Urban Remains

Urban Remains Historically Important Architectural Artifacts and Ephemera bldg. 51 museum and archive.

1930 chicago architectural photographing company image (scanned from from copy negative) of jenney and mundie's cental y...
05/29/2026

1930 chicago architectural photographing company image (scanned from from copy negative) of jenney and mundie's cental ymca association building (1893), located at 19 south lasalle street, chicago, il.
jenney and mundie's 12-story national life/equitable building (1902) is located to the south (foreground) at 29 south lasalle street.
vitzthum & burns's one north lasalle building (1930) in nearing completion.
courtesy of bld. 51 archive

exterior detail images of henry ives cobb's chicago athletic association building (1893), located at 12 south michigan a...
05/29/2026

exterior detail images of henry ives cobb's chicago athletic association building (1893), located at 12 south michigan avenue, chicago, il.

louis h. sullivan's gage building (1899) surpassed the height of athletic association building in 1902 with the addition of four stories.

aside from the removal of the two michigan sandstone balconies in the 1950s, the athletic building façade remains largely intact.

courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.

exterior terra cotta restoration well underway on graham, anderson, probst & white's 37-story pittsfield building (1927-...
05/28/2026

exterior terra cotta restoration well underway on graham, anderson, probst & white's 37-story pittsfield building (1927-28), located at 55 east washington street and schmidt, garden, and martin's montgomery ward tower building (1899), located at 6 north michigan avenue, chicago, il.

courtesy of bldg. 51 archive

powerful images of unforgiving work.richard nickel images of adler and sullivan's hammond library (1882-1883) undergoing...
05/28/2026

powerful images of unforgiving work.

richard nickel images of adler and sullivan's hammond library (1882-1883) undergoing demolition in august of 1963.
thankfully, most of the terra cotta ornament - executed by the northwestern terra cotta company - was saved and is now housed and/or displayed at lovejoy library.
a single smokestack with simple sandstone rondels remains standing against union park congregational church and carpenter chapel (1869).
courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive.

a few images (still digitizing the entire set) selected from an old binder containing a complete set of sequential photo...
05/28/2026

a few images (still digitizing the entire set) selected from an old binder containing a complete set of sequential photographs taken during the demolition of chicago's 1886 city hall and county building (designed in 1882 by architect james egan).

the images detailing demolition work and caisson excavation (w.j. newman was the wrecker and excavator) are especially interesting. signs were posted onsite to promote the sale of materials (e.g., stone, ironwork, wood, etc.).

the third image shows tongue and groove wood slats and metal hoops used to brace the shafts of hand dug caissons.

images courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.

november, 2020:demolition on the horizon. images from a visual record i made of the sprawling estate of h. earl hoover (...
05/27/2026

november, 2020:

demolition on the horizon.

images from a visual record i made of the sprawling estate of h. earl hoover (nephew of william h. hoover), who purchased the land in 1922 and commissioned architect william furst of armstrong, furst and tilton to design the tudor style mansion and outbuildings (e.g., stable, greenhouse, etc.) completed in 1925.
with the exception of the original brick pier or gate posts (accentuated with hand-carved bedford limestone full-figured panels and ball finials), the mansion, outbuildings and surrounding land will be cleared to make way for the “forest edge” subdivision, consisting of 27 houses built on the 10-acre site.
i was invited by the developer to evaluate the estate and identify both interior and exterior salvageable architectural features dating from the time the estate was built in 1925.
more on what i found, with descriptive analysis (e.g., materials, methods, finishes, fabricators, condition), will be included in a future blog post.

update: DESTROYED.

images courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive

rebuilt chicago in 1873.scanned pages (including cover and advertisements) from a recently found and exceptionally rare ...
05/27/2026

rebuilt chicago in 1873.
scanned pages (including cover and advertisements) from a recently found and exceptionally rare oversized hardbound book entitled "the merchants and manufacturers of chicago : being a complete history of our mercantile and manufacturing interests, and their progress since the fire : illustrated with upwards of one hundred fine wood engravings, printed with chas. eneu johnson & co.'s fine wood cut ink."
the profusely illustrated 245-page book was published by j.m. wing & company and printed by r.r. donnelley at lakeside press, chicago, il.
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive

undated snapshots (1975-76?) of frank lloyd wright home and studio (1889).courtesy of bldg. 51 archive
05/27/2026

undated snapshots (1975-76?) of frank lloyd wright home and studio (1889).
courtesy of bldg. 51 archive

original 1930s peter fish silver gelatin prints of anker s. graven's paramount pictures film exchange building (1930), l...
05/26/2026

original 1930s peter fish silver gelatin prints of anker s. graven's paramount pictures film exchange building (1930), located at 1306 south michigan avenue, chicago, il.

courtesy of bldg. 51 archive.

early silver gelatin reprint of holabird and roche's tacoma building (1889). the original image was taken by architectur...
05/26/2026

early silver gelatin reprint of holabird and roche's tacoma building (1889). the original image was taken by architectural photographer j.w. taylor. the building was demolished in 1929 to make way for one north lasalle.
image courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive.

the house with a "keyhole" window on washington blvd. exterior detail images of ornamental brownstone ornament on 19th c...
05/26/2026

the house with a "keyhole" window on washington blvd.

exterior detail images of ornamental brownstone ornament on 19th century three-story residence located at 2210 west washington blvd., chicago, il.

the house’s most distinctive feature is the “keyhole” window opening, which originally consisted of a large circular clear-glass pane with a beveled edge, surrounded by beveled glass segments joined by wood muntins.

thankfully, the original second story windows - a combination comprised of beveled edge leaded glass and side lights with blue cathedral glass border and centrally located oversized faceted jewels are largely intact.

haven't had time to research exact build date or architect, but the sandstone ornament does look edelmannesque.

captivated by the house, charles w. cushman photographed it in three kodachrome images during the winter of 1949.

images courtesy of bld. 51 archive and charles w. cushman photograph collection, university of indiana.

Address

1820 W Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL
60622

Telephone

+13124926254

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http://www.bldg51.com/

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