Urban Remains Chicago News and Events

William W. Winslow House: Date: 1893 Address: 515 Auvergne Place. River Forest, IL 60305 City: River Forest, IL Accessibility: Private Category: Residential Chauncey Williams House  Date: 1895 Address: 530 North Edgewood Place, River Forest, IL City: River Forest, IL Accessibility: Private Category: Residential Restoration Status: Dormers modified after 1900, enclosed porch added images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the...

the bldg. 51 museum and archive recently purchased a critical mass of early richard nickel prints, with the majority dating to the 1950s, when nickel was a student at the institute of design (ID). the body of work includes, but not limited to, adler and sullivan's auditorium building and subsequent restoration by crombie taylor, sullivan's bank buildings (includes work by...

demolition permit issued for bell avenue chicago 19th century brick workers cottage with completely intact bracketed pine wood cornice, lemont limestone keystones, and double arch attic window accentuated with fret-sawn spandrel. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, bldg. 51 archive, and chicago workers cottage association. all rights reserved. 2022.  the latest soon-to-be cottage casualty has inspired me to create a...

note: the following links represent only a fraction of work accomplished in 2022.  HENRY J. SCHLACKS ABADONED ST. MARTIN OF TOURS CHURCH (1895) IN NEED OF MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR HIGHLIGHTS AND RECENT AQUSISTIONS FROM BLDG. 51 COLLECTION 1880S FIVE-STORY COMMERICAL BUILDING WITH COMBINATION LEMONT AND BEDFORD LIMESTONE FACADE FACES WRECKING BALL CAREFULLY CURATED COLLECTION OF EARLY CHICAGO RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL...

claude and starck structures in baraboo, frank lloyd wright's a.d. german warehouse, and 19th century commerical buildings in la crosse, wisc. among the highlights of december 2022 road trip.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022

a demolition permit has been issued for the senseless eradication of an amazingly intact mid-1870's wood-framed chicago italianate style house located at 2240 n. burling. the two-story house retains the original dentiled wood cornice accentuated with oversized fret-sawn cornice brackets, window hoods with lightly incised keystones and clapboard siding.  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, bldg. 51 archive, and the...

a partial documentation of the "what richard nickel saw" exhibit on display at the driehaus museum. further information and images will be added when time permits.  exhibit photos: images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022.  further information:

latest photographic images from bldg. 51 archive's chicago architectural ornament survey (caos) are provided below. the ever-expanding photo-documentation project focuses on systematically recording any and all architectural ornament located on historically important 19th and early 20th century extant buildings located in downtown chicago and surrounding neighborhoods. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved...

recent photographic survey of claude and starck's prairie style public library located in tomah, wisc. completed in 1915, the two story low-hipped roof building features sullivanesque style ornament executed in carved limestone and painted staff. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022. 

the bldg. 51 museum recently acquired a historically important and well-documented original doorknob and window sash pull salvaged from the office of architectural firm adler and sullivan, located on the 16th floor of the auditorium  building (adler and sullivan, 1889) office tower. the stock pattern doorknob, known as the "salem" pattern, was executed by yale and towne and retains most...

two amazingly intact and exceptionally rare early electric product catalogs were recently acquired by the bldg. 51 museum archive. the 1892 chicago electric light and power supply product catalog is especially interesting, showcasing a wide range of incandscent light bulbs for use in early skyscrapers. selected images from both books provided below. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the...

recent photographic survey of claude and starck’s island woolen company office building (1917) located in baraboo, wisc. the prairie style office building was built in 1917 and housed offices for the island woolen company. mcfetridge the owner of the company, who had worked with and consulted with frank lloyd wright, contributed to the design and finish of the building. the mill...

View this email in your browser Urban Remains has been dealing exclusively in the reclamation and recycling of American antique architectural artifacts and other oddities found among commercial and industrial buildings or residential structures for over the past 20 years. FROM OUR BLOG the schiller building explore our gallery of images which offer a glimpse at any and all artifacts and...

"to the tower." original hardbound tribune tower building (howells and hood, 1925) dedication book with illustrations and floorplan. images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the building 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022. 

partially completed exterior photogrpahic survey and/or study of louis h. sullivan's trinity orthodox cathedral (1903). additional images of the exterior and visual survey of interior will follow in subsequent posts. the founders of the church were immigrants from carpathian rus', galicia, and the balkans. it remains one of only two orthodox churches servicing the orthodox-christian community in ukrainian village. construction...

photographic study of louis h. sullivan-designed white speckle glazed terra cotta ornament adorning the bayard building. the 13-story new york city skyscraper was completed in 1899, with louis h. sullivan and lyndon p. smith as architects. the perth amboy terra cotta company used their own modeler (anlgelo ricci) to execute the building's terra cotta facade. since kristian schneider wasn't allowed...

the following images were taken from an aftertoon documenting 19th and early 20th century architectural buildings and ornament in milwaukee in early fall, 2022. highlighted structures recorded include northwestern mutual life insurance company building (1886), ambassador hotel (1928), cream city brick commericial/warehouse facades, and kalvelage mansion exterior (1890).  images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all...

the post-fire edward k. rogers commercial block, designed in 1872 by architect wm. w. boyington, is perhaps the only extant chciago building that showcases widespread use of ornamental "gray body" terra cotta on its facade. the custom-designed ornament was executed by the chicago terra cotta company, which was founded in 1866, but did not begin operations in chicago until 1868...

general electric building (cross and cross, 1931): chanin building, sloan and robertson (1929): chrysler building (william van alen 1930): graybar building (sloan and robertson, 1927): images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2022. 

the following image gallery offers a glimpse at the latest american architectural artifacts added to the ever-expanding urban remains virtual catalog (over 75,000 items digitized/cataloged over the past 16 years). the newly acquired items for the month of november, 2022, have been documented, cleaned/refinished (if need be) and photographed prior to being added to their respective website categories. any and all cataloged...