Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

Antique American Architectural Artifacts

  1. detailed photographic analysis of congress theater's interior and exterior surfaces, part one

    detailed photographic analysis of congress theater's interior and exterior surfaces, part one
    up close and personal: a photographic study of congress theater's diverse, richly detailed, and nicely weathered surfaces, part one.
  2. senseless mutilation of michael reese hospital's cornerstone represented by single fragment

    senseless mutilation of michael reese hospital's cornerstone represented by single fragment
    having recently unearthed a time capsule from the cornerstone of the holy bethel church at adams and damen, my attention wandered to other cornerstones in the bldg. 51 collection, and in particular, the fragment of the cornerstone pictured on the cover of the building 51 catalog (published just last year). this fragment, on the face of the first bldg. 51...
  3. demolition imminent for historic post-fire 1874 row house faced with "athens marble"

    demolition imminent for historic post-fire 1874 row house faced with "athens marble"
    this post concerns an entire city block, containing a collection of historically significant post-fire "athens marble" italianate style rowhouses. each has witnessed fires, neglect, utter abandonment, and demolition since the houses were completed in 1874. in these rather depressing "ruins," i could only catch a glimpse of the street's former self.         the present day block is pocked...
  4. 19th century building parts and bottles unearthed during excavation near the m. schultz piano factory (1889)

    19th century building parts and bottles unearthed during excavation near the m. schultz piano factory (1889)
    an excavation site just west of the m. schultz company piano factory and showroom (erected in 1889) yielded several artifacts spanning several decades. the earliest identifiable object was a small dark amber glass fragment with an embossed letter that once belonged to a quart-sized william h. hutchinson ale bottle hand-blown by the william mccully company (pittsburgh, pa.) sometime during the...
  5. photographic study of congress theater's lobby victor pearlman chandeliers

    photographic study of congress theater's lobby victor pearlman chandeliers
    the following photographic images (taken over a course of three months) provide a highly detailed visual record of the two matching fully functional extant interior congress theater lobby cast brass and wrought ornamental chandeliers. remarkably, the gargantuan "electric candle" ceiling fixtures with dual-colored art cathedral glass globes and wheel-cut yellow "flash" glass haven't been altered since the time of installation in august...
  6. pile of 19th century "pictorial" hutchinson bottles discovered behind ace on ashland

    pile of 19th century "pictorial" hutchinson bottles discovered behind ace on ashland
        long after the hodgepodge of 19th and 20th century buildings forming the ace hardware on ashland were demolished last year, excavation work finally began. multiple machines dug deep below grade in preparation for the foundation work of a new development, and just a few days later i was summoned to the site when a machine operator stumbled upon a massive...
  7. a look back from the beginning of 2017

    a look back from the beginning of 2017
    looking over the work i've managed to post, coupled with a seemingly endless list of unpublished "drafts" for 2017 alone, i'm increasingly convinced i'm a good candidate for karoshi. it looks like a sabbatical is on the horizon...     
  8. bldg. 51 museum secures historically important c. 1908 henry babson house leaded glass windows

    bldg. 51 museum secures historically important c. 1908 henry babson house leaded glass windows
    a pair of leaded glass windows original to the henry babson house (salvaged before its demolition in 1960) were purchased for the bldg. 51 museum this month. since i only aimed to acquire a single window for the museum, the counterpart made its way to cultural historian and friend tim samuelson. aside from gifting the window to tim, i got...
  9. ten images of chicago through its exterior architectural ornament

    ten images of chicago through its exterior architectural ornament
    until the time comes when i'm slammed documenting the death of buildings, i've thoroughly enjoyed looking at the city's 19th and early 20th century architecture through my camera's zoom lens. i've taken several thousand images that i hope to make into an exhaustive photographic study of the city's architectural ornament up close and personal - where the naked eye cannot...
  10. uncovering the 1920's boot of a theater tradesman in the congress theater attic

    uncovering the 1920's boot of a theater tradesman in the congress theater attic
    discovering the remnants of bygone tradesmen in a building seems akin to finding the proverbial “needle in the haystack.” it takes patience and sufficient lighting as much as luck to pinpoint objects left undisturbed for many decades. it is all the more gratifying to uncover these rare treasures, largely hidden by an accumulation of dust. as exploration of the congress...
  11. bldg. 51 museum acquires heller house cast plaster capitals executed by richard bock

    bldg. 51 museum acquires heller house cast plaster capitals executed by richard bock
    the isidore h. heller house was designed by architect frank lloyd wright and its design is credited as one of the turning points in wright's shift to geometric, prairie school architecture, which is defined by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, and an integration with the landscape, which is meant to...
  12. 1880's bissel street mansion interior salvage gets underway

    1880's bissel street mansion interior salvage gets underway
    research continues on a marvelous brick mansion that is in the process of being converted into a pre-school. the structure envelops two city lots, and appears to have been built around 1887.     to accommodate the needs of the developers and satisfy building codes, the interior has been subject to alteration. unfortunately this means the original hand-carved oak staircase...
  13. plethora of architectural and industrial artifacts or objects added to urban remains' virtual catalog

    plethora of architectural and industrial artifacts or objects added to urban remains' virtual catalog
    a wide array of american architectural, medical, and industrial artifacts and/or objects have been steadily added to the massive urban remains virtual catalog for a few weeks now. with the completion of a gold coast mansion salvage earlier this week, we have been working long hours to document, clean and photograph several exceptional interior elements that will be highlighted in a...
  14. an intimate look at detroit's lost mayan revival style fisher theater through newly discovered photographs

    an intimate look at detroit's lost mayan revival style fisher theater through newly discovered photographs
    in a previous blog entry i focused on a highly unusual depression-era mayan revival fisher theater seat end - one of several non-chicago based artifacts housed in the bldg. 51 museum collection catalog. the richly colored all original theater seat end reflects late 1920's exotic movie palace architecture in the mid-west, and as an object designed for chicago architects anker graven and...
  15. update: 1870's post-fire italianate style superior street residence saved in downtown chicago

    update: 1870's post-fire italianate style superior street residence saved in downtown chicago
    detail of built-up molding on pine wood exterior door. the entry and any and all images first published on may 26th, 2016. 1886 sanborn insurance map with red arrow indicating location of the superior street italianate. note: the extant coach house wasn't built yet.           th when last year, i read dnainfo's story on the...
  16. boxes of 19th and early 20th century builders' hardware rediscovered

    boxes of 19th and early 20th century builders' hardware rediscovered
    while looking for a hopkins and dickenson doorknob the other day, i ran across several boxes of "personal collection" 19th century builders' hardware i've had stowed away for years. when i pull the lid from the first container, i immediately recognized doorknobs from the william k. vanderbilt mansion (known as the "eagle's nest) and rare bronze doorknobs from louis h...
  17. original creosoted wood-block chicago city street pavers recently unearthed

    original creosoted wood-block chicago city street pavers recently unearthed
    when companies are contracted by the city to demolish and replace structurally unsound vaulted sidewalks, their saw-cutting methods typically go beyond the curb and well into the street. the work continues with subsequent digging in and around the street, involving the removal of several inches of asphalt followed by older concrete and finally, well-preserved 19th or early 20th century fired...
  18. a closer look at a controversial old town "rotted" post fire 19th century workers cottage

    a closer look at a controversial old town "rotted" post fire 19th century workers cottage
    the studs and sheathing along the north wall are severely compromised and will need to be replaced. with the exception of the facade, the cottage's framing will no doubt be largely replaced, including the interlocking sill plates. additionally, i would be curious to know if any of the original interior millwork (e.g., casings, doors, staircase newel and spindles) was...
  19. art moderne house outfitted with depession-era "after sunset" machine age fixtures now available

    art moderne house outfitted with depession-era "after sunset" machine age fixtures now available
    several "after sunset" fixtures were removed from an art modern house undergoing renovations late last week. the american art deco depression era fixtures were designed and fabricated by or for the lightolier corp., jeannette, pennsylvania. the super streamlined machine age electric fixtures are comprised largely of yellow brass with highly polished chrome-plated finishes. the futuristic or "jetsonesque" fixtures contain maroon enameled...
  20. systematic deconstruction of 850 lakeshore drive athletic club's grand interior lobby

    systematic deconstruction of 850 lakeshore drive athletic club's grand interior lobby
    there really is no beginning or end to the surreal story of my crew and i being paid to completely deconstruct the historically important and visually stunning main lobby of the "850 lsd" or the lakeshore drive athletic club building. we were hired on to extract a collection of ornamentation that would later be reintegrated, after the building was gutted and subsequently renovated. at the...

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