this post briefly touches upon a meticulously recreated adler and sullivan garrick theater (1891) hand-painted stenciled canvas section - mainly through images taken at the time it was discovered and/or recovered when adler and sullivan's garrick theater (1891) was undergoing demolition.  during the schiller building's demolition...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 40,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be)...

while working at the ryerson and burnham archives the other day, i stumbled across several folders containing silver gelatin prints documenting the construction of cook county hospital from beginning to end. i quickly realized , this set of prints haven't been circulated in the public domain...

although sullivan and adler's auditorium building (1889) has been documented time and again in previous bldg. 51 blog posts, i have yet to present a collection of historic images and artifacts from the building in a single entry. the following images and artifacts were obtained from...

  the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 45,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be)...

a selection of photographic images from the chicago architectural ornament survey is provided below. the architectural ornament is sourced from extant late 19th and early 20th century buildings within chicago's city limits. the majority of the buildings enjoy landmark status, while others are relatively unknown,...

yet another largely intact late 19th century chicago two-flat with incised joliet limestone window hoods is undergoing demolition. the roof and railings had been ripped off when i arrived.  after leaving the defaced house, i drove about a mile away to document a former synagogue (completed...

several boxes filled with late 19th and early 20th century antique american elevator signs and artifacts collected by an elevator serviceman while working on historically important buildings from new york city to philadelphia arrived at urban remains last week. the collection includes seldom found signage and...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 40,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be)...

i finally made time to digitize these richard nickel images of adler & sullivan’s jewelers building (1881-2) upper floors. unfortunately, the original sullivan-designed interior solid oak wood staircase railing was ripped out in 1960, but thankfully it was rescued by charles gregerson (and possibly nickel),...

day one: restoration of the beaux-arts style cook county hospital facade, comprised of limestone, brick, and terra cotta, is well underway. the partially demolished hospital (i.e., rear wings and powerhouse in 2010) was completed in 1913-14 with paul gerhardt as architect (served as cook county architect...

exterior restoration work has begun on howells and hood's 1925 tribune tower. several carefully stacked and labeled indiana limestone panels were removed from south facade for mast climber's anchor points. the gothic revival's limestone facade was executed by the indiana limestone company, bedford, ind. ...

a rare artifact deserving highlight in the urban remains warehouse is a turn of the century cast bronze plaque designed by edward kemeys and executed by the winslow brothers. the single-sided metalwork depicts the cheyenne diplomat and warrior "chief left hand," remembered for his attempts...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 40,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be)...

i've devoted several hours each and every week at the ryerson and burnham library where the richard nickel archive is housed. there, i get lost in the past, where i carefully study, select, and digitize/edit thousands of images taken by photographer and salvager richard nickel...

as of late nearly every cottage slated for demolition contains virtually no interior or exterior ornament worth salvaging due to countless renovations, remuddlings that have subsequently stripped those distinctive elements that contribute to a historically specific identity. [gallery columns="4" ids="19560,19561,19562,19563"] i've come to accept this as the norm,...

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