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the great chicago fire exhbit at the chicago history museum is a worthwhile visit

every now and then i visit the chicago history museum for inspiration when it comes time to begin work on a book, create an exhibition at the bldg. 51 museum or prepare for a lecture on any and all topics relating to 19th century chicago architecture.

the museum's architectural exhibit (see featured image) on the firm of sullivan and adler is very clean and compact, but it only offers the visitor a small glimpse of the firm's incredibly large and rich body of work done during the latter half of the 19th century. my favorite artifact on display is the louis h. sullivan-designed acid-etched plate glass pane salvaged from the firm's office door. it certainly would be greatly enhanced if it was kept in its original setting. the whereabouts of the actual door is not known.

during the time the chicago stock exchange was demolished (1972), architectural ornament was salvaged and dispersed by the truckload, so it is no surprise that the majority of the artifacts within the condensed exhibit are from that building commission.

sadly, the building's demolition led to the tragic and untimely death of notable salvager and photographer richard nickel. in addition, it spawned a stronger chicago preservation movement initiated nearly a decade earlier when the garrick theater (another sullivan and adler commission) was facing demolition in 1961.

finally, in the late 1970's the great majority of documented materials (photographed by richard nickel) were used to reassemble the ornamented terra cotta arch shaped entrance, along with the stock exchange trading room, bedecked with intricate stenciled canvases, abundant use of incandescent "bare bub" lighting and the strongly geometric skylights that invited natural light during the daytime can be viewed at the chicago museum of art.

while i find it worthwhile mentioning the architectural artifact exhibit for those not aware of its existence, i glossed over that exhibition during my visit to feed my most current infatuation revolving around the building materials and methods that were used shortly after the great chicago fire. in addition, since i'm still conducting research for my book, loosely titled "underground chicago," i'm fascinated with how chicago discarded, buried or recycled the mountain of rubble and wreckage left in the fire's destructive aftermath.

the moment i purchased a bronze "fire medallion" that was cast from the gargantuan chicago courthouse bell that rang continuously (alarming chicagons that the fire was advancing rapidly) until the building that housed it was consumed by the fire, rekindled (no pun intended) my interest in the great chicago fire, and any and all artifacts that were directly associated with the fire, including my highly coveted figural gutter spout that was recovered from the wreckage of a stately home that also was consumed by the fire. i have been unable to determine whether or not the family that had the historical artifact for generations acquired it as a souvenir, or rather retrieved it from the rubble of their destroyed home.

i spent a great deal of time studying and photographing several encased artifacts displayed in the great chicago fire exhibit, that not only includes a complete set of medallions and miniature bells fabricated from the courthouse bell, but also a plethora of actual objects that were recovered when the fire was finally put out. like my gutter spout, all the artifacts are greatly disfigured in one way or another due to the prolonged exposure to extreme heat generated by the fire. the image gallery at the bottom of this post represents a collection of images i took of some these artifacts on display there.

in the coming months i hope to gain a better understanding of how the piles of rubble were handled, whether it was selling off burnt porcelain doll souvenirs and/or reusing the massive supply of bricks and limestone foundations and so on. in addition, i want to focus on how the materials and methods in constructing new residential and commercial structures was done when the city underwent a rapid reconstruction and how that impacted the building boom of the 1870's and 1880's.

since i've found more and more timbers and "old world" joinery employed in structures post-fire instead of the traditional balloon frame (purportedly "invented" in chicago) that could be erected quickly, cheaply and with dimensional lumber and cut nails, i wonder if the fire's devastation was still on the mind's of chicago builders to the point where they wanted to construct more solid and robust homes far outside of the "fire limits" where newly created building codes wanted any and all structures to be built with the latest in "fireproofing" technology and materials.

thanks to several wreckers who have worked with me to rescue timbers with joinery, i can hopefully address some of these questions, especially my primary theory, where most of the 19th century homes constructed in chicago between 1840-1880 were hybrids, that embraced elements of both old world and new world construction, instead of strictly using cut nails and dimensional lumber popularized through the balloon frame.

 



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