[Chicago] Tribune Building

[magid]

Thursday evening I returned to the Chicago Tribune building. I'd seen it on a walkabout downtown years ago, and wanted a list of all the rocks in the building. Yes, rocks. Well, mostly rocks. One of the early owners of the Tribune had reporters bring back pieces of rock from significant places, and they've been incorporated into the building, on the first floor of the exterior.

I walked around the three sides from south to north; this list is in approximate order (sometimes there was one above another, and I wasn't dogmatic about vertical direction). This is what was engraved into the building (or occasionally on plaques); the information is far from consistent (and not always current). [My comments in brackets; horizontal rules to break between sides of the building.]

1. Revolutionary Battlefield, Princeton, New Jersy
   
2. New Jersey, Washington's Landing after Crossing the Delaware River
   
3. Reims Cathedral, Reims, France
   
4. Revolutionary Battlefield, Trenton, New Jersey
   
5. House in Leyden, Holland, Used by the Pilgrims as a Church Before Their Voyage on the Mayflower to America
   
6. Mount Pentelicus Quarry, Marble Used in Parthenon, 447 BC
   
7. Fortress Walls, Cartagena, Colombia
   
8. Butter Tower Cathedral of Notre Dame, Rouen, France
   
9. Mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent, 1557, Istanbul, Turkey
   
10. World Trade Center, 2001, New York [This was a sinuously curved piece of metal, which would have been a beautiful shape had it not had such a sad history.]
    
11. Fortress Ehrenbreitstein, Rhineland
    
12. Bridge, Forbidden City, Peking [It seemed like a lot of the Asian pieces were more generic representations of 'exotic' place than specific buildings. I don't know whether this was a function of the time they were collected, or a lack of knowledge, or what.]
    
13. Santo Domingo Monastery and Church, Panama City
    
14. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1973 [The NSW seemed incongruous, given the lack of detail in other descriptions. Though it's obviously later...]
    
15. St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, Austria
    
16. Original Tomb of Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois, Completed 1874, Razed 1901
    
17. Japanese Shrine, Tokyo
    
18. Roman Ruins, 455 BC, Leptis Magna, Libya
    

    ---

    
    
19. The Alamo, Texas
    
20. Trondheim Cathedral, Norway
    
21. Luther's Wartburg, Eisenach, Germany
    
22. Great Wall, China
    
23. Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany
    
24. Taj Mahal, Agra, India
    
25. Hamlet's Castle, Elsinore, Denmark [Wasn't this a place Shakespeare made up?]
    
26. Massachusetts Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge [A bit of home, sort of. Apparently it doesn't need a state in the address, since everyone knows where Harvard is. *snerk*]
    
27. Byron's Chillon, Chillon, Switzerland
    
28. Westminster Abbey [And everyone knows where this is, apparently...]
    
29. Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland
    
30. Stone Cannonball, Pevensey Castle, England [This was a whole cannonball, put into a niche. "Pevensey" is also used as the last name of some kids in a YA series; maybe The Dark Is Rising?]
    
31. Wawel Castle, Poland
    
32. Royal Castle, Stockholm, Sweden
    
33. Cologne Cathedral, Germany
    
34. Fort San Antonio, Abad Manita [No clue about that last bit.]
    
35. Parthenon
    
36. Cologne Cathedral, Germany [OK, the first letter was well nigh unreadable, but what else would it be? Even though there's another piece from it nearby.]
    
37. Lunar Sample [This was in a glassed-in case, with posters and photos and a repeating video link; I didn't stay to watch because my fingers were getting extremely cold. I found out that it can't be incorporated into the building because all lunar rocks are property of NASA, so this one is just 'on loan' (and has been for years and years).]
    
38. Santa Lucia Barracks, Manila
    
39. David's Tower, Jerusalem
    
40. Fort Santiago, Manila
    
41. Notre Dame, Paris
    
42. Ancient Temple, Honan Province, China
    
43. Old General Post Office, Dublin
    
44. Winter Palace, Peking
    
45. Santa Sophia, Constantinople, Turkey [I'm amused that it's both Constantinople and Istanbul.]
    
46. Temple, Forbidden City, Peking
    
47. Arch of Triumph, Paris, France
    
48. Roof tile, Roman Ruins, Birecik, Turkey
    
49. Temple, Forbidden City, Peking
    
50. Mont Sec Memorial, St. Mihiel, France
    
51. Flodden Field, Scotch-English Battle, 1513, Northumberland, England
    
52. Tower of Tears, 1482, Amsterdam
    
53. Swedish Viking Monument [This was another full stone, set on a pedestal, with a rather long plaque describing how stone age locals had made this (rounded stone) monuments to put on the graves of heroes.]
    
54. Christ Church, Philadelphia
    
55. Clementine Hall, Pope's Residence [Sudden image of a huge building filled with citrus...]
    
56. Powder Tower, Riga, Latvia
    
57. Lincoln Home, Springfield, Illinois
    
58. Beaumaris Castle, Wales, AD 1295 [No clue why this particular date needed "anno domini" when the others didn't.]
    
59. Union Stock Yards Gate, Chicago
    
60. Fort Sumter, South Carolina
    
61. Tainitzkaya Tower, Kremlin, Moscow
    
62. Bunker Hill, Massachusetts
    
63. World's Columbian Exposition, AD 1893, Illinois [Ditto on the date. This was a piece from the World's Fair (which had 'World's Fair' written on it.]
    
64. Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida
    
65. Birthplace of Col. Robert R. McCormick, 750 E. Ontario St., Chicago, July 30, 1880 (brick from doorway) [The owner who got all these collected, among other things. A bit hubristic, putting himself on par with Lincoln... though I suppose it's understandable. This was all on a plaque, btw.]
    
66. Douglas Hall, Old University of Chicago, 1856, Illinios
    
67. Mt. McKinley, Denali Park, Alaska
    
68. St. John's Church, Richmond, Virginia, Where Patrick Henry said "Give me liberty or give me death" [Another plaque. I don't know why this one rated so much more information.]
    
69. White House, Removed from Inner Wall of White House During Reconstruction, 1950 [So careful to say no one cut a bit off the place without permission. Which of course raises the issue of all the other pieces' provenances. I doubt that they were all above board in how they were gathered.]
    
70. Minnesota, Site of Kensington Rune Stone
    
71. Stabian Baths, Pompeii, Italy
    
72. Colosseum, Rome, AD 82
    
73. Bad Lands, South Dakota
    
74. Monastery of St. Michael, 1108, Kiev, Ukraine
    
75. Holy Door, St. Peter's, Rome
    
76. Ta Prohm, Angkor, Cambodia
    
77. Banteay Siei Hindu Temple, Cambodia [This one and the previous one were put on one stone together.]
    
78. Great Wall, China, Shanghai, Keevn (?) [I couldn't figure out that last word; that's what it looked like to me.]
    
79. Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt, 2600 BC [This is the one stone from Africa, and culturally, the area was always been more a part of the Mediterranean basin than connected to the rest of Africa. As usual, Africa gets short shrift.]
    
80. House of Parliament, London, England
    
81. Dome of St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome, Italy
    

    ---

    
    
82. New York, Fort Ticonderoga
    
83. Indiana, William Henry Harrison Mansion
    
84. Missouri, Mark Twain's "Injun Joe" Cave
    
85. Kentucky, Mammoth Cave
    
86. Pennsylvania, Independence Hall
    
87. Walls of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Held Against James II in 1689
    
88. New Jersey, Princeton University
    
89. Nebraska, Chimney Rock
    
90. North Dakota, International Peace Garden
    
91. Antarctica, US Navy Expedition, 1947
    
92. Kansas, John Brown's Cabin
    
93. Iowa, Marquette and Joliet Landing, Louisa County, 1673
    
94. Rhode Island, Gaspee Point - British Schooner Gaspee Burned 1772
    
95. Delaware, Old Swedes Church, 1698
    
96. North Carolina, Roanoke Island, Sir Walter Raleigh Colony
    
97. Virginia, Battle of Yorktown, Nelson House
    
98. Wisconsin, Prairie Du Chien, Old Fur Trading Post
    
99. Connecticut, Yale University
    
100. Ancient Town Hall, Stockholm, Sweden
     
101. New Hampshire, Fort William and Mary
     
102. Sibyl's Cave, Cumae, Naples [It seems so inconguous, in the midst of all these US state things that are so much younger.]
     
103. West Virginia, John Brown's Fort, Harper's Ferry [So, that's two for John Brown, and two for Abraham Lincoln...]
     
104. Vermont, Chimney Point - site of Discovery of Lake Camplain
     
105. Georgia, Andersonville Prison
     
106. Montana, Custer Battlefield
     
107. Maryland, Fort McHenry
     
108. Louisiana, Battle of New Orleans [My ignorance is showing: which was was this?]
     
109. Tennessee, Cumberland Gap
     
110. Stone from Peira, Arabia (?) [Again, not sure about that last word.]
     
111. Mississippi, Shirley House, Siege of Vicksburg
     
112. Michigan, Fort Brady, Seult Ste. Marie
     
113. Alabama, Tawasa Indian Town, Visited by DeSoto
     
114. Maine, Elijah Lovejoy Homestead
     
115. Ohio, Battle of Lake Erie, Put-in-Bay
     
116. Ancient Gate, Suwon, Korea
     
117. Arkansas, Site Where DeSoto Landed [OK, two for DeSoto, too.]
     
118. Remagen Bridge, Germany
     
119. St. Lo Town Hall, France
     
120. Omaha Beach, Normandy [Except that there didn't seem to be any stone with this listing. I wonder if it got lost, or they'd planned for a stone never collected, or what. I suppose someone might have taken it, but it would take a fair bit of work to prise it out of the wall.]
     
121. Aachen City Hall, Germany
     
122. Medieval Portal, Aachen, Germany
     
123. City Palace, Potsdam, Germany, 1669
     
124. Mt. Taptochau, Saipan, Marianas Islands
     
125. Bloody Nose Ridge, Peleliu, Caroline Islands
     
126. Seminaire de Quebec, 1678, Quebec City, Canada
     
127. Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands [Gathered before it became a state, I suppose.]
     
128. Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
     
129. Orote Peninsula, Guam
     
130. Luxemburg Palace, Paris
     
131. Anzio Beach, Italy
     
132. California, Petrified Redwood Forest
     
133. House of Commons, England
     
134. Oregon, Lewis and Clark's Fort Clatsop
     
135. Golden Castle, Osaka, Japan
     
136. Mosaic Hall, Reichschagellery, Berlin
     
137. Washington, Mt. Rainier
     
138. Santa Maria Island, Azores, Columbus Landed, 1493
     
139. Corregidor, Philippine Islands [So many of the Oceania places are battle sites, not about arts or culture. So misleading.]
     
140. Hans Christian Andersen Home, Odense, Denmark
     
141. Nevada, Reno Courthouse
     
142. Utah, Mormon Temple, Salt Lake City
     
143. Idaho, Craters of the Moon National Monument
     
144. Wyoming, Yellowstone Park [Taken before it was a national park?]
     
145. Arizona, Petrified Forest
     
146. New Mexico, Aztec Ruins
     
147. Colorado, Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings
     
148. Miraflores Locks, 1913, Panama Canal
     
149. Oklahoma, Boston Avenue Church, First with Modern Architecture

I could imagine an adult ed class discussing the significance of these sites, ordered chronologically, geographically, or following the order on the building, just to keep things mixed up (though with less context, perhaps).

Comments

[rethought.livejournal.com]

Just in case anyone wants to see a sample of what you're talking about, have these:





I would definitely take that class.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

The quarry one was one of the few I actually touched, so smooth. Later on as it got colder, I wanted to hurry through, and not touch anything cold! (It was a cold, dark, windy night, and the day had been warm enough that I hadn't brought a hat, and wore sneakers (not workboots) without leggings; I was a bit worried about my fingers at the end, and walking after essentially standing for so long felt a bit strange).

class

[magid.livejournal.com]

It's not at all the same thing, but I've put in some Wikipedia links...

[ckd]

108 would be the War of 1812; the battle is famous for taking place after the peace treaty was signed, but before the news made it back.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thank you. That must've managed to be mentioned when I wasn't paying attention (or maybe all the MA-centric stuff meant that it didn't get mentioned). How horrible for those killed so pointlessly (and their families).

Your description makes me think of Juneteenth, btw.

[gothtique.livejournal.com]

Oohh.... next trip to chicago I will have to go see it.
I know the building, but never really knew about the stones.
Cool!

[magid.livejournal.com]

*grin*

The first time I saw them, I was walking with a local person who'd never noticed them before, either.

[gingicat]

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie. :)

[magid.livejournal.com]

D'oh! Of course!