03 Sep

Posted at 16:08h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

original pocket-sized "souvenir" medal representing the first anniversary of the disastrous conflagration known simply as the "great chicago fire" of 1871. the unique and diminutive artifact is commonly referred as the "chicago fire medal" according to multiple museums and other institutions that have one in their...

20 Aug

Posted at 16:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

amazingly intact 1902-03 george grant elmslie-designed fret-sawn mahogany wood screen panel located in schlesinger and mayer building (1899, louis h. sullivan, architect) third floor women's lounge and writing room. the richly ornamented woodwork was executed by the edmunds mfg. co., chicago, il.  additional panels - on...

18 Aug

Posted at 16:18h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

john wellborn root-designed anderson pressed block salvaged from burnham and root's 1885 edwin e. ayer residence during demolition in 1966: museum-quality original 1899 western book methodist concern building terra cotta panel designed by kristian schneider and harry b. wheelock: exceptional...

08 Aug

Posted at 14:52h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

"and now the cornerstone." rare original and intact staple-bound booklet made for the cornerstone laying ceremony for holabird and root's 44-story art deco style chicago board of trade building (1930) located at 141 west jackson boulevard, chicago, il. the booklet contains a page devoted...

15 May

Posted at 15:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

an original custom-designed, black enameled ornamental cast iron interior angled staircase baluster and basement encaustic floor tile - salvaged from edbrooke and burnham's mecca hotel or flats (1892) during its untimely demolition in 1952 -  joined the bldg. 51 museum last month. ...

12 May

Posted at 15:23h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

unpublished louis magnue melander photographic images (scanned from recently discovered stereoscopic glass plate negatives) of the 1893 world columbian exposition taken shortly after it "officially" closed on october 30th, 1893. the complete set of images will be published in book format in 2026.  ...

02 May

Posted at 15:16h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

on saturday afternoon i arrived at the salerno cookie factory, or rather what was left of it, after a wrecking company hastily tore down the long stretch of the building's facade. this was comprised of red brick divided by cast concrete columns, accentuated with brightly colored...

30 Apr

Posted at 15:01h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 archive recently amassed a large collection of early 20th century building trade journal or periodical advertisements pertaining to various examples of terra cotta ornament (often accompanied by commission and/ or architect) fabricated by the american, midland, and northwestern terra cotta companies -...

22 Apr

Posted at 15:06h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

demolition images of stephen v. shipman's 1888 daniel a. jones memorial hospital building located at 1753 west congress parkway, chicago, il. the majority of the red slip-glazed terra cotta (fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta company) was salvaged during its demolition in the spring of 2016. ...

17 Apr

Posted at 14:57h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

small selection of depression-era (mostly) photographic images (scanned from original glass negatives) of chicago taken by photographer fred g. korth (1902-1983). korth emigrated to chicago from germany in 1926 where he learned photography. shortly thereafter, he became a member of the dearborn camera club and exhibited...

10 Apr

Posted at 16:35h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

  the bldg. 51 archive and museum recently acquired notable chicago photographer richard nickel's institute of design (founded in 1936) student photo album dating to the 1950s. the images and related ephemera were pasted on cover and each of the black pages within the unbound scrapbook...

01 Apr

Posted at 15:52h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

another data dump from 2009. raw and unedited images of john m. van osdel ii's 1896 ywca hotel, located at 830 south michigan avenue, chicago, il. the building was designed by architect was john m. van osdel ii, nephew of prominent chicago architect john mills van...

18 Mar

Posted at 14:10h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

seldom seen photographic images of charles b. atwood's fine arts building (1892-93) undergoing reconstruction in 1930 to house the museum of science and industry. the building's badly deteriorated staff exterior was replaced with bedford limestone. the work was done by the r.c. wieboldt construction company for the...

05 Mar

Posted at 17:47h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

early 20th century 2000 amp direct current thomson watthour recording meter salvaged in the 1960s from open-ended basement switchboard in the pope building (h.g. hodgkins, 1903), located at 121-127 south plymouth court, chicago, il. one of the electricians involved in dismantling the board claims pope was...

24 Feb

Posted at 16:21h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Travel by

two largely intact ornamental black painted cast iron building atrium grilles and custom-designed yale and towne company interior commerical office door ornamental cast iron hinges and doorknobs retaining original bower-barff "rust-proof" finish from edward townsend mix's northwestern guaranty loan company building (1890) were added to...

12 Feb

Posted at 16:21h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the bldg. 51 archive and museum collection recently acquired one of the largest known private collections of 19th and early 20th century paint samples applied to single and/or fold-out cards distributed by a multitude of commerical and residential paint and stain manufacturers across the united...

06 Feb

Posted at 16:27h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

a large collection of 8 x 10 silver gelatin print photographic images, notes, articles, booklets, etc. chronicling the painstaking effort to systematically document the 1929 deconstruction or demolition of william le baron jenney's home insurance building (1884) by w.j. newman wrecking company, joined the bldg....

03 Feb

Posted at 18:44h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following set of photographic images, taken by the chicago architectural photographing company, offers a seldom seen and deeply informative visual record of the demolition (including detailed images of deconstruction and wrecking methodologies), excavation, and construction of chicago's downtown city hall by chicago-based w.j. newman.  the...

28 Jan

Posted at 18:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by

the following snapshots were taken by little known photographer joseph barron, who traveled with architectural historian hugh morrison around the country documenting any and all adler and sullivan buildings (identifed through morrison's research) during the 1930s for his 1935 book, "Louis Sullivan: Prophet of Modern...

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