Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

i have tens of thousands of images taken from dig sites across the city of chicago. sadly, only a few hundred have been edited and added to blog posts over the years. the "unearthing chicago" book will remain in suspended animation until the day i sit down and begin pulling all of the data together. revisiting the documentation of digs...

by eric j. nordstrom & ornament chicago very little remains of south side masonic temple (1921). a few riveted joint steel trusses and columns, partially covered with chunks of dangling concrete, will be pulled apart with the wrecker's long reach excavator this week.  remnants of a grand hall bedecked with ornamental plaster (e.g., fluted pilasters) cling to life on the...

i finally had time to shoot these two artifacts unearthed from a downtown chicago dump a while back. the 1860's hutchinson "ring top" bottle was found 15 feet below grade. the single-sided porcelain enameled depression era chicago sign, dug from the same location, was found around 5 feet below grade.  i kills me that more wasn't recovered from this site...

i've devoted a few hours nearly every evening (beginning in late fall) digitizing the archives of both john vinci and tim samuelson as a countermeasure to battle the onset of burnout from non-stop documentation of architectural ornament adorning historically important buildings across the city. viewing chicago's past through artifacts, photographs, and thousands of ektachrome slides is a new and refreshing...

by eric j. nordstrom and ornament chicago built as the bethel norwegian danish methodist episcopal church in 1905, the ingleside community church of the nazarene was demolished this week by heneghan wrecking. through a collective effort yesterday afternoon, the dated bedford limestone cornerstone and diminutive lithographed tin time capsule were carefully extracted and handed over to the existing owners –...

  the following images are part of my ongoing efforts to digitize what i've dubbed "the john vinci artifact and photographic archive." given my limited bandwidth, i'm posting images now with the hopes of returning to fill in badly needed contextual information to offer greater insight and/or interpretation of people, events, and buildings.  richard nickel salvaging terra cotta ornament from garrick theater...

by eric j. nordstrom and ornament chicago images of the south side masonic temple building (1921) taken this morning. a single bedford limestone fluted column with ionic capital remains standing.  the majority of clarence hatzfeld's ornament is on the ground in ruin or buried in a landfill.  i'm beginning to seriously doubt whether i will live to see (i'm 40...

the former humboldt garage & auto service company building (1911) had a walk-in vault. shortly before that section of the building was demolished, the wreckers managed to open the door, where they discovered several ledgers, signs, salesman samples, blueprints, and other odds and ends left behind by the carbit paint company - the earliest checks date to 1938. courtesy of...

by eric j. nordstrom & ornament chicago with all the wrecking machines working in unison now, the south side masonic temple's east and north facades are fading fast. thankfully, some ornament has been carefully removed and awaits a new home - wherever that may be. sadly, the gargantuan columns and capitals wrapping around the building are being pulverized as they fall...

by eric j. nordstrom & ornament chicago ongoing destruction of the south side masonic temple (1921) has greatly disfigured the building.  it's mesmerizing to watch the wrecking ball repeatedly being dropped on the indiana limestone along the north facade, while at the same, bearing witness to the highreach twisting and turning of the building's steel skeleton.  with the exception of...

the 3-story 1910 chicago machinery exchange warehouse - designed by d.h. burnham & company - will be demolished in the coming weeks. the warehouse with basement (100x200) is located at 1217 w. washington blvd. at first i thought the ornament, including the eagles were comprised of terra cotta or possibly limestone. after closer inspection, any and all of the red-painted...

the following gallery offers a glimpse at the most recent american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or miscellaneous objects added to our ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 35,000 catalog listings to date). the newly acquired items have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective urban remains website categories.

by eric j. nordstrom and ornament chicago here are the latest images from clarence hatzfeld's south side masonic temple demolition. the high reach hasn't been brought to life yet, but the ball has been swinging against the northeast corner of the building. not sure if the three-sided fluted limestone columns and capitals are going to be saved. the face brick...

after spending nearly a year researching and documenting the restoration of l.h. sullivan's gage building (1899) terra cotta exterior, i began looking through and scanning any and all images of the visually stunning ornamental cast iron storefront executed by the winslow brothers foundry, chicago, ills. it sickens me each and every time i hear the story about how the entire...

between 1881 and 1895 louis henry sullivan and engineer dankmar adler designed a series of office towers, including the chicago stock exchange building (extant from 1894 to 1972), their largest building and perhaps most important commission. noteworthy for the firm's inspired solution to the newly arisen issue of an appropriate form for the "tall building," it was replete with some...

by eric j. nordstrom and ornament chicago i finally made time to edit more images of chicago's south side masonic temple (1921) demolition. the six-story structural steel and reinforced concrete frame structure with red face brick and carved bedford limestone facade was designed by chicago architect clarence hatzfeld at a cost of $300,000.  New York Stadler Photo Co. Chicago  ...

three sections of cove molding were salvaged from albert sullivan's residence (1891) shortly before or during the house was deconstructed/demolished in 1970 (portions of the facade were removed by richard nickel and his brother donald for southern illinois university with the hope that the facade would someday be reconstructed). interior ornament was salvaged by nickel, john vinci, and robert furhoff. ...

by eric j. nordstrom and ornament chicago the south side masonic temple (1921) is presently under demolition.  it has been less than six months since I documented the demolition of the logan square masonic temple, also by clarence hatzfeld, architect, and more can be read about his prolific career and special emphasis on masonic temples in that post driving to englewood...

the humboldt garage & auto service company building, erected in 1911 by f.w. ries, is undergoing demolition. i'm sure i will be back to document its final moments.

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired architectural artifacts (including an original early 20th century watercolor rendering that hung in the lobby) from the historically important columbus memorial building (boyington, 1893) and its neighbor, the venetian building (holabird & roche, 1892), which happened to share a boiler system with "the columbus" as it was originally known. the two buildings built within...