin, adams and wells streets.
a small number of hand-carved red sandstone capitals were salvaged during its demolition in 1930.
two landed at a suburban golf course where they were used as bench supports. when they were discovered years later, one was given to the graham foundation where its on display in their outdoor fragment garden.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
group of original undated amatuer photographic snapahots of william l. steele and purcell and elmslie’s woodbury county courthouse (1918), located at 620 douglas street, sioux city, ia.
the terra cotta ornament was executed by the american terra cotta company, chicago, il.
the metalwork was fabricated by crown iron works of minneapolis, mn.
interior murals were done by john norton.
sculpture work was handled by alfonso iannelli and orlandi studio.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
three original henry fuermann and sons 8 x 10 matted interior photographic prints of walter burley griffin’s 1911 william f. tempel house (commonly referred to as the “solid rock” house) taken shortly after it was remodeled by barry byrne and alfonso iannelli in 1919. located at 82 essex road in winnetka, il., it was demolished in 2022 for new development.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
additional 1927-28 chicago architectural photographing company and kaufmann and fabry company photographic image (scanned from copy negatives) of herbert hugh riddle’s terra cott-clad 38-story mather tower (1928), located at 75 east wacker drive, chicago, il.
w.a. illsey were the general contractors. the masonry work was done by r.f. wilson and company. the steel framing was erected by overland construction company. northwestern terra cotta executed the cream colored terra cotta ornament.
note construction of holabird and roche/root’s 333 north michigan avenue building, completed in 1928.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original dated 1927 chicago architectural photographing company photographic construction image (scanned from copy negative) of herbert hugh riddle’s terra cott-clad 38-story mather tower (1928), located at 75 east wacker drive, chicago, il.
w.a. illsey were the general contractors. the masonry work was done by r.f. wilson and company. the steel framing was erected by overland construction company. northwestern terra cotta executed the cream colored terra cotta ornament.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1930 photographic image (scanned from copy negative) of downtown chicago looking east.
note holabird and root’s chicago board of trade building (1930) is nearing completion at right.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1940s chicago architectural photographing company photographic image (scanned from copy negative) of holabird and roche’s cable building (1899), located at 57 e. jackson, chicago, ills.
the 10-story building originally housed offices and showrooms for the cable piano company, founded in 1880 by h.d. cable.
cable was one of three chicago school buildings (the others being adler and sullivan’s schiller and holabird and roche’s republic) demolished in 1960-61.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1930 chicago architectural photographing company image (scanned from from copy negative) of jenney and mundie’s cental ymca association building (1893), located at 19 south lasalle street, chicago, il.
jenney and mundie’s 12-story national life/equitable building (1902) is located to the south (foreground) at 29 south lasalle street.
vitzthum & burns’s one north lasalle building (1930) in nearing completion to the north.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
1930s chicago architectural photographing company photographic images of john m. van osdel’s 7-story dyche building (1873-1955), located at the northwest corner of state and randolph streets, chicago, il. two additional stories were added in 1890.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1930 chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of holabird and roche’s roanoke or lumber exchange building (1915), located at 11 south lasalle street, chicago, il.
note excavation site (foreground) where holabird and roche’s 13-story tacoma building (1889-1929) once stood, which was demolished in 1929 to make way for vitzthum and burns’s one north lasalle building (1930).
the lumber exchange building was built in three stages, with the last addition (adjoining 35-story tower) completed in 1925.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
undated chicago architectural photographing company interior photographic image of holabird and roche/root’s chicago daily news building (1929), located at 400 west madison street, chicago, il.
note john norton’s ceiling mural entitled, “gathering the news, printing the news, transporting the news,” located in the grand concourse leading to northwestern railway station.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
early 1930s photographic image of h. peter henschien’s art deco style richter’s food products factory building (1931), located at 1040 west randolph street, chicago, il.
the richly colored polychromatic glazed terra cotta ornament was executed by the american terra cotta company, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original 1950 chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of d.h. burnham and company’s 12-story terra cotta-clad stewart building (1896-1989), located at the northwest corner of state and washington streets.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
late 1920s or early 1930s chicago architectural photographic image (scanned from original glass plate negative) of graham, anderson, probst, white’s foreman state bank building (1928), located at 33 n. lasalle street, chicago, ills.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
late 1920s chicago architectural photographing company photographic image (scanned from original glass plate negative) of the 18-story borland building (shepley, rutan, and coolidge,1905 and addition by charles sumner frost, 1914) located at 105 south lasalle street, chicago, il.
note excavation for graham, anderson, probst, and white’s state band building (1928), located at 120 south lasalle street, in foreground.
the borland building was demolished in 1971 by cleveland wrecking.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1940s chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of burnham and root’s rookery building (1888), located at 209 south lasalle street, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
undated chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of william presto and louis h. sullivan’s krause music store (1922), located at 4611 north lincoln avenue, chicago, il.
the glazed terra cotta was modeled by kristian schneider and executed by the american terra cotta company. total cost for the fabrication of the terra cotta ornament was 3,770.00.
images courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1923-24 chicago architectural photographing company construction image (scanned from original negative) of graham, anderson, probst and white’s 37-story straus building (1924), located at 310 south michigan avenue, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
chicago architectural photographing company demolition images (scanned from original negatives) of adler and sullivan’s chicago stock exchange building (1894), located at 30 north lasalle street, chicago, il.
the images were likely taken between january-march of 1972.
the terra cotta lasalle street arched entrance had already been carefully removed and transported to navy pier by this point.
two ornamental spandrel panels (designed by george grant elmslie) were also removed, with one landing at the art institute and the other installed at the graham foundation.
the street level shot with three oaks wrecking’s trailer front and center is rather odd, but overall, the images provide some visual information on how the building was built and ultimately destroyed.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of the rusticated lemont limestone union stock yard gate as it appeared in 1900.
the adjoining structure to the left (demolished) was used a police station or guard house.
the centrally located hand-carved rondel with bull head above the main arch is often referred to as “sherman,” after a prize-winning bull owned by stockyard founder john b. sherman.
the gate and water tower observatory were the first two major structures built at the yards by burnham and root around 1897. the water tower was demolished in the 1960s.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
chicago architectural photographing company demolition images (scanned from original negatives) of adler and sullivan’s chicago stock exchange building (1894), located at 30 north lasalle street, chicago, il.
the images were likely taken between january-march of 1972.
the terra cotta lasalle street arched entrance had already been carefully removed and transported to navy pier by this point.
two ornamental spandrel panels (designed by george grant elmslie) were also removed, with one landing at the art institute and the other installed at the graham foundation.
the street level shot with three oaks wrecking’s trailer front and center is rather odd, but overall, the images provide some visual information on how the building was built and ultimately destroyed.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of j.e.o. pridmore’s bush temple of music (1901), located at 100 west chicago avenue, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original chicago architectural photographing company photographic image and arthur rubloff & company rental flyer for space in holabird and roche’s 9-story mcclurg building (1899), located at 218-224 south wabash avenue, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original 1929 kaufmann and fabry photographic image (scanned from copy negative) of walter w. ahlschlager’s medinah athletic club building (1929) nearing completion.
note construction of thielbar and fugard’s 16-story mcgraw-hill building (1929-1998), located at 520 north michigan avenue, chicago, il.
the facade was saved during its demolition reinstalled a few years later on the gwen (?) hotel.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original 1892 james w. taylor photographic image of downtown chicago (dearborn looking north), with burnham and root’s 16-story great northern hotel (1892-1940) nearing completion in foreground to right.
william le baron jenney’s 9-story fair department store (1892-1984) is under construction (built by the george a. fuller company of chicago) across the street from cobb and frost’s 14-story owings building (1890-1940.
further north on dearborn (127 north dearborn street) clinton j. warren’s unity building (1892-1989) is also under construction.
image courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original 1892 james w. taylor photographic image of downtown chicago (lasalle street looking north from william w. boyington’s board of trade building (1882-1929).
note burnham and root’s woman’s temple (1892-1926) is nearing completion.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original photographic image (possibly taken by james w. taylor) of downtown chicago, looking north along dearbon street.
demolition and/or excavation work for burnham and atwood’s fisher building (1896) – located north of holabird and roche’s old colony building (1893) at 343 south dearborn street – is underway.
william le baron jenney’s 16-story manhattan building (1891) is located to the south of the old colony building.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original undated photographic image of henry s. jaffray’s george pullman mansion (1876-1922), located at 1729 south prairie avenue, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1925 kaufmann and fabry photographic image of vitzthum, karl, and company’s 23-story classical style cream-colored terra cotta bell building, located at 307 north michigan avenue, chicago, il.
it was commissioned by businessman herbert bell as the headquarters for the bell and zoller coal company.
the building’s name was changed in 1956 when sold to the old republic life insurance company.
the ornamental terra cotta was executed by the northwestern terra cotta company.
note howells and hood’s chicago tribune building (1925) under construction to the north.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive.
1940s chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of henry ives cobb’s non-extant hartford building (1893), located at southwest corner of dearborn and monroe streets, chicago, il.
haven’t had the time to identify exact year the building’s massive projecting cornice was removed.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original kaufmann and fabry photographic image of henry ives cobb’s non-extant hartford building (1893), located at southwest corner of dearborn and monroe streets, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
chicago architectural photographing company images of burnham and root’s 4-story romanesque style art institute of chicago (1886), located at 404 south michigan avenue, chicago, il.
the exterior was built using a combination of connecticut brownstone and and denver red sandstone.
the building was later and occupied and remodeled (including an additional floor) by the chicago club in 1893. a partial collapse in 1928 led to the building’s demolition in 1929 by william j. newman wrecking company.
the architectural firm of granger and gollenbach’s building incorporated salvaged elements from the 1886 root-designed building -consisting of salvaged carved brownstone ornament – in the new facade (see third/last image).
images courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
j.w. taylor photographic image of of solon s. beman’s 10-story pullman building (1884) likely taken between 1886-1890.
the imposing structure was constructed of red granite, brick, and ornamental terra cotta.
the second and third floors were occupied by george pullman’s company. beman had offices on the fifth floor. the upper floors (i.e., seventh, eighth, and ninth, were reserved for residential – mainly as bachelor apartments and small families.
images courtesy of bldg. 51 collection.
early 1920s kaufmann and fabry photographic image (scanned from original glass negative) of michigan avenue “streetwall” looking north from shepley, rutan and coolidge’s art institute (1893).
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of holabird and root’s art deco style michigan square building (1930-1974), located at 540 north michigan avenue, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1918-20 kaufmann and fabry photographic image (scanned from original glass negative) of jarvis hunt’s 15 story american trust and savings bank building (1905), located at 79 west monroe street, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original 1920 kaufmann and fabry photographic image of daniel h. burnham’s orchestra hall (1904), located at 220 south michigan avenue, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1950s chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of holabird and roche’s 18-story tribune building (1902-2000), located at 7 south dearborn street, chicago, il.
the neoclassical building served as the newspaper’s third home until 1925, when it moved to howells and hood’s tribune tower (1925).
note skidmore, owings and merrill’s inland steel building (1957) is under construction to the south.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1930 kaufmann and fabry photographic image of holabird and root’s 34-story 333 north michigan avenue building (1928-29), located at 333 north michigan avenue, chicago, il.
the building’s stonework, including ornamental panels above the granite base, was executed in variegated hues of cut limestone by the indiana limestone company, bedford, ind.
the figural panels were carved by bruher and donato.
a total of 45,000 cubic feet was required for erection.
holabird & roche’s architectual firm occupied the 24th floor and part of the 25th. an additional two stories in the tower were used for library and studio. martin c. schwab, consulting engineer on the project, also resided there.
images courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original 1930 chicago architectural photographic print of burnham brothers’s 37-story carbon and carbide building (1929), located at 230 north michigan avenue, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive
mather moving on up.
original 1927 kaufmann and fabry photographic image (scanned from copy negative) of downtown chicago at night (looking southwest), with graham, anderson, probst & white’s wrigley building (1924) to the right.
herbert hugh riddle’s 38-story mather tower (1928) – located between alfred s. alschuler’s london guarantee and accident building (1923) and giaver and dinkelberg’s 40-story cream-colored terra cotta jewelers building (1927) – is under construction with steel frame fully exposed.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
late 1920s or early 1930s original chicago architectural photographing company photographic image of d.h. burnham and company’s 21-story terra cotta-clad conway or chicago title and trust company building (1913), located at 111 west washington street, chicago, il.
the building was designed by frederick p. dinkelberg. after daniel burnham’s death in 1912, it was taken over and completed by graham, burnham, and company.
couresy of bldg. 51 archive.
1940s original chicago architectural photographic image of holabird and roche’s pontiac building (1891), located 542 south dearborn street, chicago, il.
the pontiac is the oldest of the firm’s downtown skyscrapers that remains standing. the 14-story building features custom-designed terra cotta, monogrammed hardware, and ornamental iron elevator cages (repurposed).
northwestern executed the terra cotta and elevator ornament was done by winslow brothers.
image courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
late 1920s original chicago architectural photographing company photographic print of nham brothers’s 41-story steel-framed clark adams or bankers building (1926-27), located at 210 south clark street, chicago, il.
image courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive.
chicago architectual photographing company photographic images of henry ives cobb’s beaux-art style chicago federal building (1905), located at 218 south dearborn street, chicago, ils.
the images were taken between 1940-1950. the building was demolished in 1965 to make way for the kluczynski federal building designed by ludwig mies van der rohe, with schmidt, garden and erikson, c. f. murphy associates, and a. epstein and sons contributing.
note the removal (in progress) of the ornamented terra cotta cornice on holabird and roche’s marquette building (1895) in the second image.
images courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
original chicago architectural photographing company photographic images of john m. van osdel’s reaper block (1872), located at 72-84 west washington street, chicago, il.
the images were taken shortly before the building was demolished in 1957.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.
1920 kaufmann and fabry photographic image (scanned from copy negative) of burnham and root’s 17-story monadnock building (1891), located at 53 west jackson blvd., chicago, il.
the image was taken from the upper stories of burnham and root’s 16-story great northern hotel (1891-1940).
courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive.
images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2025.
