19th century cast iron sidewalk and stoop vault lights have all but vanished in chicago

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This entry was posted on June 7 2022 by Eric

sadly, there aren't many original (that i know of) sidewalk "vault lights" (i.e., cast iron hub and glass rondel configuration) left to document in chicago. the donohue building (1883, julius speyer architect) offers one of the best examples - largely intact, multi-panel commercial entrance stoops with visible name plaques and patent dates. history

dauchy & company, chicago, ills.

a few years back i was fortunate to acquire two panels (and several fragments) from a brown brothers installation hidden under a chicago sidewalk that was being replaced. according to the contractor there were many more, but they were ultimately scrapped. the sections i acquired are remarkably rare and provide tremendous insight into both the materials and methods used to both fabricate and install sidewalk panels. with very few extant examples left in chicago, they are historically important in understanding their functionality and so on when they were used extensively throughout the city during the 1870's and 1880's.

sidewalks built using interlocking cast iron vault "lights" panels containing diminutive glass rondels or lenses allowed natural light to penetrate the dimly lit areas that extended beyond the structure itself. the vault light provided incentive to increase the amount of storage and/or working space within a building's basement.

patented hyatt glass lens or rondel enclosed within cast iron panel containing protruding "hubs" for traction and/or protection against the glass insets.

detailed period advertisement for brown brothers sidewalk and vault lights (e.g., coal chutes, etc.), along with illustration of an sidewalk/stoop installation.

three original 1880's brown brothers cast iron sidewalk five-hub sections with centrally located lenses with embossed lettering on lens verso.

1880's original brown brothers sidewalk panel with the majority of the signed glass rondels or lenses intact. several fragments were discovered under a depression era cement sidewalk located in downtown chicago.

rare image depicting a vault light stoop or sidewalk panel dating back to 1871, shortly after the great chicago fire ravaged the downtown district. the excessive heat bucked and contorted most of the metal used for structural purposes. nearly all of it was scrapped, while the stone, ash and other debris was used to build grant park.

rare cyanotype showing the installation of vault light "decks" above a subway tunnel in manhattan. taken around 1900-1902.

original 19th century vault light or lens "coal chute" found in the backyards of residential lots across chicago neighborhoods. the circular-shaped cast iron coal chute cover is missing the glass lenses or insets.

period photograph showing (in great detail) the installation of concrete sidewalk lights (likely fabricated by the american 3 way-luxfer glass company, cicero, ills).

rare and largely intact example of a concrete sidewalk panel containing six square-shaped glass lenses extracted from a chicago public sidewalk replacement. the integrated glass prisms were likely fabricated by american 3-way luxfer. courtesy of the bldg. 51 museum archive.