21 Dec

Posted at 04:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

around the time i began salvaging a chicago italianate row house constructed shortly after the fire, i was deeply immersed in the book, “the carpenter and joiner, and elements of hand-railing,” written by robert riddell in 1869. the highly technical book discusses the “art” of...

20 Dec

Posted at 17:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding...

18 Dec

Posted at 19:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

visually compelling kodachrome slides of chicago's historic prairie avenue district as it appeared in february of 1968 and may of 1975. the earlier images were possibly taken by richard nickel. the following list of houses are featured in the slides. the keith and wheeler houses...

18 Dec

Posted at 00:13h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

i am thrilled to have finally located and authenticated two heavily carved oak wood staircase railings salvaged from the potter palmer mansion or "castle," designed and built by architects henry ives cobb and charles sumner frost between 1883-1885. the railings were acquired by the bldg....

15 Dec

Posted at 18:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

the cornelius c. hopper house (1863) was demolished in a matter of hours late last week. sadly, very little, if anyhting, was salvaged from the exterior and/or interior of the three-story italiante style masonry residence punctuated with unornamented lemont limeston window hoods. the original solid...

14 Dec

Posted at 15:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

garden city architectural works, furst and bradley, proprietors. 4-story commercial building with original bracketed cornice built around 1858 with addition (to the north) constructed in 1861. architect unknown. henry horner grocery store and wholesale, henry horner, proprietor. the 4-story commercial building with...

09 Dec

Posted at 15:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

a seldom seen collection of original 19th century albumen prints of historically important mansions designed by notable chicago architects. the majority of the images feature houses (many demolished during land clearance) on the near south side, including prairie avenue.  original james w. taylor albumen print of...

07 Dec

Posted at 16:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Salvages by

civil war-era italianate style residence built for cornelius c. hopper in 1863-64 faces imminent demolition. according to period city directories, hooper was secretary of the peoples gas light and coke company. wood or tin ornamental bracketed cornice and rooftop cupola were removed/destroyed long ago. original unornamented...

07 Dec

Posted at 15:23h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of DECEMBER, 2021, have been...

06 Dec

Posted at 03:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

historically important art deco style architectural artifacts salvaged from notable chicago buildings erected during the 1920s-1930s. the original ornament - all identified, meticulously documented and photographed is housed in the bldg. 51 museum collection. when time permits, i will provide additional information, identifying the building ornament...

04 Dec

Posted at 18:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

the laverty-martindale house (1859) house was built for thomas laverty, an english sailor who came to wisconsin in the late 1850s. laverty fought in the civil war, and returned disabled from his service and was unable to complete construction of the house. in 1868, stephen martindale...

30 Nov

Posted at 23:02h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous by

richard nickel images of adler and sullivan’s levi rosenfeld building undergoing demolition in 1958. with the help of the wreckers (i believe speedway wrecked the building), nickel managed to salvage some of the terra cotta ornament, including the panel being lowered from the building 1958...

23 Nov

Posted at 18:01h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Travel by

the second empire style mitchell building (1876) is a five-story commercial building designed by architect e. townsend mix for alexander mitchell, a milwaukee-based businessman who was president of the wisconsin marine and fire insurance company bank, the chicago, milwaukee & st. paul railroad, and the northwestern national insurance company....

23 Nov

Posted at 08:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

SELECTED DIG STORIES FROM 2014-2019: FREQUENTLY UNEARTHED BOTTLES OF STOVE POLISH TIED TO NEGLECTED FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT-DESIGNED FACTORY BUILDING UNEARTHING THE REMAINS OF THE FORMER CURTISS FACTORY - HOME OF THE "BABY RUTH" CANDY BAR THE MOST COMMONLY UNEARTHED BOTTLE IN CHICAGO AND ITS CONNECTION WITH LOUIS H....

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