BLDG51. News and Events |

30 Dec pontiled bottles tossed from a passing schooner in the early 1850’s discovered at wolf point

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

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...

17 Dec demolition of heavily modified 1885 chicago brick worker’s cottage well underway

Posted at 10:06h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

late in the afternoon we arrived at the site of a chicago worker's brick cottage constructed in 1885. the exterior had been substantially altered or remodeled over its lifespan, so there wasn't much to salvage in terms of architectural artifacts - both in terms of...

10 Dec salvaging building materials from an 1870’s chicago two-story worker’s cottage

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

as a late 1870's two story worker's cottage is rapidly being transformed into a growing pile of splintered old growth wood, i managed to work around the ongoing chaos and extract several intact building components that were used to build this modest 19th century hybrid...

28 Nov a day of salvage and urban archaeological excavation at a 19th century chicago two-flat residence

Posted at 18:48h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, Salvages by Eric

early in the afternoon we arrived at the job site during a momentary pause as the wreckers were refueling their backhoe. we took advantage of that time to quickly assess the unusually large, double lot, containing a single victorian era red brick two-flat residence constructed...

14 Nov early industrial furniture salvaged from a recently shuttered chicago area factory

Posted at 03:10h in Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

between residential salvages we digressed somewhat by spending two days in a recently shuttered chicago area factory, where most of the industrial equipment and/or furniture no longer in use (i.e., lying dormant) dates to 1915-23. the great majority of the factory lockers, stools and miscellaneous...

10 Nov a chicago brick two-flat (1897) and 1880’s wood-frame worker cottage salvage completed

Posted at 15:23h in Bldg. 51, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Sales and Promotions, Salvages by Eric

from the very beginning of this salvage, the so-called "coach house" (more often referred to as a carriage house), located on the back lot of the property, was the structure that peeked my interest more than the two flat (1897) facing the street. i felt...

03 Nov final chapter ends with complete removal of an increasingly rare joliet limestone chicago commercial building facade

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

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 a chicago-based residential and commercial 19th century historic building materials database to become website

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

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...

29 Oct bottom of the john kent russell wood-lined privy reached: yields hundreds of artifacts

Posted at 09:54h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

we arrived early in the morning to begin where we left off a few days before. it was hard not to ruminate intensely about the implications of what we would soon discover in the circular-shaped oversized wood-lined privy during that time away. however, with tools...

23 Oct ongoing excavation efforts at the john kent russell site yields a newly discovered artifact-laden privy

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

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 more buildings with “sullivanesque” style midland terra cotta are coming down

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

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...

21 Oct latest update: the ever-changing c. 1876 commercial block undergoes a complete facade removal

Posted at 00:30h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

the gallery of images presented in this posting offer the viewer a rather sad glimpse of the most recent round of alterations being made to this heavily altered c. 1876 solidly-constructed commercial block located just west of downtown chicago. earlier posts pertaining to this structure focused...

08 Oct a photographic summation of an 1876 chicago commercial building

Posted at 12:03h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

a few photographs taken while examining the interior of this post-fire chicago (1876) commercial building is "gutted" during preparation for a new use as loft apartments. ...

01 Oct recovering the remnants of a post-chicago fire walnut wood staircase with an exceptional octagonal newel post

Posted at 01:12h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

it appears after repeated (failed) attempts to reach out and connect with the contractor, i'm embarrassingly relegated back to the dumpster behind the commercial building constructed in 1876 (see earlier posts on this building). it's abundantly clear that money and/or avoiding crossing paths with the construction...

30 Sep michael reese hospital reduced to a small collection of fragments

Posted at 15:49h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

reese was bitter from the beginning. nearly 30 buildings being vacated, or had been abandoned for years. an awful salvage experience were everything that could go wrong, went wrong. my relationship with the wrecker i had worked with for years grew tumultuous. it was hard to...

28 Sep mid-1870’s commercial building undergoing a complete gut/rehab

Posted at 23:56h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

i've been watching this post-fire chicago commercial building located on west of downtown chicago for the past few weeks. in fact, i spent an afternoon (with consent from the contractor) photodocmenting the interior from the basement to the top floor. the building is in an ideal...

23 Sep finding artifacts long after john kent russell’s house was hauled away to the landfill

Posted at 00:52h in Miscellaneous, New Acquisitions, New Products, Salvages by Eric

it has been several weeks since the pre-fire chicago john kent russell frame dwelling was brought down and sent off to a nearby landfill. now, the site of the former house is yet another empty lot containing dirt and residual debris strewn about. i thought for sure...

10 Sep a quick friday afternoon visit to the chicago athletic association building

Posted at 01:36h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

slowly but surely, any and all historic or architectural detailing original to the time of the chicago athletic association building's construction (1893), is carefully being reinstalled after a seemingly minor restoration and/or repair was completed months ago. remarkably, the second floor "reading room," with its gargantuan...

03 Sep concurrent demolitions taking place along lake street in chicago

Posted at 01:14h in Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

a late 19th century warehouse and a turn of the century hardware store along lake street (west of downtown chicago) are quickly being decimated by backhoes operated by two of the city's larger wrecking firms. the presence of protests and/or picketing was absent when the steel...

18 Aug most recent updates at the chicago athletic association building

Posted at 23:41h in Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Miscellaneous, Salvages by Eric

i didn't have much time to photodocument the chicago athletic association building this afternoon after spending a great deal of time "excavating" the russell house site in the morning, and having to hastily find my way to wicker park to document the recently exposed wood...