28 Jan

Posted at 10:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

this opulent post-fire chicago mansion, located north of the river on wabash avenue (formerly cass street) near ontario, was built for pioneer steel king joseph t. ryerson in 1873, at an estimated cost of 50,000 dollars by architects burling and adler. the successful industrialist established his...

21 Jan

Posted at 01:35h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by

just the other day i was reorganizing some of the artifacts in my "sentimental" storage boxes housed in my personal collection. most of the diminutive artifacts date back to 2000-2005, when i was still employed as a research scientist, but living a dichotomous lifestyle where...

13 Jan

Posted at 23:58h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

after nearly two years of volunteering my time to photodocument the historic chicago athletic association building (the initial walk through was back in early 2013 when aj capital was closing on the property) during its transformation from a dormant and unoccupied building to its gradual...

10 Jan

Posted at 23:44h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

with demolitions currently in a holding pattern, i shifted my focus back on the "big dig" site located on the west side of chicago. despite the fact that i have unearthed several artifacts (e.g., bottles and common household fragments) dating from the 1880's to the...

31 Dec

Posted at 10:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

beginning last week we were notified of a major excavation where a former parking lot will be redeveloped for condo construction. consisting of several lots, this massive parcel of land once contained multiple brick and wood-framed dwellings, according to sanborn insurance maps dating back to...

30 Dec

Posted at 01:28h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

the focal point of wolf point "part two" moves away from the discovery of several mid-19th century pontiled soda and/or mineral water bottles during excavations in the 1980's, which were retrieved from intact wood-lined privy pits built and later filled by individuals that resided near...

03 Nov

Posted at 15:14h in Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by

throughout most of the 19th century joliet's numerous quarries were supplying chicago (and other midwestern cities) with great stone slabs used in the paving of city sidewalks, along with several churches, hotels, banks, warehouses and other types of public buildings. the stone was found just...

29 Oct

Posted at 13:37h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

acquiring louis sullivan and frank lloyd architectural artifacts to bolster the bldg. 51 museum collection is very important to me, and will continue on (likely with the addition of another artifact catalog in the coming years), but as i'm nearing the ten year anniversary of...

23 Oct

Posted at 15:46h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by

while i patiently wait for the city to issue an excavation permit that will uncover any undiscovered buried remnants from the john kent russell house site before the new foundation is poured, which not only effectively ends my frequent visits to the site, but in...

21 Oct

Posted at 14:04h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by

the small, but visually distinctive single story commercial buildings bedecked with bright white glazed terra cotta "sullivanesque" ornament in numerous configurations on their facades are disappearing more and more from the urban landscape in and around the chicago area as the number of demolition permits...

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