the exchange state bank (1910) was the first of three mower county (southern minnesota) bank buildings designed by the architectural firm of purcell, feick & elmslie (later purcell and elmslie). located on the corner of main street and grand avenue in the small town of...
a unique and distinctive collection of historically important metal castings, foundry patterns and plaques were recently acquired by chicago's wagner foundry and its subsidiary, the bronze memorial plaque company. the assemblage is comprised of both interior and exterior metal (e.g., bronze, brass, aluminum, etc.) recast ornament...
the following images - digitized, enlarged, and edited from richard nickel contact sheets housed in the richard nickel committee archive at the ryerson and burnham library, art institute of chicago, were taken by richard nickel of the charles p. kimball house during its demolition in...
the building 51 collection is fortunate to include a few incredibly rare fragments from the non-extant frank lloyd wright-designed midway gardens. among the artifacts is a remarkable c. 1914 panel, comprised of cast concrete and originally part of a larger decorative frieze. a very limited number...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial 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 MAY,...
from the time of its settlement chicago had begun a lumber trade, with a sawmill on the north branch of the river that served the local construction trade, and soon after began sending timber by ox-drawn wagon to settlements along hubbard's trail. sure enough, this...
latest images documenting the reconstruction of the four sullivan-designed exterior load-bearing steel columns adorning the s.a. maxwell building's (adler and sullivan, 1881) storefront. with most of the interior alterations and/or restoration completed, focus has shifted again to the building's façade, where recreation of the ornamental...
carefully studying richard nickel images (digitized from numerous contact sheets last week) of adler and sullivan's dooly block (1890-92) not only offered additional insight and appreciation for the firm's only commission built in the western states, but intensified my admiration for nickel's efforts to thoroughly...
most recent photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the photo-documentation project focuses on methodically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding neighborhoods, where the historic fabric is...
the following images were carefully selected from the voluminous archive of prominent chicago photographer and teacher, harold allen (1922-1999) housed at the ryerson and burnham archive, art institute of chicago. his photographs of adler and sullivan buildings taken in the 1940's are especially important, perhaps highlighted by his...
just this week i acquired two remarkably rare bottles dating to the mid-19th century, whose history is tied to the 1980’s demolition of chicago’s lake shore drive “s-curve.” in the world of excavation they represent small, yet important “portals to the past," the scarce remnants of...
when richard nickel located adler and sullivan’s 1883 knisley store and flats along lake street in the west side of chicago– a little-known commission briefly mentioned in hugh morrison’s book, “louis sullivan: prophet of modern architecture”, he spent a great deal of time creating detailed...
images documenting 19th and early 20th century architectural buildings and ornament during first trip (april, 2021) to milwaukee in over a year. i spent the majority of my time revisiting familiar haunts along my "circuit" that arose from several previous trips aimlessly exploring the city's...
demolition of eckhart and swan milling company (flanders and zimmerman, architects) is well underway. additional images documenting its destruction will appear in future posts. the architectural firm of flanders and zimmerman (located at 1521 in masonic temple), designed the flour mill, warehouse and stable in 1897...
several original, seldom found, and profusely illustrated 19th and early 20th century commercial and residential builders' hardware catalogs were acquired by the bldg. 51 museum archive in early april. it will take several months to digitize and upload the collection of catalogs on the bldg....
fearing the potentially violent protest of working class laborers, as well as in reaction to the haymarket affair, the residents of chicago's prairie avenue "millionaire's row" (prominent figures such as marshall field, george pullman, phillip armour, potter palmer and others) placed pressure on politicians to...
photographic study of gothic style hand-carved bedford limestone architectural ornament adorning 19th and early 20th century university of chicago buildings taken from the midway plaisance. additional images will be added when time permits, including buildings within campus grounds. campus buildings photographed included, but not limited to: international...
the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial 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 APRIL,...
the excavating machines showed signs of life as they began opening a formerly vacant parcel of ground located just west of ogden slip (a man-made harbor located near the mouth of the chicago river) in preparation for yet another high-rise (the 42-story "optima"). shortly after they...
the following images offers an in-depth visual study of chicago's extant building terra cotta, beginning in the early 1870s with the use of "gray body" terra cotta "trimmings" fabricated by the chicago terra terra company using white clay from indiana, to the richly colored polychromed...