Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

in an alarming turn, a largely intact and well-maintained 19th century lincoln park wood-frame workers cottage was handed a death sentence on february 14th, 2017. if the cottage was built in 1864 as the custom plaque indicates (further research pending), then we are dealing with the loss of a pre-fire cottage. i will be moving my mountain of a schedule...

demolition of the former "mega mall" is nearly complete, with only a single story of the buick sales building (1921) still standing. the figural terra cotta ornament adorning the two entrances will be extracted in the next few days. the former two-story buick automobile showroom (buick sales building) was designed by notable chicago architect clarence hatzfeld, and built in 1921 by charles...

i was in desperate need of a "break" from staring at a computer screen for hours on end while editing a seemingly unending folder of images from a rapp & rapp's central park theater (1917) photographic study for an upcoming post. i decided to just get in my car and drive - making my way towards the nellie a. black hospital building (1932...

four historically important bldg. 51 museum artifacts rescued from chicago buildings demolition or ill-sighted alteration: extraordinarily rare and completely intact matching set of late nineteenth century ornamental cast brass electrolier sconces designed by louis h. sullivan for the c. 1894 chicago stock exchange building. the sconces were removed from the trading room and/or surrounding corridors around 1908 when the stock...

i've noticed more and more cold-rolled steel or iron porcelain enameled advertising signs being dug from both commercial and residential excavation sites across chicago over the past few months. nearly all of the signs unearthed are heavily corroded with the polychromed enameled finish faded, but intact enough to identify the product or service and approximate date the sign was fabricated...

for additional coverage and photos click image.

a sizable collection of all original illuminated interior wall-mount lobby bronze meta elevator "signal lanterns" or indicators were salvaged from the historically important, towering 38-story graham, anderson, probst, white-designed foreman-national bank building during a nearly completed overhaul of the "lasalle canyon" skyscraper's interior. the extant foreman state national bank building is composed of a 38-story central tower, flanked by two...

with "unearthing chicago" (a bldg. 51 publication) off to the printers, i'm eager to revisit a book project i've had on the back-burner for far too long. after nearly 5 years spent intermittently documenting the henry ives cobb-designed chicago athletic association building (1893), during its remarkable rebirth through a historically sensitive restoration, i feel obligated to finally put together a book...

most of the images, at least the ones taken with my zoom lenses, portray the perforated polychromatic terra cotta panel detail outlining the facade of rapp & rapp's mission revival style central park theater. the linear bands of cream and green-colored terra cotta crisscrossing the facade of the theater were configured with the dual purpose of being both decorative and...

a little over a month into the new year, the bldg. 51 museum has been busy acquiring and cataloging several historically important architectural fragments from chicago's past - salvaged from buildings demolished long ago. perhaps the most important acquisition is a rare cast aluminum elevator grille recovered from the non-extant isabella building, designed by architects william le baron jenney &...

the gargantuan painted pine wood arch top surround containing a centrally located "wheel" motif oculus window was successfully extracted from the milwaukee avenue motor sales company prior to the building's demolition last week. i was truly amazed that the entire segmented surround, divided by wood muntins, was not just intact, but free from any damaging alterations when it was completely...

a former early 20th century chicago nickelodeon sits across from the biograph theater, where notorious american gangster and bank robber john dillinger was gunned down in 1933. opened in 1912 as the lincoln theater (later renamed the fullerton theater in 1914), the limestone-fronted movie house underwent several changes very early on, including conversion into an automotive garage and machine shop...

Visit the following link to see local news coverage of urban remains and of eric's involvement in salvaging ornament from the logan square mega mall. CHICAGO -- When you’re racing against time, you can't take a break. Chicago's Eric Nordstrom has experienced that frustration as he rushes to document Chicago's archaeological history. The founder of Urban Remains is often trying...

chicago's demolition delay hold list for 2017 has its first target - a stunning "foursquare" style 1905 roman brick and carved stone mansion designed by frederick wainwright perkins. it has been home to the serbian american museum since 1952. the permit for its demolition was secured on january 23, 2017. after quickly reviewing google maps to catch a glance at the facade...

this stereoview captures both a chaotic and energized street scene deep within the former "burnt district" along lasalle street, less than 2 years after the great fire of 1871. the stereoview (which enhanced the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis, or binocular vision) was distributed by the photographic firm of lovejoy and foster, chicago, ills. on...

incredibly rare and highly sought after late 19th century leaded art glass skylight panels salvaged from the adler & sullivan chicago stock exchange during demolition in 1971-2. the art glass commission for the trading room skylight system was awarded to the prominent decorating firm of george louis healy & louis julian millet of chicago. the skylights had been sealed...

the bldg. 51 museum, comprised of fragments from chicago's past, continues to acquire historically important architectural artifacts from the non-extant granada theater, a once a grand movie palace constructed for the marks brothers in 1926. levy and klein were architects of this building, now lost to us except for photographs and scattered pieces. the plaster fragments, cove lighting fresnel lenses...