the death of a wood-framed post chicago fire cottage through sequential pictures

a remarkably intact wood-framed cottage with gable front was reduced to rubble in a matter of hours this past weekend. once the residence of william schmidt - a chicago patrolman during the 1870's - the house likely dated to shortly after the great chicago fire of 1871. several interior and exterior elements remained intact, but this was sadly not enough to keep it standing. the simple, yet elegantly designed cottage was remarkable in so many ways, and having to witness its death was a very bitter pill to swallow. the following images show the freestanding facade - its surrounding walls ripped apart just an hour earlier. the sequence depicts its fall, as it was obliterated in a matter of minutes, with the wrecker's extension grasping and pulling the entire facade backward. surprisingly, it landed mostly intact, but by the time i got up the stoop to see the remains of the building's face, it was already being smashed into pieces.

additional artifacts and/or objects discovered after the wood-framed structures was taken down. the roll of 19th century wallpaper, "active pleasure club invite" (1880), and several marbles were found along the sill plates between the cottage and the brick walls, supported by the original limestone foundation. aside from multi-part molding and a cast plaster ceiling medallion removed from the interior, i only had time to rescue some bargeboard, brackets and window headers - all comprised of white pine.