New Acquisitions

the bldg. 51 museum and archive amassed several historically important architectural fragments and objects, in addition to the evolving archive, consisting of period photographs, books, documents, drawings, blueprints, models, and other related materials that will prove invaluable to bolster the narratives of the museum's architectural ornament for future exhibitions. several hundred artifacts and ephemera have been archived and/or documented and...

the bldg. 51 museum and archive recently purchased a critical mass of early richard nickel prints, with the majority dating to the 1950s, when nickel was a student at the institute of design (ID). the body of work includes, but not limited to, adler and sullivan's auditorium building and subsequent restoration by crombie taylor, sullivan's bank buildings (includes work by...

latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding neighborhoods. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved...

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired a historically important and well-documented original doorknob and window sash pull salvaged from the office of architectural firm adler and sullivan, located on the 16th floor of the auditorium  building (adler and sullivan, 1889) office tower. the stock pattern doorknob, known as the "salem" pattern, was executed by yale and towne and retains most...

two amazingly intact and exceptionally rare early electric product catalogs were recently acquired by the bldg. 51 museum archive. the 1892 chicago electric light and power supply product catalog is especially interesting, showcasing a wide range of incandscent light bulbs for use in early skyscrapers. selected images from both books provided below. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the...

View this email in your browser Urban Remains has been dealing exclusively in the reclamation and recycling of American antique architectural artifacts and other oddities found among commercial and industrial buildings or residential structures for over the past 20 years. FROM OUR BLOG the schiller building explore our gallery of images which offer a glimpse at any and all artifacts and...

"to the tower." original hardbound tribune tower building (howells and hood, 1925) dedication book with illustrations and floorplan. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the building 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022. 

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of november, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories. any and all cataloged...

the bldg. 51 archive just acquired an original hardbound copy of tunnels and water system of chicago: under the lake and under the river, chicago : j.m. wing, 1874. cover and lithographic plates below.  further reading (from documentary history of american water-works): The Chicago Hydraulic Company was incorporated in 1836 by James B. Campbell, Gholson Kercheval, Robert A. Kinzie, Richard...

the bldg. 51 musuem archive recently aquired an exceptionally rare and profusely illustrated prismatic glass pocketbook published in 1898 for the luxfer prism glass company, chicago, ills. the softbound book retains the original singlefold glass color sample card. information and examples on 19th century prismatic glass company tiles with copper caming: building 51 has recently acquired two early designs fabricated...

The limited-edition (300 copies) "Lost and Found" book is now be available for purchase. This heavily illustrated 58 page, soft-bound book scours the depths of the Congress Theater (1929), chronicling the building's history through depression-era artifacts and detritus discovered in hidden crevices of the structure's attic and plenum.  A full-color catalog and historic photographs provide texture to the found objects and...

a 19th century two-flat (discussed in a previous post) has been reduced to rubble, but the discovery of an aqua blobtop miller beer bottle (with intact lighting stopper) left in a wall exposed during the final moments of demolition, has made it worthwhile to photo-document the demolition from beginning to end. in fact, halfway through the demolition, another bottle was...

the image gallery offers a somewhat comprehensive visual representation of ornamental builders' hardware found in chicago's commerical buildings built between the 1880s to the depression. the majority of the hardware is custom-designed, often by the hand of the leading architect or architectural firm tied to the design and construction of the building. in other cases a building was outfitted with...

the bldg. 51 museum archive recently acquired a large collection of rare and seldom found great chicago fire stereoview cards made and distributed shortly after the fire was extinguished in early october, 1871. several photographers are represented, with hand-written notations on verso. the following gallery represents a small fraction of the stereoviews now in the archive. images courtesy of the...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of october, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories. any and all cataloged...

the following images represents a small, but representative collection of figural and/or emblematic american architectural artifacts housed in the bldg. 51 musuem. the majority of the architectural elements are comprised of terra cotta and were salvaged in and around chicago.  all images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022.

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of JUly, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories. any and all cataloged inventory...

  a number of mid-19th century bottles were recently unearthed deep below the site of chicago’s former grand central station, with the four richly colored iron and smooth base soda bottles serving as the inspiration to further investigate the slew of structures that were built above ground dating back to the age of the bottles (1855-1859). the plot of land...

the following images represent carefully curated online collection of exterior ornamental terra cotta salvaged from historically important chicago commerical building. the ornament is housed in the bldg. 51 museum, located in downtown chicago.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022. 

  in preparation for publishing "unearthing chicago" in 2022, i've pulled some images capturing 19th and early 20th century bottles at excavation sites around chicago. shortly after being discovered, these remnants of victorian-era rubbish were carefully exposed by removing surrounding dirt and debris to reveal a little more of their identity. even when cleaned the artifacts retain the imprint of...