Salvages

a recent excavation presented an unusually eerie opportunity -- to visit and later dig at the site of a former "glass bending factory" that was built there by notorious american serial killer h.h. holmes. i was aware of this history from having taken a "ghost tour" with chicago historian adam selzer, and quickly invited him to join the excursion. the stretch of...

months after the newly-built united center indoor sports arena (home to both the chicago bulls and the blackhawks) opened in august of 1995, demolition of chicago stadium began in march of 1995 (its site is now a parking lot for the united center across the street). news channel cnn televised the demolition, showing devoted both blackhawks and bulls fans crying as the wrecking...

exhaustive photographic documentation and/or record of careful removal of the two remaining sullivan-designed cast iron storefront columns capitals from adler and sullivan's s.a. maxwell loft building (more commonly referred to as the jewelers building) has drawn to a close. the fragments will be replicated to recreate the four original ornamental cast iron columns in their entirety (i.e., as they appeared...

a chicago two-story 1880s masonry cottage or "boarding house" with completely intact fret-sawn pine wood bracketed cornice and diminutive lemont limestone window keystones accentuated with deeply incised simple scroll motifs will be destroyed in the next week or two. a demolition permit has been pulled and the power cut. it's only a matter of time before the wrecking machine arrives...

early 20th century movie-going was once a wildly popular excursion in which a nickel could purchase entrance to an elaborate architecture housing atmospheric settings, variety of entertainment and, importantly, an escape from the heat. a look to the ornament and interior décor of long-gone movie palaces is informative, making vivid the novelty and respite theaters provided, marked by competing themes...

the following collection of entries focuses on my 4-year "unearthing chicago" project where i aimed to identify and document what lies beneath our feet. from bottles and bones found in residential privy pits to remnants of chicago's city infrastructure dating back to the mid-19th century, the following posts offer insight into what chicagoan's from the past left behind. additional introductory material will...

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 65,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 15 years). the newly acquired items for the month of AUGUST have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their...

the following gallery of images (59 in total) were culled from the "unearthing chicago" project archive (2014-1017). with over 15,000 images documenting objects found in chicago's subterranean portals to the past, along with meticulously cataloging and photographing these unearthed objects in studio after project completion, i will continue to add these images  to subsequent posts in preparation for the launch...

peter b. wight (1838–1925) was an american 19th-century architect who practiced in new york city and chicago. wight's work in 1860s and 1870s new york evolved from a decorative, historicist style that paralleled the work of european designers john ruskin and augustus welby northmore pugin. after the great chicago fire of 1871, wight came to chicago and developed an interest in...

the second german evangelical zion church, designed by chicago architect  theodore duesing and completed in 1905, has been issued a demolition permit that will likely be released in the coming weeks. the chicago church was built on the northeast corner of ashland and hastings for 35,000 thousand dollars with the dimensions recorded as 60 x 114 feet.  the german evangelical...

one of the most visually striking and architecturally distinctive features within notable architect henry i. cobb's chicago athletic association building (1893) is the highly detailed, tracery-laden "drooping tip" cast plaster ceiling, comprised of interlocking gridded panels reinforced with metal mesh cones and illuminated with single incandescent "bare bulb" lights accentuating the tips. the ornamental ceiling (reconstructed in 2015) is located...

the chicago "l" dates back to the late 19th century, when the privately owned south side elevated railroad company was incorporated in 1888. the first four miles - much of which is still used in chicago's modern day "loop," opened in 1892 and ran from the congress terminal (near the present day site of the harold washington library) to state...

while en route to a demolition in the wicker park neighborhood of chicago, i came across an unusual renovation or demolition, some kind of chaotic project that left the structural components of a 19th century two-story framed cottage fully exposed for both the eye and camera to ponder. after speaking with the "wreckers," it was made clear that the remaining...

after carefully studying and documenting adler and sullivan’s s.a. maxwell loft building (1881) over the past several weeks construction workers peeled back layer after layer of alterations revealing how much of its original historic fabric was stripped off dating back to the time its original tenant; s.a. maxwell & company.    when s.a. maxwell & company moved out around 1900...

a selection of stories from 2019: over a decade devoted to documenting and salvaging chicago's architectural past a look back at images of tribune tower's continued transformation in 2019 documenting louis sullivan-designed carved berlin sandstone panels on facade of 1881 s.a. maxwell loft building bldg. 51 and ryerson archive collaboration on chicago stock exchange trading room exhibit now open exhaustive...

i’m finally consolidating images and ephemera gathered after devoting nearly two years documenting extant chicago depression-era theaters. the discovery of material left behind by the tradesmen who built the theaters, along with piles of “trash” found within the auditorium plenum chambers, was by far the most rewarding experience and, in many ways, interested me more than photographing the interior and...

outside of urban remains and the bldg. 51 musuem, i've been relentlessly pursing several obsessional exploits for years now. from deconstructing chicago cottages to documenting objects tradesmen left behind in the domes of chicago movie palaces, i've come to realize i'm long overdue to gather any and all artifacts and archives to push these "projects" to completion in the form...

the following links provide access to hundreds of images taken of 19th and early 20th century architectural ornament adorning extant residential and commercial structures in and around downtown milwaukee, taken over the past several years. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bld. 51 archive.  WEEKEND TRIP TO MILWAUKEE: WORKER COTTAGES, SOLOMON BEMAN, TERRA COTTA ORNAMENT AND INCISED BUILDING...

one day i received a call from the general manager at hotel burnham (named after notable chicago architect daniel burnham), which is downtown chicago hotel that currently occupies the reliance building, completed march, 1895. prior to being converted into a boutique hotel, the building sat largely abandoned, the upper floors containing only a few transient tenants in dimly lit, crumbling...

late last week urban remains purchased a massive collection of 19th century american victorian era majolica glazed residential fireplace tile sets salvaged over the past few decades from chicago two and three-flat greystones undergoing demolition. the majority of the richly ornamented and deeply embossed fireplace tiles were executed by the trent tile company or american encaustic (see brief company history...