i've finally made time to revisit a salvage i was involved in nearly 8 years ago- a move sparked in part by rediscovering several buried terra cotta fragments that were packed away. it all began after receiving a phone call from daniel "danny" lampa, owner of...

the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog. the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to...

a rare example of a largely intact and well-maintained gothic style victorian wood-framed cottage built shortly after the chicago fire of 1871 will be reduced to rubble this week. the two story wood-framed cottage likely was built on the site of a structure that succumbed...

i've finally made time to meticulously catalog long forgotten remnants (largely in the form of ephemera) i've collected over the years from 19th and early 20th century structures undergoing extensive renovation or demolition. discovering and recording historically important material formerly sealed off and forgotten provides...

  in addition to the week's acquisition of plaster frieze work from frank lloyd wright's dana-thomas house, the bldg. 51 museum has obtained numerous historically important fragments of plasterwork from adler & sullivan's garrick theater auditorium. originally named the schiller theater, the building was designed...

even as greater attention has been directed toward endangered 19th century wood-framed chicago cottages, there has been a dearth of conversation around the looming threat toward wood-framed commercial structures. a steady stream of demolition permits continues to painfully destroy the integrity of enough neighborhoods across...

this post concerns an entire city block, containing a collection of historically significant post-fire "athens marble" italianate style rowhouses. each has witnessed fires, neglect, utter abandonment, and demolition since the houses were completed in 1874. in these rather depressing "ruins," i could only catch a glimpse...

an excavation site just west of the m. schultz company piano factory and showroom (erected in 1889) yielded several artifacts spanning several decades. the earliest identifiable object was a small dark amber glass fragment with an embossed letter that once belonged to a quart-sized william...

the following photographic images (taken over a course of three months) provide a highly detailed visual record of the two matching fully functional extant interior congress theater lobby cast brass and wrought ornamental chandeliers. remarkably, the gargantuan "electric candle" ceiling fixtures with dual-colored art cathedral glass globes...

    long after the hodgepodge of 19th and 20th century buildings forming the ace hardware on ashland were demolished last year, excavation work finally began. multiple machines dug deep below grade in preparation for the foundation work of a new development, and just a few days later i...

research continues on a marvelous brick mansion that is in the process of being converted into a pre-school. the structure envelops two city lots, and appears to have been built around 1887.     to accommodate the needs of the developers and satisfy building codes, the interior...

[caption id="attachment_21122" align="alignleft" width="900"] detail of built-up molding on pine wood exterior door. the entry and any and all images first published on may 26th, 2016.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_29214" align="alignleft" width="450"] 1886 sanborn insurance map with red arrow indicating location of the superior street italianate. note: the...

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