large cast bronze single-sided furnace plaque salvaged from the old cook county powerhouse or power plant outbuilding built in 1914. the massive integral-furnace boiler, which is a type of steam boiler that incorporates furnace water-cooling in the circulatory system, was constructed in 1938 and remained in used until the plant's demolition in 2008. the history of wilcox and babcock begins in 1867, whern stephen wilcox and george babcock establishes babcock, wilcox & company to manufacture and market the water tube boiler. the first utility boiler made by b&w was installed in 1881. in 1902, b&w boilers power new york city's first subway. a year later their boilers are used in the commonwealth edison company of chicago, which was the first utility station to use steam turbines exclusively for electric power generation. b & w introduced their first integral boiler in the 1930's. the old power plant has been demolished, but unique interior artifacts were salvaged by urban remains in 2006 and prior to the demolition in 2008, the exterior terra cotta plaques were taken down and given to the city of chicago.