National Building Museum

Adopt an Artifact: Northwestern Terra Cotta Collection

The National Building Museum is home to the nation’s foremost archive of American architectural and design heritage. The Adopt an Artifact program allows you to directly support the proper care and preservation of objects with critical conservation needs, helping the Museum continue its mission to inspire curiosity about the world we design and build. To support this initiative, click here.

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Program Details

Invented to meet the demand for a fire-resistant material after the devastating Great Chicago Fire, of 1871architectural terra cotta quickly became the premier material for detailing commercial structures in the United States. One of the earliest and most influential producers was the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company (1877–1956), its products were used in over 15,000 building projects, including those designed by international architectural luminaries Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, Albert Kahn, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

The National Building Museum’s Northwestern Terra Cotta collection is one of the largest and most sophisticated of its kind held in public trust within the United States. Spanning more than 50 years of architectural history, the collection remains in use by current practitioners of historic building arts, who work to restore terra cotta landmarks throughout the country. 