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revisiting a transplanted 1850's chicago wood-framed boarding house on ohio street

i finally forced myself to transport this completely intact and unaltered full-sized residential sill plate into my studio to be documented every which way i saw fit. this massive wood beam is comprised of solid old growth pine wood, with a tenon on one side and a mortise on the other.

 

as i discover more and more houses dating prior to the great chicago fire, i am again committed to sharing these findings. information comes in the form of building materials hidden under layers of alterations-- modifications which have obliterated any exterior, visual clues on seemingly mundane and unkempt small cottages (there are many on the west side of chicago along erie, huron, ohio and so forth). material analysis can be rather challenging when dating a house constructed between 1850-1870, when materials and methods were all over the map.

as of late, i've been rather successful at gathering data by opening the walls of those houses i suspect are early cottages moved from the downtown area. i've managed to take my time, long before the wrecker arrives, to open walls and explore cavities between studs where "insulation" is found in abundance, resting near or directly on top of the sill plate. the bottom most layers contain the earliest materials (e.g., newspaper, advertisements, etc.) which, when cleaned and/or pieced back together and analysed, provide me with dates that likely reflect the time the house was constructed.

 

at first i thought that this worker's cottage on ohio street (see prior posts) was constructed in the early 1860's. however, when i decided to photograph the single intact sill plate i salvaged from the house, i went through the other building materials and a box of "insulation" i had completely forgotten about. i did post pictures of a carpenter's pipe and 1863 penny found in or around one of the sill plates (cannot recall), but looking through the newspaper fragments and an advertisement from a dry goods store, it appears this transplanted house was constructed sometime in the 1850's.

multi-faceted and tapered wood pegs were used (see images of the peg hole placement) to interlock this beam with the others used in the house's heavily reinforced and remarkably well-built foundation and second story girts. the top side of the sill plate contained square-shaped bored or notched holes for the stud "shoes" designed for added reinforcement, since toe-nailing into the sill plate wasn't added until the house was moved (likely from downtown) in this particular structure.

no attempt was made to clean the beam, and it was a bit of a challenge to pinpoint the exact type of saw markings. despite this, i managed to locate regions along the outer surface of the plate that clearly indicated use of a circular saw.

several pre-fire chicago building materials will be available for viewing in an upcoming exhibit in october involving a partnership between the bldg. 51 museum and the chicago clarke house museum. in addition, any and all of these materials can be used (within reason) for research purposes. i just ask you contact the bldg. 51 museum ahead of time stating your intentions of use and make an appointment if handling of the materials is required.

additional images of the complete sill plate, along with faceted wood pegs and sill plate segments with tenon and mortise are shown below. with the exception of a few images, none of the building materials were heavily cleaned and/or refinished. 



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