The lakefront limestone at Promontory Point and Morgan Shoal in Chicago’s South Shore is covered in hundreds of amateur creations. However, few residents knew that their shoreline was home to another set of artistic limestone carvings. The shoreline barrier guarding the Sawyer Water Purification Plant is home to several carvings from the demolished Walker Warehouse, a building designed by famed architect Louis Sullivan.

Historical Significance

The Walker Warehouse was located at 200 Market St. and was demolished in 1953 to extend Wacker Drive. The building’s ornamentation showcased Sullivan’s philosophy of introducing nature into architecture. The warehouse’s demolition was a loss, and it is considered a reminder of how much architectural history Chicago has lost to demolition.

Massive impost blocks, which are remnants of the demolished Walker Warehouse, are early examples of Sullivan’s work. The Bedford limestone ornaments, which date to 1889, have been hidden among the rubble that serves as the Sawyer plant’s lakefront revetment since the warehouse’s demolition. Eric Nordstrom, the owner of Urban Remains, began photographing and documenting the remnants in summer 2025.

Preservation Efforts

Awareness of the artifacts largely stayed within a circle of historians and architecture buffs in the years that followed. Nordstrom’s work to catalog the warehouse is nice, but documentation pales in comparison to saving the buildings that future generations can use. The discovery of Walker Warehouse remnants is a disappointing reminder of how much architectural history Chicago has lost to demolition.

Preservationists noted the ongoing battle to save another Adler and Sullivan artifact — the full trading room of the demolished Chicago Stock Exchange. The trading room, carefully deconstructed and reinstalled between the stock exchange’s demolition in 1972 and 1977, could be moved or removed as the Art Institute plans an expansion.

Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.