BLDG51. News and Events |

04 Mar demolition of another pre-fire chicago commercial building (1862) nearly completed

Posted at 10:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

a project manager working for chicago-based heneghan wrecking informed me late last week that two adjoining 19th century multi-story brick commercial buildings located along lake street were undergoing demolition in preparation for future development on the site. when i arrived onsite demolition was in progress, with a large...

03 Mar several industrial stools, cabinets, and other distressed furniture added this week

Posted at 18:50h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by Eric

the photo gallery below offers hand-picked or "highlighted" artifacts from last week's listings (15 new items are added daily in their respective categories) on the urban remains website. as of this writing, we have surpassed the 22, 400 item mark. the ultimate goal since day...

03 Mar reexamining a mid-19th century chicago wood-lined privy “vault” and cesspool through material analysis

Posted at 02:19h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

i just finished shooting several recovered artifacts that were used in the construction of a privy vault and cesspool likely constructed between 1855-1865 for chicago carpenter and millwork company owner john kent russell's house (non-extant). the first of the two unusually-shaped privy vaults was discovered in...

02 Mar historically important reliance building interior door hardware rediscovered

Posted at 14:26h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by Eric

while rearranging our large assortment of interior and exterior artifacts salvaged from the historically important daniel h. burnham-designed reliance building last week, we rediscovered crates filled with matching cast iron hinges, escutcheons, doorknobs, office door mail chutes and window sash pulls. the urban remains's website does offer...

25 Feb vintage research laboratory glassware finds new home at urban remains

Posted at 10:53h in Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

first we solidified a deal involving the recent acquisition of a vast array and sizable quantity of industrial stools in both angled and tubular steel form with maple wood and metal seats. a few days later we came across an impressive assortment of old university...

24 Feb a very busy week amassing industrial furniture, vintage medical, mid-19th century bottles and architectural salvage

Posted at 16:06h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

23 Feb discarded “w.h.h.” soda bottle unearthed after 155 years reawakens a mostly dormant interest in old bottles

Posted at 06:51h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

since the day i discovered a light blue cobalt glass william h. hutchinson soda or mineral water bottle resting on a thick privy wood floor discovered behind the john kent russell house, i've been buying each and every virtually identical " w.h.h."cobalt bottle as if...

21 Feb bldg. 51 museum acquires two matching darwin d. martin house (1905) cast bronze sconces

Posted at 13:19h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

a set of rare and historically important interior darwin d. martin house (1903-1905) wall-mount sconces were acquired by the bldg. 51 museum this week. the strongly geometric designed interior single electric light sconces exhibit a mostly uniform surface patina throughout. it is uncertain whether the white...

19 Feb large quantity of matching vintage industrial “angled steel” shop stools now available

Posted at 14:27h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

a total of 18 matching all original and completely intact american vintage industrial shop stools were acquired earlier this week. the low-lying stools are identical both in seat type (i.e., solid contoured maple wood) and riveted joint angled steel base configuration. the stools were salvaged from...

18 Feb a very unusually constructed heavily ornamented 19th century cast iron interior corinthian style column capital

Posted at 13:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

i've removed several interior ornamented cast iron greek corinthian style capitals (located at the topmost region of load-bearing columns), found on the first floor of many high ceiling 19th century loft style commercial buildings or "blocks" dating between the 1860's and 1880's. the great majority...

17 Feb salvage work at 500 north milwaukee moving quickly despite wrecking ball looming on the horizon

Posted at 22:23h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

urban remains has invested a great of time documenting, researching and salvaging at 500 north milwaukee - the site of approximately eleven distinct buildings constructed primarily during the 19th century. despite each building having its own unique identity in terms of architectural style and former...

17 Feb figural frankart, jolly green giant road sign, andirons and insert, and a “butcher boy” cooler door recently added

Posted at 22:21h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by Eric

15 Feb unknowingly stumbling upon chicago’s portals to the past can be frustrating at times

Posted at 17:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

lately i’ve been incredibly busy. bouncing between concurrent salvages contributes to the chaos of my burgeoning schedule. i'm no doubt overwhelmed with the daunting projects and events i’m committed to, all while prioritizing "on the fly" photo documentation, and subsequent research. it's becoming increasingly difficult...

15 Feb urban remain’s showroom begins transition into an artifact exhibition and event space

Posted at 05:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous by Eric

this might seem bold and perhaps foolish from a business standpoint, but i have emptied my showroom entirely of any displayable artifacts, in order to create a blank slate that i hope will transition it from a retail setting to a space for events, lectures...

10 Feb the bldg. 51 museum building artifact printed book available in march of 2015

Posted at 13:21h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Products, Sales and Promotions by Eric

in the next 3-4 weeks, the printed version of the highly anticipated bldg. 51 museum building artifact book will be available for purchase. copies of the profusely illustrated, full color book will be available at the urban remain's store and/or can be ordered online through...

10 Feb industrial furniture, iron-pontiled bottles, hardware, and an authentic chicago street light added this week

Posted at 02:41h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

10 Feb salvaged “new old stock” art deco machine age chicago back bar glass rods available free of charge

Posted at 02:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by Eric

UPDATE AS OF 2024: this was posted 9 YEARS AGO. apologies, but we no longer have any left! fortunately, there are a surprisingly healthy supply of original depression-era american streamlined style back bars that remain in use and well-maintained in chicago area bars. a few of...

10 Feb an endless fascination with the morphological characteristics and crudities of 19th century bottles

Posted at 02:20h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

identifying any and all morphological properties of these mid-19th century bottles (see below) remain difficult to nail down, considering that the experimental fabrication methodologies were performed by the lungs and hands of the glassmith or blower, apprentices and children under dire conditions were output meant...

04 Feb revisiting the former site of the john kent russell house during its excavation

Posted at 10:48h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

even with the historically important john kent russell house having been demolished last summer, i have revisited the vacant site time and again to freely explore and ultimately unearth any and all artifacts left behind by the numerous occupants that called this place "home" since...

04 Feb salvage work at the 500 milwaukee avenue building complex has finally begun

Posted at 03:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

despite the brutally cold weather and piles of snow every which way, we made our way to the interconnected cluster of gray painted buildings (nine of the eleven bearing historic significance to one degree or another), formerly used to house a vast array of restaurant...