BLDG51. News and Events |

24 May rare ante-fire tract book rescued from great chicago fire of 1871 joins bld. 51 musuem and archive

Posted at 20:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

rees, chase & co. was a prominent chicago land-title abstract firm whose early records became vital to preserving property ownership in cook county after the great chicago fire of 1871. historical background. in 1855, james h. rees joined horace and samuel chase to form rees, chase...

24 May sizable collection of depression-era linen-back photographic images of downtown new york city skyscrapers joins bld. 51 museum and archive

Posted at 16:13h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

several original 1920s and 1930s photographic images documenting manhattan's ever-evolving skyscraper skyline. the majority are linen-backed silver gelatin prints made and distributed by multiple commerical studios. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bld. 51 archive and museum. all rights reserved. 2026. ...

21 May the lind block: john van osdel’s pre-fire chicago landmark that survived the great fire of 1871 before being demolished decades later

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

designed by john m. van osdel, chicago’s first licensed architect, and completed in 1852, it is best remembered as one of the few downtown buildings in the path of the great chicago fire of 1871 to survive intact. despite its significance, the building was demolished in...

19 May rare and original chicago evening post extra newspaper covering the great conflagration of 1871 joins bld. 51 museum and archive

Posted at 16:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products by Eric

the chicago evening post "chicago in flames" extra edition published on tuesday, october 10, 1871, is one of the most famous and historically significant artifacts from the great chicago fire. it provided the public with urgent, raw updates just as the multi-day disaster was finally...

18 May bld. 51 musuem and archive acquires important signed and dated lithographic print of w.d. kefoot’s realty company building – the first building built in the burnt district

Posted at 15:53h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

oversized lithographic print of the w.d. kerfoot realty company building at 89 west washington street, chicago, illinois, showing the structure between october 1871 and june 1872; signed and dated by emil rudolph to his friend john “bet-a-million” gates. the 12 by 16 foot "shanty of boards"...

16 May bldg. 51 archive and museum acquire rare collection of images of the 1880s boarding house built on site where the great chicago fire of 1871 began.

Posted at 14:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

several newly acquired photographic images of the 1880s three-story lemont limestone boarding house built on the site of catherine o’leary’s cottage (the o’learys sold the lot at 558 w. dekoven street in 1879), where the great chicago fire of 1871 began. the embedded marble plaque marking...

08 May newly discovered photographic images of louis h. sullivan colloborator, interior designer louis j. millet

Posted at 19:52h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

louis j. millet (1856–1923) was a highly respected educator, founder of an industrial art school, and interior designer in the united states. famous for his stained glass artistry, millet worked on projects with louis sullivan and george w. maher, and collaborated with portraitist george healy...

05 May recently acquired historically important books and artifacts offer a compelling visual narrative of the chicago haymarket riot

Posted at 15:33h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

anarchy and anarchists: a history of the red terror and the social revolution in america and europe (1889) by michael j. schaack provides a detailed account of late 19th-century radical movements, especially the chicago haymarket conspiracy, from a law-enforcement perspective. schaack, a chicago police captain,...

24 Apr collection of important chicago-centric inland architect press halftones join bld. 51 museum archive

Posted at 16:00h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

bld. 51 archive has recently obtained a large collection of original period halftone images from inland architect press, featuring chicago buildings from the late 19th century. some examples from the collection are displayed below. established in 1883, the publication was a cornerstone of the architectural world, chronicling...

08 Apr rediscovered images of bradford lee gilbert’s richardsonian romanesque style illinois central station (1893-1974) digitized by bld. 51 archive

Posted at 14:09h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

newly discovered kodachrome images of bradford lee gilbert's richardsonian romanesque style illinois central station (1893-1974), located at the southern end of grant park near roosevelt road and michigan avenue, chicago, il. central station was an intercity passenger terminal located in downtown chicago, illinois, at the southern...

24 Mar bld. 51 museum acquires chicago heritage committee – country’s first preservation group – papers and related ephemera

Posted at 14:28h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Press, Travel by Eric

the chicago heritage committee was a pioneering grassroots architectural preservation group founded in 1960 by thomas stauffer and richard nickel to save adler and sullivan’s garrick theater and frank lloyd wright’s robie house. active until 1968, it was chicago's first organization dedicated to saving significant...

12 Mar collection of historically important helca iron works ornament desiged by john wellborn root for the 1887-88 rookery building lands in bldg. 51 museum collection

Posted at 15:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

the rookery building stands as a historic 12-story landmark in chicago's loop, renowned as the city's oldest surviving high-rise. completed in 1888 by the famed architectural team of daniel burnham and john wellborn root, it's celebrated as a masterpiece of the chicago school of architecture,...

10 Mar john drury research materials used for publication of “old chicago houses” joins bld. 51 museum and archive

Posted at 17:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

old chicago houses is a landmark book published in 1941 by journalist john drury. it serves as a "personal biography" of 110 historic homes in chicago. the book originated from a series of weekly articles in the chicago daily news, which ran from 1939 until...

08 Mar remarkable discovery: remnants from adler and sullivan’s 1889 walker house discovered along lake michigan

Posted at 16:40h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

after adler and sullivan’s walker warehouse (1889) was demolished in 1953, its stone slabs of all shapes and sizes were dumped along the shoreline of lake michigan and remained undisturbed for over seven decades. in the summer of 2025, eric j. nordstrom thoroughly documented and...

07 Mar ten years later: revisiting discovery subsequent documentation of vincenzo formusa, chicago’s oldest italian food importer at 710 west grand ave

Posted at 16:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

Part one: the destruction of a building occurs within a finite, and surprisingly quick time frame, but rarely is salvage such a tidy experience. each demolition spills into life outside the hours of actual wrecking, at first in the form of research to be done (and...

06 Mar 9 long years documenting the slow death of herman v. von holst’s 1924 southside chicago comed power station

Posted at 18:45h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

latest images of the dying southside chicago comed station (1924), located at located at 6141 s. prairie avenue. the building’s architect, herman v. von holst, was perhaps best known for taking on the responsibility of heading up frank lloyd wright’s architectural practice when wright went to...

03 Mar original drawings and ironwork from cyril colnik, the “tiffany of wrought iron masters.”

Posted at 16:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

original 1922 signed graphite on paper sketch of an ornamental wrought iron staircase newel post recently acquired by the bld. 51 archive and museum in spring of 2026. cyril colnik was a renowned metalsmith from austria, often referred to as "the tiffany of wrought iron.” he...

25 Feb historically important white glazed terra cotta ornament from the conway building – daniel burnham’s – “last commission” – joins bld. 51 museum

Posted at 19:14h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

the burnham center, formerly known as the conway building and later the chicago title & trust building, is an historic skyscraper in chicago, illinois. funded by the marshall field estate, it was daniel burnham's final design before his death in 1912, completed in 1913. the burnham...

24 Feb through the flames and beyond or chicago as it was and it is by wells & company

Posted at 17:08h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Uncategorized by Eric

"on the morning of the 9th of october, 1871, the telegraphic wires flashed to every part of this nation, and to nearly every portion of the civilized world, the shocking intelligence that chicago was in flames, hundreds of lives had been destroyed, and ten thousand...

22 Feb a visual narrative of washington porter ii’s 1930s unusual “kiosk sphinx” from beginning to end and remnant rediscovery in 2007

Posted at 18:55h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by Eric

photographic images of washingtion porter's beloved kiosk sphinx (louis i. simon, architect), located at 4043 lake park avenue, chicago, il. designed in egyptian revivalstyle to showcase porter's antique collection, it featured a 15-story observation tower visible from lake shore drive, intended to be topped with a...