Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

the following american architectural ornament joined the ever-expanding, chicago-based bldg. 51 museum in summer of 2023. captions will be provided when time permits.  any and all images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, the eric j. nordstrom collection, and the bldg. 51 museum. all rights reserved. 2023. 

stanford white in light and shadow. exterior photographs of sanford white's joseph medill residence (1891-93), located at 20 east burton place, chicago, ills. medill, who was a former mayor of chicago and founder of the chicago tribune, gifted the palatial house to his daughter elinor and her husband, robert wilson patterson, jr. in 1914, the house was sold to cyrus...

photographic survey of burnham and root's sidney kent house (1882-83), located at 2944 s. michigan avenue, chicago, ills. the john wellborn root-designed terra cotta was executed by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills. burnham and root designed and built the stately michighan avenue mansion (one of the few still standing) for sidney a. kent, a founder of the chicago...

latest images of 24-story victor lawson memorial building (perkins, chatten & hammond, 1931) bedford limestone facade restoration. the victor f. lawson house is a historic former ymca building located at 30 w. chicago avenue, chicago, illinois. the building was built in 1931 for the ymca of metropolitan chicago, which was established in 1858 and had grown considerably during the 1920s. it was named for newspaperman victor lawson...

carved braggville pink granite, braggville, mass., executed by evans and tomb. john j. glessner house (1887), henry hobson richardson, architect. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023. 

a photographic survey of the harvey ellis-designed j.b. moss house (1889), central police station (1890), and german-american bank building (1889), conducted on a truncated visit to st. jospeh, mo., in the winter of 2023. i've included several images of eckel and mann's c.d. smith drug company (1886), given the impressive design and execution of the commerical building's richly colored red...

historically important terra cotta fragments salvaged from adler and sullivan's troescher building (1884-1979) and chicago stock exchange (1894-1972) were added to the bldg. 51 museum collection over the weekend.  troescher building (1884): adler and sullivan's 1884-85 troescher building was commissioned by anton f. troescher, a new york-based executive of the brunswick-balke-collender company, a manufacturer of sports equipment and custom millwork...

exceedingly rare original and intact fisher building (burnham and atwood, 1896) dedication booklet joins bldg. 51 museum and archive.  the highly informative and profusely illustrated booklet is a must for historic building material wonks. plus, it provides an exceptional overview of a typical 19th century american skycraper. lots of pages and information. courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg...

a demolition permit for the fred w. morgan residence (1895?) will likely send the turreted three-story brick house - punctuated with bedford arches and columns and ornamented zinc dormers - into a landfill by end of summer. morgan, who founded morgan and wright, which was involved in the experimentation of rubber and production of bicycle tired (later became the united...

images of a little-known louis h. sullivan-designed cast bronze and granite base supporting the statue of john m. palmer, a civil war general, illinois governor and 1896 presidential candidate, executed by sculptor leonard crunelle in 1921. together with granite base, the outdoor sculpture (located on the grounds of the illinois state capitol building) was fabricated by the amerian-art bronze foundry...

bock's boulders and storks on frank lloyd wright home and studio (1889). images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023. 

photos from our visit to richard w. bock sculpture museum, located at 315 e. college avenue, greenville, ills. sharon grimes, who's the current director of the museum and expert on bock, provided us with a deeply informative tour of the exhibits, carefully arranged on two floors in the historic almira college house (1855). the bock collection was donated to greenville...

original museum quality 1902 ornamented painted cast plaster "sumac pattern" exterior frieze fragment removed from frank lloyd wright's susan lawrence dana house in 1979 shortly before restoration commenced. the replacement panels consist of a vinyl-coated plywood. the restoration involved the recasting of the original frieze in a more durable material and put back into place. a few sections (such as...

a critical mass of salvaged chicago architectural ornament is on permanent display at city museum, located at 750 north 16th street, st. louis, mo. the museum's latest acquisitions include a louis h. sullivan-designed white glazed gage building (1899) terra cotta cartouche and a buff-colored terra cotta second floor loggia assemblage salvaged from adler and sullivan's schiller or garrick building (1892...

exterior images of theodore link's gargantuan romanesque style union station headhouse (1894), located at 1820 market street, st. louis, mo. the station's distinctive interior and exterior design program was handled by edmund cameron, who worked for h.h. richardson, where he oversaw construction of richardson's glessner house (1887) and marshall field warehouse (1887-1930). he also greatly admired the work of harvey...

detailed images of adler and sullivan's 10-story wainwright building (1891), located at 709 chestnut street, st. louis, mo. the first two floors are faced with reddish-brown sandstone quarried from michigan. the red slip terra cotta was executed by the winkle terra cotta company, st. louis, mo. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved...

exterior photographic survey of frank lloyd wright's susan lawrence dana house (1902), located at 301 e. lawrence avenue, springfield, ills. Dana-Thomas House SHARE  Facebook TwitterEmail In 1903 heiress and social activist Susan Lawrence Dana commissioned Wright to remodel her family’s 1868 Italianate mansion to better suit her social ambition and extravagant entertaining needs. BUILT 1902-1904 CLIENT Susan Lawrence Dana ADDRESS 301 E...

images of henry ives cobb’s 17-story chemical building (1896), located on the ne corner of 8th and olive streets, st. louis. mo. the building’s annex was designed by st. louis-based firm of mauran, russell, and garden in 1903. the ornamental cast iron was executed by christopher and simpson iron works and the terra cotta (iron oxide was added to the...

exterior and interior images of the william d. gates retirement home (1927), located in crystal lake, ills. gates was the founder and president of the american terra cotta and ceramics company, establishjed in 1887. early 20th century terra cotta and tile fabricated by gates's company located nearby, is scattered all around the estate. i immediately identified a few polychromatic fragments...

exterior images of william le baron jenney’s romanesque style church of the redeemer (1886). the ornamental unglazed terra cotta was fabricated by the northwestern terra cotta works, chicago, ills. the richly colored stained glass windows were made by chicago-based mccully and miles. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023.