posted july 11, 2014: before i begin what will likely be a series of posts revolving around the salvage of this pre-fire residence, i wanted to present a few images taken while i was exploring the attic space that was constructed during the early 1860's, when...

the bldg. 51 archive and museum recently acquired the only known frank lloyd wright-designed fragments salvaged from adler and sullivan's victoria hotel (1892) during its demolition in 1961. the following images were taken by richard nickel in early 1961 of adler & sullivan's victoria hotel...

note: the following links represent some highlights accomplished in 2024. the posts are arranged chronologically, from beginning of 2024 to end of year. pabst mansion pavilion - a rare surviving relic of the 1893 columbian exposition on its way to be dismantled again 1902 henry l. newhouse-designed...

latest acquisition. rare 1909 chicago athletic association building "cherry circle" 19th anniversary gilt edge hardbound special issue (given to officers and club members only) with silver gelatin photographic image of club member charles ffrench (president, director, and manager of the iron and steel publishing company)...

rebuilt chicago in 1873: illustrated. scanned pages (including cover and advertisements) from a recently found and exceptionally rare oversized hardbound book entitled "the merchants and manufacturers of chicago : being a complete history of our mercantile and manufacturing interests, and their progress since the fire :...

eric j. nordstrom, through his bldg. 51 archive and museum, has been consumed with a project attempting to bridge various local archives in a unified manner, that for the time-being, is translated in the following images accompanied with brief descriptions or narratives identifying the historical...

urban remains and the bldg. 51 musuem are pleased to offer full-scale frank lloyd wright and alfonso iannelli-designed "sprite" or "spindle" heads that were cast from a mold made from a documented original fragmented full-figured sprite undergoing restoration. the limited edition "spindle" head sculptures were...

early photographic print (note hand-applied retouching) made from william shaw's original glass negative of w.d. kerfoot realty company building (october 1871-june 1872), located at 89 west washington street, chicago, il. the 12 by 16 foot "shanty of boards" was said to be the first "building" erected...

a rare and historically important skidmore, owings, and merrill-designed stainless steel chicago architectural landmarks building plaque fabricated for william le baron jenney's non-extant leiter building joined the bldg. 51 museum collection late last week. there are now over 20 landmark plaques from buildings across the...

henry fuermann photographic images (scanned from a collection of negatives of original prints) of frank lloyd wright's midway gardens (1914-1929), located at cottage grove at 60th street, chicago, il. the images were taken shortly after midway gardens was completed in 1914. several architectural elements (e.g., concrete...

original dedication booklet (fully scanned for your viewing pleasure) of giaver and dinkelberg's jewelers building (1927), located at 35 east wacker drive, chicago, il. the 40-story cream-colored terra cotta building (renamed the pure oil building in 1928) was erected by the starrett-dilks company of chicago. ...

an original marquette building (holabird and roche, 1895) ornamental cast iron interior staircase baluster with bower-barff finish amazingly intact and exterior reddish-brown terra cotta ornament (fabricated by the boston valley terra cotta company), join the ever-growing bldg. 51 museum collection. the custom  (i.e., william roche-designed)...

interesting 1896 cosmopolitan article on the "dangers of high buildings," by ernest flagg (perhaps best known as architect of new york city's 41-story singer building (1897-1968). the last page features a seldom seen halftone image of burnham, root, and atwood's reliance building under construction. images...

the urban remains showroom and bldg. 51 museum (housed and periodically on display in river north, west town, and fulton market) will continue calling 1820 west grand avenue home for the forseeable future. the number of acquisitions in 2024 has grown considerably in 2024 -...

two original red slip glazed terra cotta grotesque face exterior corbels salvaged from charles sumner frost's chicago and north western railway train station or lake dront depot (1889-1890). the romanesque style station - located in milwaukee, wisc. - closed in 1966 and demolished...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 125,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 20 years). the newly acquired items for the early months of 2024 have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need...

error: Content is protected !!