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Larry Shure

@ultralocal1.bsky.social

530 followers 710 following 42 posts

Preservation planner and architectural historian in support of public transit. Weekend artist.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Nov 26

Some cottages of Chicago. Still one of my favorite series!

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · 6d

Scully Storage and Transfer Building over the years... 8105-8107 Skokie Highway. Rendering from irm-cta.org/NSL/Highball...

Rendering of a 1930 Skokie storage building, a Google photo from 2018 showing the same building worse for wear, and a 2025 Google photo showing the demolition site.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · 12d

Some 1960s Chicago townhouses. Top to bottom: Pei & Weese (1969), Anderson & Battles (1967), Keck & Keck (1969), Tigerman & Koglin (1964).

Color digital illustrations of four Chicago townhouses. Late modernist. Kinda angular. Originally published in the Ultra Local Geography Blog in 2019.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · 21d

Pen drawings of Chicago substation stone details. Left is at 2950 E. 80th, and right is at 6910 N. Glenwood (now the Lifeline Theater).

Pointillist pen drawing of a Chicago electrical substation stone panel depicting a lightbulb with emanating rays.

Pointillist pen drawing of a Chicago electrical substation stone panel depicting four lightbulbs within a geometric grid, each emanating rays.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · 23d

This 1977 CTA publicity shot may not have made Chicago transit look as welcoming as intended...

Chicago commuters waiting under a bus shelter at the Grand and Central overpass in 1977.

Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Sep 7

Some mid-century homes in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood rendered in watercolor and ink.

Watercolor illustration of a small home.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Mar 21

No.

Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Mar 20

Mid-century housing in Chicago's Rogers Park and West Ridge neighborhoods. Watercolor and pen. #chiarchitecture

Watercolor paintings of multi-family housing in Chicago's Rogers Park and West Ridge neighborhoods along N. Ridge Blvd.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Mar 17

I think your theory is a good one, but I can’t identify the architect/developer. These were first advertised along with a few others in the late 60s and early 70s. The most similar one remains at 856 W. Lill. A few others look like they were replaced or altered.

Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Mar 16

Looks like an inexpensive version of the fortress townhouse! What street?

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Jan 11

If you see this, post something orange.

Reposted by Larry Shure

Deigo @yodiegoyo.bsky.social · Jan 9

North Pulaski Fresh Market
3850 W North Ave
Chicago

An oil painting of the side of a grocery store. The words Pulaski Market hang above a row of windows filled with advertisements for aguacate, queso, and corn chips. The front of a red pick is visible along the curb, and a man in an orange shirt stands on the roof of the entrance, doing some work on the building.

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Reposted by Larry Shure

Kathleen Conti @kathleenconti.bsky.social · Jan 9

Creating a Historic Preservation starterpack! Comment or DM to be added, or let me know if I missed anyone.

go.bsky.app/D9w1NYJ

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Jan 5

I’m always reserving space at our library. Something about working in one of those fishbowl rooms keeps me honest.

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Reposted by Larry Shure

meg @siteations.bsky.social · Dec 22

Alright, finally making the leap... (pic to test/send holiday wishes.)

'warm wishes' written in the corner of a blue & white linework pattern of snow-day gear: puffy coats, sleds, hats, mittens, boots, hockey pads, ski's, coffee, bonfires, snowflakes, etc.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 20

The National Register nomination is basically 3 pages long! And zero historic images. Ah, the 1980s…

Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 20

That’s a great idea! Although it seems to me the Kleenex should always be coming out of a chimney.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 19

I just named a file "reversed floor plan probably not going to work out.psd." I guess I'm ready for the holiday break...

Partial elevation of the Forest Park Terminal in grey tones.

Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 16

CTA's "Aerial Galleria" considered in their 1974 Chicago Central Area Transit Plan. irm-cta.org/Documentatio...

Black and white rendering of a conceptual design to replace the Loop 'L' tracks with new tracks and structure combined with a partially enclosed pedestrian mall.

Architectural section drawing showing the configuration of the new tracks, stations, and pedestrian mall/mezzanine.

Reposted by Larry Shure

Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · Dec 16

Stumbled upon a streamline utopia in Riverside yesterday. All these plus a couple more within about a block of each other. Had there not been a depression/war to interrupt housing construction, perhaps we’d have whole neighborhoods of these all over.

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Reposted by Larry Shure

Places Journal @placesjournal.bsky.social · Dec 13

"No other publication is grappling with the future of our cities with the depth + ambition of Places. On behalf of the Arts & Culture Program at Columbia Journalism School, I urge you to support this valuable publication and bolster independent cultural journalism on the highest level."
—David Hajdu

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 13

Probably. It was an inexpensive way to make a building a bit more imposing. But very susceptible to deterioration, so I’m sure many were lost or removed.

Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 13

That’s a pretty unusual treatment in Chicago. There’s a similar false front at 1501 N. Milwaukee.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 13

Not best practice. I’m guessing this is roofing material run up the back of the parapet and over the coping. It likely traps even more water in the brick…They could have just flashed under the coping to a drip edge at the back.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 12

Some Georgians of West Ridge.

Georgian-style postwar homes in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago. Color and texture added digitally to ink drawings.

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Larry Shure @ultralocal1.bsky.social · Dec 11

Flatiron Buildings of Rogers Park, #3.

Aerial and perspective drawings of a triangular building in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood

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