Post by eric j. nordstrom

chicago based brown brother & company founded their vault light business in 1860. by 1873, the well-established company boasted a workforce of 85 men at their factory complex, located at clinton and jackson streets. a year after the great chicago fire, the brown brothers installed two miles of sidewalk and/or vault lights across the city. the company later changed its name to the brown brothers mfg. company, where they became the ''sole manufacturers of hyatt's patent prismatic "cement" and "lead band" sidewalk lights, vault lights, floor lights, sky lights, and vessels' deck lights. the origins of illuminating large iron panels with the use of several solid glass rondels or "bullseye" lenses dates back to 1845, when new york city-based inventor thaddeus hyatt patented an illuminating "vault cover" for sealing off the openings above brick-lined building vaults that were located directly beneath city sidewalks. several examples of 19th century cast iron vault light sidewalk fragments, embossed lenses, and coal chutes are housed in the bldg. 51 museum archive.