1511 W. Webster Ave

Gutmann Tanner was a huge staple of Lincoln Park. not only did it make the river at webster and ashland smell like leather, but it blocked any sun that might reach the 1500 block of webster.

i remember walking past the tannery at some point. the basement windows were open and i could see piles of pelts stacked high all over the huge room. thousands and thousands of pelts. i guess i was surprised it was still an actual tannery rather than an empty defunct tannery.

then one day, after i moved away from the neighborhood, i drove back and found the entire building... gone.

read about the end of Gutmann's life here.

before

taken from TheeErin's Flickr site, taken on August 26, 2006.

taken from this website

after

from google maps, obviously.

taken by me today