12 Mar

Posted at 16:36h in Bldg. 51, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the assemblage of wood boards represent a mostly intact mid-19th century early chicago residential "privy vault" pine wood floor that was likely constructed by j.k. russell & company, chicago, il.   the defunct outhouse privy hole or "vault" floor was discovered on the john kent russell house...

09 Mar

Posted at 22:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

with the exception of the building itself, the only remaining exterior architectural ornament left undisturbed on the historically important augustus bauer-designed german school, a survivor of the great chicago fire, is a simple, yet elegant hand-carved oversized side entrance keystone featuring a a raised and...

07 Mar

Posted at 22:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by

for the past two days i've devoted morning, afternoon and evening obsessively thinking about anything and everything pertaining to an augustus bauer-designed building constructed in 1869. the arrival of souvenir hunters, the police, an alderman, and other, largely unhappy individuals coalescing into a rather unnerving and heavily...

04 Mar

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

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

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

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

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

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...

23 Feb

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

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

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

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...

18 Feb

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

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

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

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...

15 Feb

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

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...

10 Feb

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

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

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

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...

03 Feb

Posted at 02:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the unusual collection of neglected and largely abandoned gray-painted buildings located at the intersection of grand, halsted and milwaukee, will be demolished in the coming weeks. urban remains will begin salvaging any and all interior and exterior ornament (the latter during the demolition phase), beginning tomorrow...

28 Jan

Posted at 10:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

this opulent post-fire chicago mansion, located north of the river on wabash avenue (formerly cass street) near ontario, was built for pioneer steel king joseph t. ryerson in 1873, at an estimated cost of 50,000 dollars by architects burling and adler. the successful industrialist established his...

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