08 Mar

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

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

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

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

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

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...

22 Feb

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

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...

10 Feb

Posted at 18:05h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by

the following images and information - a work in progress - shed light on the northwestern terra cotta company's richly colored and visually striking french art deco style "stock pattern" terra cotta ornament. early 1980s image of the art deco style chicago bee building (1929), located...

03 Feb

Posted at 15:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by

several architectural elements from d.h. burnham and company's fisher building (1896) and addition (1907) were recently purchased for the bld. 51 museum collection and archive. highlights include, but not limited to, a cast iron winslow brothers lobby level elevator floor indicator panel with opposed figural...

02 Feb

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

the 1893 pabst pavilion, designed by otto strack for chicago’s world's columbian exposition, was a terra-cotta structure with a green copper dome and glass corners showcasing beer products. its highlight was a 13-square-foot 24 karat gold-plated cast bronze and white metal pabst brewery model executed...

28 Jan

Posted at 17:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by

after reviewing these early images - taken during the early days of my photographic career -  i've realized that while my creative vision remains similar, my technical skills, mastery of equipment and lighting, post-processing abilities, and instinctive and intellectual comprehension of my subjects have improved...

22 Jan

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

the bldg. 51 museum collection recently acquired additional historically important redl slip terra cotta ornament from milwaukee’s former main passenger rail station, the chicago & north western lake front depot. designed by charles sumner frost in a romanesque style, the brick and terra cotta-clad depot...

01 Jan

Posted at 16:29h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Press, Sales and Promotions, Salvages, Travel, Uncategorized by

note: the following links represent some highlights accomplished in 2024. the posts are arranged chronologically, from beginning of 2025 to end of year. as 2025 draws to a close, i culled the the work of eric j. nordstrom, urban remains, and the bldg. 51 archive to...

25 Dec

Posted at 02:11h in Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages, Uncategorized by

a second time capsule buried within the lightly incised lemont limestone cornerstone of the church erected in 1890 and destroyed by fire in 1896, was removed intact earlier this week. once again, the soldered-joint zinc box or time capsule was damaged upon careful removal from...

17 Dec

Posted at 17:19h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages, Uncategorized by

dave felling salvage images of stephen v. shipman's italianate style elgin state hospital & the northern illinois hospital and asylum for the insane (1874) taken during its demolition in 1993. the center building's distinctive exterior two-story ornamental cast iron veranda above the limestone portico was carefully...

16 Dec

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

latest demolition images of flizikowski and kaiser's german evangelical lutheran church (1896), located at 2028 north richmond street, chicago, il. within the next week or two, the church building and adjoining shool will be reduced to rubble and trucked to the landfill. thankfully, the church will...

11 Dec

Posted at 19:07h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Press, Salvages by

additional images taken during removal of historically important church bell from flizikowski and kaiser’s german evangelical lutheran church (1896), located at 2028 north richmond street, chicago, il. the previous blog contains the majority of images and additional information. courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the...

08 Dec

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

sequential photo-documentation of lightly embossed bronze church bell extraction from flizikowski and kaiser's german evangelical lutheran church (1896), located at 2028 north richmond street, chicago, il. the swift removal of the bell - comprised of flanking cast iron a-frame bases or stands, yoke, clapper and bent...

03 Dec

Posted at 17:32h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

photographic survey of church bell before it's extraction from flizikowski and kaiser's german evangelical lutheran church (1896). the 1896 solid bronze bell is intact - comprised of flanking cast iron a-frame bases or stands, yoke, clapper and bent wood wheel with a single sheave (original rope...

25 Nov

Posted at 16:50h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

salvage operation in progress. updates with information on church history to follow.  image gallery below includes documentation of time capsule eextraction along with exterior and interior images of church during beginning phase of demolition (i.e., the church building itself as adjoining school was demolished last week). the...

20 Nov

Posted at 17:24h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

unedited 2008 interior salvage images of d.h. burnham and company's 21-story continental and commercial national bank building (1914), located at 208 south lasalle street, chicago, il. as i continue to stitch together bits and pieces of prior salvage experiences i often fall victim to a dense...

18 Nov

Posted at 19:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

revisting william phillip doerr's jeffery theater (1923) lobby as it appeared in 2014: Historical analysis: AI has likely been used to research and summarize information about the theater's history, architecture, and its impact on the South Shore neighborhood. Entertainment industry analysis: AI is fundamentally changing the live...

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