Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

while the mountainous piles of rubble were being carted off, the last remains of the recently demolished crane brothers mfg. factory building addition (the main building constructed in 1865 still stands), i discovered a small cavity against the foundation wall that yielded a wealth of artifacts. the 19th and early 20th century ephemera uncovered there pertain to a time long ago, when the company...

a month ago i posted about the uncertain fate of the ornamental terra cotta adorning the facade of presbyterian hospital's daniel a. jones building, completed in 1888. as the small collection of wrecking machines slowly erased the building's lengthy existence, i was growing concerned that the ornament would eventually contribute to the growing piles of rubble gathering in and around the...

on occasion urban remains ventures to acquire architectural artifacts from outside chicago, and this week brought a fragment from a mid-nineteenth century building in milwaukee that is undergoing redevelopment. the artifact is an original section of allover crazed painted cast iron entryway load-baring column with an exceptional rope motif indicative of 1860's and early 1870's architectural design. the cast iron fragment...

as in san francisco, i spent a great deal of my "vacation" wandering the streets of new orleans armed with a camera and multiple lenses. i deliberately avoided putting forth any objectives or parameters for myself in terms of producing architectural imagery that could be assigned greater meaning. i put little pressure on myself except to capture the "essence" of the buildings and...

a peek inside the construction being done at 112 south state street yielded a surprising glimpse into the building's former life as a luxurious vaudeville theater. to say the current architecture is unassuming is a vast understatement, as its facade effectively conceals over a century of history. stripping back the layers of interior, however, a richer story is unveiled that opens up...

after returning from my week-long trip to new orleans, i revisited the site of the crane brothers manufacturing factory complex (renamed northwestern manufacturing and then crane mfg. co. shortly after the 1871 great chicago fire). the building that most interested me was one of two pre-fire structures, built in 1870 as an addition to the oldest building (facing jefferson street) constructed in 1865. the...

rose's product was advertised to contain nearly five pounds of fresh, lean beef in the form of a heavy syrup, priced at one dollar per pound. preston b. rose moved to chicago, where he used his chemistry knowledge to concoct a new health elixir, that was advertised in physician and surgeon magazine as early as 1885. in 1886, he filed...

after thoroughly photo-documenting the interior and exterior of the two extant pre-fire crane brothers factory buildings constructed in 1865 and 1870, we were given 1-2 days to extract artifacts that i expressed interest in during a lengthy afternoon of search and discovery. with insurance certificates issued and checks cut, my crew and i set out to remove what we could, given the...

as the early 20th century head (roman goddess diana) of montgomery ward's "spirit of progress" joins an exhibition at the chicago cultural center, a new historically-important (with ties to both st. louis and chicago) and finely executed artifact enters the bldg. 51 collection, thanks to my good friend, cultural historian tim samuelson (who organized said exhibition). tim was incredibly gracious...

an exciting acquisition joining a number of egyptian revival artifacts in the urban remains/ bldg. 51 collection is a brightly colored exterior polychromatic glazed terra cotta window surround cornice segment removed nearly 40 years ago from the historically-important chicago art deco gem known as the reebie storage warehouse, located at 2325 n. clark street, in lincoln park. as one of the most impressive commercial...

the historically important 19th century "spirit of progress" weathervane head, which once crowned the chicago school montgomery ward building (designed in 1898 by schmidt, garden & martin) is once again viewable to the general public at the cultural center, thanks to eric j. nordstrom (bldg. 51 museum) and culturian historian tim samuelson. the hand-wrought copper head was crafted by john massey rhind to...

following a recent demolition alert for the public life insurance co. building, it seems appropriate to segue into another charles sumner frost-designed structure that was torn down long ago. as it happens, frost's work links us to the crane family (see the recent blog on the crane mfg. company's pre-fire factory building). shortly before he would design navy pier, charles sumner frost was the architect of richard teller crane jr.'s...

a gargantuan early twentieth century neoclassical style commercial building, originally built for the public life insurance company and last occupied by the plumbing council of chicagoland, was recently handed a death sentence in the form of a demolition permit that virtually came out of nowhere. despite its landing in the public domain for a day or two, the greenlighted demolition...

what survived the catastrophic great fire of 1871, it seems, might not survive the wrecking ball of today. at 154-166 north jefferson, the west loop is ready to gain another high rise residential tower, at the expense of a pre-fire factory that holds a rich history. it was nearly two years ago that i first encountered the building. i was occupied...

an excavation at van buren & morgan yielded an interesting find this week, to add to the store of objects comprising a "city beneath the city." unearthed there was an exceptionally rare bottle, one of only three known examples in this color, and the only one that is intact. 1862   1886 the vibrantly colored early glass soda bottle, dating...

among the more interesting surprises an old house can hold, insulation is sometimes unearthed during demolition in the form of dated ephemera and materials from a bygone era. the contents found are especially valuable in providing a sturdy timeline during which the house was constructed, especially if found resting on sill plates-- indicating that it was the first material tossed into the structure, much like artifacts...

the monumental plaster female statue recently housed in off-site storage, has recently made another move, this time to be in a more secluded, climate-controlled space along with the rest of the bldg. 51 collection. thankfully it is solidly-built, with complete structural integrity to withstand relocation. longtime customers might recognize the statue as having greeted visitors to our former showroom. this incredible...

every once in a while i feel uninspired, saturated with mixed emotions that lead to exaggerated negativity and seemingly unstoppable rumination on being "stuck." this becomes hugely counter-productive within the world of urban remains, where at times i'm subject to mundane tasks that any business owner is familiar with, to some degree or another. instead of retreating into the depths of this darkness, i have...

the daniel a. jones building, built as a wing of the presbyterian hospital complex in 1888, is slowly being erased from chicago's urban landscape, but i believe there is hope - in the form of a heavy duty onsite "cherry picker." this machine, with its extensive boom, will likely be used as the primary work platform for extracting any and all ornament (e.g., red...

today marks the 44th anniversary of richard nickel's death, when the world lost a formidable preservationist and photographer. nickel died following his passion, in the collapse of the chicago stock exchange building as he salvaged architectural ornament. in memory of his life and work there will be an event at the robie house this afternoon with architect john vinci and cultural historian tim...