19th century brick and wood-framed worker cottages are quietly disappearing from chicago's cityscape
This entry was posted on March 31 2017 by Eric
over the past few years i've been tirelessly documenting and/or salvaging chicago's 19th century brick and wood-frame cottages as they're demolished with astonishing rapidity. it's deeply saddening just thinking about the seemingly endless number of demolition permits that will be issued during this year's (2017) "building season," which has already begun gaining momentum as the ground thaws with spring around the corner.
the historic integrity of neighborhoods across the city continues to erode as 19th ad early 20th century workers cottages succumb to the wrecking ball. when these contributing wood-frame or masonry cottages are pulled apart and hauled away, they become enmeshed in an ever-expanding abyss of fragmented and forgotten memories pushed deep into landfills on the outskirts of the city.
one such example - prompting me to write this entry, was the recent loss of a two-story post-fire 19th century a wood-framed cottage (located on blackhawk street - formerly schiller street) originally built as a single family workers cottage that over time transformed into a boarding house through subsequent early additions.
during the course of documenting the structure as it was being ripped apart, i found a few objects between stud cavities (no doubt left behind by the earliest occupants), along with a seldom found framing configuration where an unusual number of first and second floor beams (i.e., heavily notched and pinned sills and girts) were supported by an amazingly intact and robust cedar posts foundation system concealed in part by a tongue and groove wood skirt.
since the oversized lot contained two structures - the other being a heavily altered two story masonry cottage butted against the southern lot line, i will have to set aside a great deal of time to research both structures to determine a build date, if and when the buildings were moved from nearby lots, and try and identify tenants that lived there from the very beginning through city directories, etc.
the majority of the images used in this entry focus on the unusual materials and methodologies that, like so many previous posts pertaining to "deconstructing chicago," demonstrate that the "balloon frame" (including the "chicago method" configuration) needs to be revisited and revised. for example, a key feature of balloon framing is the horizontal mid-section "ledger plate," which allows wall studs to be erected uninterrupted from sill to top plate.
in nearly every 19th cottage (i.e., 1847-1890) i've carefully documented during demolition where the structure's structural characteristics are revealed, rarely contain ledgers. instead, i'm finding "beams" or multi-part plates where the studs terminate - akin to modern day "platform" framing. two the important characteristics i'm finding time and again include the use of heavily notched beams and pegs or "treenails," which are distinct features of post and beam construction. clearly, the mountain of data and/or structural components i've collected thus far) from over 200 cottages built during the latter half of the 19th century across the city) , needs to be taken into consideration when attempting to identify the most accurate model of the balloon frame.
additional images of the blackhawk cottage demolition cottage with captions:
This entry was posted in , Miscellaneous, Bldg. 51, Events & Announcements, Featured Posts & Bldg. 51 Feed on March 31 2017 by Eric
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