17 Aug

Posted at 00:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the small chicago worker's cottage was torn down long ago, but from the smattering of objects unearthed (thus far) during excavation, i managed to gain some insight into what transpired there, beginning from the time of construction sometime during the mid-19th century. i was notified early one...

12 Aug

Posted at 09:51h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the number of daily demolition notifications i receive is incredibly alarming on so many levels. this is no doubt a mantra i have repeatedly expressed in prior posts, interviews, etc. i will expound upon this further when attending the 19th century building materials exhibit that...

07 Aug

Posted at 12:22h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions by

the bldg. 51 museum has multiple 19th century artifacts from adler and sullivan's guaranty building. these include an interior staircase baluster, which is the only surviving all-original lobby flush mount light fixture ceiling medallion (the current fixtures in situ are recasts), and a few doorknobs...

04 Aug

Posted at 12:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

for well over 18 years now, whenever i encountered this remarkable german baroque style mansion, built for joseph b. kalvelage in 1896 by local architect otto strack, i felt a strong sense of unease as i approached the facade with my camera. it certainly didn't help...

28 Jul

Posted at 15:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

Deconstructing Early Chicago Saturday October 17 & Sunday October 18, 2015 9:00am-5:00pm Coach House of Glessner House Museum 1800 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago, IL 60616 Free Admission Clarke House Museum and Building 51 Museum will partner to present a special exhibition of early Chicago building fragments and systems on display in the historic...

27 Jul

Posted at 17:20h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

portable fire escapes date back to 18th century england, where in 1784, daniel maseres invented a machine simply called a "fire escape," a device fastened to the window of a building that would enable a person to descend to the street without injury. abraham wivell created an...

21 Jul

Posted at 22:43h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

prior to visiting this site, i had only seen it in pictures, by way of google street view. despite toggling back and forth between images of the house between 2007-2014 on google's "timeline," it was difficult to ascertain stylistic features or architectural characteristics that would provide better...

08 Jul

Posted at 01:51h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

it was surprisingly challenging to put together a collection of images designed to provide the reader with a visual synopsis of all the work that transpired at the chicago athletic club association building over the past few years. with over 10,000 images captured and tucked away on hard...

04 Jul

Posted at 00:27h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

every time i entered one of the many mammoth industrial melt, machine or forge "shops" located throughout the sprawling a. finkl & sons chicago foundry complex, i could not help but look up in awe. high above rested remarkably antiquated overhead cranes designed to to move...

01 Jul

Posted at 07:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

with the ten year anniversary of urban remains rapidly approaching, i've taken a considerable amount of time to reflect on where i began and where i'm going. dwelling more on the former for the time-being, i'm looking through hundreds of pictures taken when i first started salvaging...

30 Jun

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

investigating a near west side chicago site, i discovered some history through researching nineteenth century maps. according to an 1886 e. robinson's atlas (sanborn insurance) map of chicago (lots 14-17), a large parking lot that was recently excavated used to be a huge coal yard surrounded by several...

25 Jun

Posted at 12:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

beginning monday, i found myself documenting a dig site where a prototypical late 19th century graystone two-flat  (demolished earlier this year) once resided. with the exception of  an early 1880's cobalt john a. lomax hutchinson unearthed at the front of the lot, a surprisingly large assortment...

23 Jun

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

long ago when i studied the chicago world's fair or "columbian exposition" of 1893 i wondered what, if anything, remained from the "white city" long after it was burned down and/or demolished. where did all the statues go? the lamp posts? [gallery columns="4" ids="10798,10799,10794,10795"] like many others,...

23 Jun

Posted at 10:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

once again i arrived on another heneghan wrecking job site (my crew and i recently completed salvage work at the a. finkl & sons foundry and the howard johnson excavation site) where a massive wooden rood truss warehouse constructed in 1918 was undergoing demolition. [gallery ids="10449,10455,10454,10456,10464,10452"] when the demolition permit...

22 Jun

Posted at 18:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

i've amassed this large collection of antique chicago-based bottles (mainly "soda" or "mineral water") through auctions, excavation sites, privies, and private collectors over the past 8 months. with the "unearthing chicago" book taking shape, i'm scrambling to find many more bottles to fill in many...

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