Substreet provides a nice history of the elevator including some of the explosions that this site has experienced.
I almost missed seeing it in the above photo. But turning the 3D satellite image 90 degrees confirms that it has what I believe is called a "marine unloader."
The area around these silos used to hold the
IC IMX Intermodal Yard and before that the
Chicago Produce Terminal.
There are some other really decrepit buildings in that area.
I thought this was a Santa Fe served facility. But this map indicates NS had a green "tentacle" that served it. So it was originally the Chicago Junction Railroad, which got bought by NYC, which NS got when Conrail was split between NS and CSX.
The 15-story grain silos, 2860 S. Damen Ave., have been useless since a 1977 explosion. They were built in 1906 by the Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, and they had capacity for 400,000 bushels of grain. [Justin Breen]
To put 400k bushels in perspective, they can now
construct a single steel bin that holds over a million bushels.
Bob Finan
posted two photos with the comment: "
Santa Fe Grain Elevator in Chicago on the Chicago River....."
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Regan Scott
posted six pictures with the comment:
I stopped by the Damen Silos since the gate was open and snapped a few photos. I mostly shot film but grabbed my dslr just before leaving to take some snapshots. I'll post some of the film photos when I have time to develop and scan them.
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David Barrera posted
Anybody have old pictures of the Damen Silos to share? This one was taken this year 2015.
Wayne Meredith I believe that was Continental Grain Co.'s grain elevators. Barges would load/unload grain to be milled for commercial bakeries and cereal co.'s.
[Was this the A House? I know the B House was on the Calumet River and C House was on Lake Calumet.]
Angie Frazzini Gazdziak Wasn't the most recent Transformers movie shot here? They used this area for scenes involving a factory in China.
Gabe Argenta Transformers 3 filmed at a similar place out in Gary.
Thomas E. Zimmerman Everyone uses it as a location. Fire, PD, Supernatural, Transformers, Boss, have all used it as a location over the last few years.
Gary Eckstein Is this them from a different angle? https://www.flickr.com/.../photolist-nM6NED-bxwvZi/lightbox/ |
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Wayne Allen Sallee commented on David's post
I have about 35 shots I took in July. They were grain silos and a massive fire in 1987 (or close to that) forced the city to stop using them. |
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Wayne Allen Sallee commented on David's post
TRANSFORMERS 3 was filmed here, and nothing is being demolished. One might think that because some smaller buildings are only frames. I'm probably the only one that doesn't mind the graffiti. At least it shows that people still visit the place. |
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Wayne Allen Sallee commented on David's post
From Angelo Romano's photo, you can keep walking south to 29th Place (which leads up to the interchange, and just step over RR tracks and through a fence. It is a huge area, almost an island. I spent an hour there. Zoom in on Google Earth for a decent view of the pathway (which is private property, but hey). |
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Tom Zurek commented on David's post
An image from when I was working at the Sun-Times plant.
Oct. 2010 |
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Tom Zurek commented on David's post
Something being filmed.
May 2011 |
Sep 16, 2023
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Chuck Dryden posted
IT IS NOT VANISHED AS OF YET, BUT THE DAMEN SILOS WILL BE GETTING TORN DOWN, IN THE PERMIT PROCESS BUT THERE IS A WRECKING CRANE JUST SITTING THERE WAITING wont be on Chicago PD any more
[The crane has a clamshell instead of a wrecking ball.] |
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John R Hoffman Jr commented on Chuck's post
That was used in Transformers Age Of Extinction final battle. |
Frank Piha
posted none photos that he originally posted in 2021.
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3:40 video @ 0:08
Devon Neff posted
I’ll be sad if these are demolished.
[There were several comments about Chicago PD using this as a backdrop. I presume that was the TV show.]
Mark Byerly shared
Got this from Chicago NOW & THEN page. Another one bites the dust. 🙁
[Yet another warehouse to be built?] |
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