<p>Griggsville Historic District is a historic district comprising the oldest sections of the city of Griggsville, Pike County, Illinois. The district encompasses Griggsville&#39;s commercial center and two of its residential areas. Development began in the commercial center in the 1830s; however, most of its significant buildings were built between 1850 and 1880. These buildings are mainly two-story brick structures, and several have Italianate influences. The southern residential area also has a heavy Italianate influence, as most of the homes there are designed in the style. The northwest residential area includes a variety of architectural styles and has a more rural character.</p><br>
<p>The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 17, 1979.</p><br>
<p>The Naples Mound 8  is a Havana Hopewell culture mound site located in Pike County, Illinois three miles east of the city of Griggsville. It is the largest mound on the bluff-top in the lower Illinois Valley. The mound was given the name Naples Mound #8 in 1882. The mound was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.</p><br>
<h2>First recorded visit by Mormon settlers</h2><br>
<p>In May and June 1834, Joseph Smith led a Latter Day Saint group of 150 men known as Zions Camp on a march from Kirtland, Ohio, to Jackson County, Missouri. On June 3, while passing through west-central Illinois three miles east of Griggsville, Illinois, some men discovered a large burial mound on the west side of the Illinois River one mile south of present-day Valley city. Their report said that there were remains of bones on the surface and that when digging it up they found a skeleton about a foot beneath the surface, with a stone arrow point in the ribs. Through visions this was interpreted as a white Lamanite warrior named Zelph who was killed during a battle with the Nephites. They took the leg bones of "Zelph" away in Wilford Woodruffs wagon and reburied them near Liberty, Missouri, but the arrow head was retained. The Zelph Mound incident was recorded by six men of Zion&#39;s Camp in their journals: Woodruff, Heber C. Kimball, Levi Hancock, George A. Smith, Moses Martin, and Reuben McBride. The "Zelph Mound incident" was formally recorded in church history from available sources in 1842 by church historian, Willard Richards.</p><br>
<h2>First recorded visits by local settlers</h2><br>
<p>Illinois was made a state in 1818 and white settlers came in and opened some of the burial mounds in the former Native American lands. Judge John G. Henderson of Winchester, Illinois, was impressed by beautifully carved stone smoking pipes a friend showed him which were obtained from burial mounds in Naples, Illinois. Accordingly, he and a Mr. Merrill, in 1876, did some excavations and documentation of some of the Naples mounds in which were found a raccoon and a turtle pipe, copper axes, and human skeletal remains. Henderson also mapped the location of fifteen mounds near Naples, including Naples Mound #8. A map he made shows Naples Mound #8 as being a mile south of Valley City, Illinois and across the Illinois River from Naples, Illinois. In describing Naples Mound #8 Henderson states, "On the right bank of the Illinois river about 300 yards below Griggsville Landing, rises a lofty bluff fully 300 feet above the level of the river. On the summit is a beautiful, oval mound, 150 long, 92 feet wide in the middle, and 25 or 30 feet high.... within a radius of 5 miles from Naples there are a least fifty mounds, very few of which have ever been opened". After Henderson wrote an article describing the Naples mounds and the relics found in them, the Smithsonian Institution, in December 1879 began a thorough exploration of them, furnishing six laborers to help with the excavations. Afterwards, Henderson authored the article describing the results in the Smithsonian Annual Report.</p><br>
<h2>Rediscovery of the Mound</h2><br>
<p>The mound was forgotten after 1882 and no records of visits have been found until 1974. Due to the Central Illinois Expressway bridge being planned across the Illinois River, the river bluffs were again visited by archaeologists. A team of graduate students from Northwestern University led by Archaeology Professor Jane E. Buikstra combed the bluffs of the Illinois River a mile South of Valley City, Illinois mapping burial mounds. They located an extraordinarily large mound and were excited to inform local historian, Warren Winston, about it. James Bradley, a Mormon Historian from Utah, who had been searching for Zelph Mound for 25 years, visited Warren Winston the day after Professor Buikstra&#39;s visit and the connection was made. The Zelph Mound, was re-identified using historic journals, historic landmarks and mound surveys. The archaeological name Naples Mound #8, which archaeologist Henderson had given it over ninety years earlier, was changed by Professor Buikstra in 1974 to Naples-Russell Mound #8 (RN8). The name "Russell" was added due to the mound being on private land owned by a Mr. Roy Russell. Shortly after that event, in 1975, Buikstra applied to have the mound placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Seven years later, in 1988, The State of Illinois purchased 280 acres of Illinois River frontage land, including the mound.</p><br>
<h2>Scientific investigation of the Mound</h2><br>
<p>In 2001, the mound underwent an archeological investigation. What was identified as Burial 1 Skeleton 1 (QL-4904) was interred on the upper west side of the tumulus, and was one of the last burials in the mound. QL-4904 was thus determined to be the end use of the structure. By radiometric dating it was determined that QL-4904 was interred in 91 AD (Calibrated Range (2σ) AD 58–127).</p><br>
<p>Previously archaeologists, after excavating in the Elizabeth Mounds and Napoleon Hollow for ten years where an expressway bridge was to be built, excavated the mound, located just a hundred and fifty yards to the north of the Elizabeth Mound group. A scientific excavation of RN8 was carried out in 1990 by The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in cooperation with the Center for American Archaeology at Kampsville, Illinois. The dig was funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation and supervised by archaeologist Ken Farnsworth. The artifacts found during the excavation confirmed the mound to be a Hopewell burial mound, dating from 100 B.C. to 500 A.D. The artifacts are now located in the Illinois State Museum. The artifacts of the RN8 Mound were found to be from many parts of the eastern two thirds of United States or east of the Rocky Mountains, illustrating the wide trade network of the Hopewell culture. Photographs of the artifacts from NR8 have recently been published. The mound is located at the Roy Norbut Fish and Wildlife Area, overseen by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.</p><br>
<p>The Massie Variety Store is a historic commercial building located at 110 South Main Street in New Canton, Illinois. John Webb built the two-story brick Italianate building between 1848 and 1850 as a mercantile store. Webb sold the building to Amos Morey, who added Melville D. Massie as a partner; by 1872, Massie had become the stores only owner. The store became one of the largest in the region by the 1890s, and it had taken on other roles in the community. An opera house operated on the upper story from 1865 until the 1900s, and Massie served as an agent for local farmers who traded their products along the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Massies son Harry began renting the storefront in 1918; in the following decades, it served as a drug store, ice cream parlor, grocery store, and post office before closing for good in 1948. Roger Dudley purchased the building from the Massie family in 1962 and converted it to a toy store; his business, later an antique store, operated until the 1980s.</p><br>
<p>The store was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 2004.</p><br>
<p>The Church of Christ was a historic church located at 102 Main Street in Perry, Pike County, Illinois.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The Carpenter Gothic church was built in 1880 for Perry&#39;s Church of Christ congregation, which formed in 1837. The one-story wooden building with board-and-batten siding had a limestone foundation. The front facade featured a three-section steeple and chimneys at the two corners; the steeple consisted of a tower with arched windows, a lantern with louvered windows, and a spire atop a mansard roof. The Gothic arched front entrance to the church was located at the base of the tower. Arched stained glass windows with floral and geometric patterns were located on either side of the entrance.</p><br>
<p>The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 8, 2006.</p><br>
<h2>Destruction</h2><br>
<p>On October 1, 2014, the church was struck by lightning. Firefighters from eight local areas (Perry, North Pike, Griggsville, Baylis, Pittsfield, Mount Sterling, Versailles, and Meredosia) were unable to save it. The remnants of the church were demolished.</p><br>
<p>The site is now a memorial park with a historical marker.</p><br>
<p>The John Shastid House is a historic house located at 326 E. Jefferson St. in Pittsfield, Illinois. John Shastid, a settler from New Salem, built the house in 1838. The timber-frame house is a well-preserved early example of the construction technique in Illinois. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>John Greene Shastid, the builder of the house, was born in Kentucky in 1798. By 1828, he and his family had settled in Illinois at the Sangamon County town of New Salem. Seeking economic opportunities in sparsely-settled Pike County, Shastid and his family moved to Pittsfield in 1836; at the time, the city had only six other houses. Shastid built his house two years later, where he lived with his wife Elizabeth and his four children. Shastid worked as a farmer and eventually held public office, serving as Pike County Sheriff for eight years. Elizabeth died in 1863, and John Shastid died in 1874; while their children had moved elsewhere by this point, the family owned and rented the house until 1927.</p><br>
<p>According to John Shastids grandson Thomas, Abraham Lincoln visited the house while conducting legal work in Pittsfield. Family legend holds that on one such visit, Lincoln ate an entire pot of one dozen broiled pigeons prepared as a family dinner. The houses connection to Lincoln was likely influential in its early preservation.</p><br>
<p>The Shastid House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 26, 2003. The house is now owned by the, which provides tours by appointment. The Society also operates the Pike County Historical Society Museum in Pittsfield.</p><br>
<h2>Design</h2><br>
<p>The John Shastid House is a timber frame house, a style which used wooden beams for structural support. The house is built from squared beams connected by mortise and tenon joints, the characteristic method of timber-frame construction; the style differs from both log cabins, which used rounded logs, and balloon framing, which typically used nails and smaller beams. The beams were hewn rather than sawn, an unusual technique that likely resulted from Pittsfield&#39;s lack of a sawmill in 1838. Well-preserved timber-frame houses are rare in Illinois, and the Shastid House is the only surviving example of the method in Pittsfield.</p><br>
<p>The New Philadelphia National Historic Site is the original site of the now-vanished town of New Philadelphia, Illinois, in the United States. It is located near the western Illinois city of Barry, in Pike County.</p><br>
<p>Founded in 1836, New Philadelphia was the first town in the United States platted and registered by an African American before the American Civil War. The founder, Free Frank McWorter (1777–1854), was a former slave who was able to save money from work and his own business to purchase the freedom of his wife, then himself, and over time, 13 members of his family from Kentucky. Several of his freedom purchases were funded by the sale of New Philadelphia lots. The town was integrated and reached a population of about 160 near the close of the Civil War in 1865. A few years later, the town was bypassed by the railroad line leading to its eventual decline; the town lots were generally turned into farmland in the late 19th century, although some survived into the 1920s.</p><br>
<p>The town site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2009. In 2013, the site was added to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. It was designated a National Historic Site in 2022.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Free Frank McWorter purchased a 160-acre tract in Pike County, Illinois in 1830 and settled with his family in 1831.</p><br>
<p>McWorter lived there for the rest of his life, apart from brief visits to Kentucky to purchase freedom for much of the remainder of his family. These freedom purchases were largely financed by his sale of lots in New Philadelphia.</p><br>
<p>McWorter died in 1854. Before the Civil War, New Philadelphia had become one of the stations along the Underground Railroad for shepherding escaped slaves to Canada. Escapees from Missouri were known to swim the Mississippi River to reach the town. With emancipation, more settlers arrived in New Philadelphia. Its population peaked at close to 160 shortly after 1865.</p><br>
<p>In 1869, the Hannibal and Naples Railroad was built. It bypassed the town on the north; a station was built in nearby Barry, soon to be followed by transit and commerce. New Philadelphia rapidly declined in population thereafter. A small number of residents turned to farming a portion of the former townsite. Such changes and abandonment were not unusual for USA small towns in the late 19th century, especially those bypassed by changing transportation facilities.</p><br>
<p>In 1885 a portion of the town was legally dissolved. It reverted to farmland. Modern archaeological studies discussed below indicate the area was inhabited through the 1920s. However, by the late 20th century, all vestiges of New Philadelphia had vanished save fragments of glass and pottery, and traces of the town&#39;s gravel streets.</p><br>
<h2>Excavation and preservation</h2><br>
<p>In 2003, a three-year excavation began with a US$226,500 grant from the National Science Foundation. It was coordinated by Dr. Paul A. Shackel, the lead at University of Maryland, College Park, with participation by scholars from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. By 2006, the archaeology team had surveyed 14 of the 144 lots.</p><br>
<p>The town site was added to the USA National Register of Historic Places on August 11, 2005</p><br>
<p>In 2008, Christopher C. Fennell of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign led the summer excavation team under a new grant.</p><br>
<p>In June 2008, the Public Broadcasting Service filmed material at the dig, which was released as an episode of Time Team America.</p><br>
<p>On January 16, 2009 the Department of the Interior designated the New Philadelphia Town Site a National Historic Landmark based on the significance of its history and archaeology.</p><br>
<p>In 2013, the site was added to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.</p><br>
<p>A preliminary study conducted by the National Park Service in 2012 found that New Philadelphia had significant archaeological and historical value, but because the sites remains are buried underground, challenges in providing for public enjoyment and other issues would make it unsuitable as a unit of the National Park System. Despite the NPSs recommendation against a full special resource study, the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 incorporated a bill from Representative Darin LaHood directing the Department of Interior to study the New Philadelphia townsite for possible NPS designation.</p><br>
<p>Although the special resource study had not yet been completed, legislation was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 to establish New Philadelphia National Historic Site, consisting of 124.33 acres. The National Historic Site will ensure protection and exploration of the site and education about interracial cooperation in Illinois.</p><br>
<p>Pittsfield East School is located in Pittsfield, Illinois, Pike County, United States. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The East Ward School, built between 1861 and 1866, was designed by architect John M. Van Osdel, who also designed the Palmer House in Chicago, as well as the Governor&#39;s Mansion in Springfield. John Houston of Griggsville built the school for the contract price of $35,000, which was financed by bonding. The building is stone (boated from Joliet on the Illinois River) and brick burned in Pittsfield. Both the grade school and high school were located in this building. Its large clock and bell were donated by Colonel Ross and mounted in the tower. The school closed in 1955 and was unoccupied until 1978 when it was renovated and became the home of the Pike County Historical Society and the Pike County Historic Museum.</p><br>
<h2>Pike County Historical Society Museum</h2><br>
<p>Today the building houses the Museum, with artifacts and exhibits of local history.</p><br>
<p>The Society also owns and provides tours of the John Shastid House.</p><br>
<p>Pittsfield Historic District is a historic district in Pittsfield, Illinois, the county seat of Pike County. The district is centered on the Pike County Courthouse and the surrounding courthouse square; it also encompasses nearby residential areas. The courthouse was built in 1894–95; architect Henry Elliott based its Romanesque design off his earlier design for the Edgar County, Illinois, courthouse. The districts historic commercial buildings are mostly located on the courthouse square, which surrounds the courthouse; these buildings are mainly two-story brick structures. The Italianate and Queen Anne styles are prevalent among the districts houses, with the former being the most prominent; the Greek Revival and Federal styles are also common in the district&#39;s earlier homes.</p><br>
<p>The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 4, 1980.</p><br>
<p>The Lyman Scott House is a historic house located on USA Route 54 in Summer Hill, Pike County, Illinois. The house was built in 1844 by Lyman Scott, who founded Summer Hill the following year. Scott, an early Pike County settler who also founded Rockport, built the house as a summer home for his family. The two-story post and beam house features a front porch over its two front entrances; a gabled dormer was added to the porch in 1870. Scott, a prominent local merchant, also founded and funded Summer Hill&#39;s first school. Scott also served as a representative to the International Peace Conference in 1850. In 1853, Scott moved to Kansas, where he served in the state legislature. The house is the oldest surviving building in Summer Hill.</p><br>
<p>The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 10, 1983.</p><br>
<p>The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln is located near the village of Valley City, Illinois in Pike County. The periodic lime kiln is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a designation it gained in August 1999. It is actually within the boundaries of the Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area. The kiln represents an example of an 1850s lime kiln, one of the best-preserved examples of such a kiln. In its heyday the kiln&#39;s raw product would have been quicklime. The kiln is one of twelve Pike County sites included in the National Register of Historic Places. Some other examples are the Lyman Scott House, in Summer Hill and the New Philadelphia Town Site, somewhere near Barry, Illinois.</p><br>
<h2>Griggsville Landing</h2><br>
<p>The lime kiln is about one quarter mile north of a town site once known as Griggsville Landing. The Landing was a steamboat stop on the Illinois River, which started in the 1830s. It was home to a warehouse, a boat yard, hotel and a grist mill. The lime kiln here is a remnant of a commercial operation that would have flourished when the steamboat stop at Griggsville Landing was operational. Such commercial operations involving lime would become impossible after the American Civil War as the lime industry became the target of industrial intensification.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln is one of the best-preserved periodic lime kilns found in the USA state of Illinois. When it was built is unknown but it has been established that it is likely it was constructed in the mid-1850s. Local traditions hold that the Griggsville Landing kiln was used by English stonemason William Hobson. It is said Hobson used the kiln in conjunction with the construction of homes, barns and stone arch bridges in the area during the 19th century. A report prepared for the Illinois Department of Conservation posits that the kiln was constructed for James Hutchinson after he purchased the property in 1854, based on available land, deed, and tax records.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The lime kiln was built into the side of the river bluff. It was constructed of local quarried stone and without mortar; the stones were either laid dry or with mud as a binder. The kiln is approximately 19 ft in diameter and 17 ft with 3 ft thick walls. The remains of two wing walls at a 45 degree angle are barely visible above ground, but originally may have extended at least two-thirds of the total height of the kiln. A stone arch at the entrance measures approximately 4 ft wide, 3.5 ft tall, and 12 inch thick.</p><br>
<h2>Kiln technology</h2><br>
<p>The kiln at Griggsville Landing is known as a periodic kiln. The periodic kiln is an older technology which was used in the United States mostly before the Civil War. The technology utilized at Griggsville Landing, however, is far superior to the so-called heap kilns used in lime production.</p><br>
<h3>Heap kilns</h3><br>
<p>A heap kiln is a fairly simple kiln. It is made by stacking alternating layers of wood, for fuel, and limestone blocks on the ground or in a pit. The method is fast but highly inefficient. Despite these drawbacks, the heap kiln was used as means of lime production in association with land clearing operations. Heap kilns inherent flaw lies in the impossibility of burn-quality control in the log heaps. The product that resulted from this method of lime production was often of variable quality and used for little other than fertilizer. Heap kilns were being replaced in the more urban parts of the country as early as 1818.</p><br>
<h3>Periodic kilns</h3><br>
<p>The heap kiln went by the wayside as the periodic kiln came into vogue. Periodic kilns are much more efficient than the log heap kiln that preceded them. The most efficient type of periodic kiln is a stone or brick walled vertical kiln. This walled vertical kiln is what appears at Griggsville Landing. The specific kiln at Griggsville has an opening at the base and at the top, with walls nearly three feet thick. The appearance of the walls of the Griggsville Landing Kiln suggests that they were either dry laid or laid with a mud mortar that has since been dusted away by time. The walls of the vertical kiln at Griggsville Landing rise 17 feet above the forest floor and the inside has a diameter of 13 feet.</p><br>
<h2>Other lime kilns</h2><br>
<p>The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln is one of only a few old lime kilns preserved across the state of Illinois. Some examples can be found in such places as, Maeystown, where a periodic vertical kiln remains, Kankakee River State Park in Will County, where pieces of an old lime kiln lie in an old limestone quarry. Other kilns can be found in Ogle County, near Polo, where a stone kiln remains, a poorly preserved vertical kiln in Port Byron, and a well-preserved kiln in Cordova, Illinois.</p><br>
<p>Millstone Bluff is a natural bluff in Pope County, Illinois, United States, located near the community of Glendale. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its archaeological significance, Millstone Bluff is one of three National Register sites in Pope County, along with the Golconda Historic District and part of the Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site.</p><br>
<p>The bluff is home to a prehistoric Native American settlement used by Mississippian cultures. The settlement site is little more than depressions sitting atop the bluff, which lies within the Shawnee National Forest. The United States Forest Service controls an interpretive trail to the site. Aside from the remains of the Mississippian settlement, the bluff contains a prehistoric stone box cemetery, a rock art site, and a Late Woodland stone fort.</p><br>
<p>Petroglyphs at this site include two thunderbirds, pipes, axes, a spider-like creature, turkey tracks, a humanoid form, and the cross and circle motif common to other petroglyph sites in southern Illinois.</p><br>
<p>The Golconda Historic District is a designated historic district in the Pope County, Illinois city of Golconda, along the banks of the Ohio River. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of only three sites in Pope County to be on the Register. The other sites are Millstone Bluff, a prehistoric Mississippian settlement in the Shawnee National Forest, and the Pope County portion of the Kincaid Mounds, a prehistoric city in the Ohio River floodplain. The historic district located along Illinois Route 146 and was added to the Register in 1976.</p><br>
<p>The Buel House, a historic home built in 1840 and currently owned by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is included within the district.</p><br>
<p>The Mound City Civil War Naval Hospital was a naval hospital in Mound City, Illinois, used by the United States Navy during the Civil War. The hospital was established in 1861 in an existing brick building claimed by the USA government. It became one of the largest Union hospitals in the western states during the war.</p><br>
<p>Treatment at the hospital was led by Catholic nurses from Indiana. In addition to Union soldiers, the hospital also treated Confederate soldiers and freed slaves.</p><br>
<p>The hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974. It has since been demolished.</p><br>
<p>Ullin station is a former Illinois Central Railroad station located at the intersection of Central Ave. and Ullin Ave. in Ullin, Illinois. Illinois Central service to Ullin began in 1854, and two stations were constructed in 1854 and 1863, both of which were later demolished. The existing station was built in 1897. The station provided freight and passenger rail service to Ullin; the freight trains exported limestone and lumber from the village. In addition, the depot served as Ullins telegraph station, as the areas telegraph lines followed the Illinois Central tracks. Passenger service to the station ended in 1967, and the station moved to a new location in 1972. It was moved back to its original site in 1997 and became Ullin&#39;s village hall and library in 2012.</p><br>
<p>The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 18, 1999, as the Illinois Central Railroad Depot.</p><br>
<p>The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House and Burial Ground is a Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends , located north of the rural village of Holder in McLean County, Illinois. It was once the site of a now-defunct village called Benjaminville, founded in 1856 after Quakers settled the area. More Quakers followed, and the burial ground, then the current meeting house in 1874, were constructed. This site, listed on the USA National Register of Historic Places since 1983, is all that remains of that village.</p><br>
<p>The burial ground preceded the meeting house, as the site was home to another meeting house that was constructed in 1859. The Benjaminville Meeting House represents a well-constructed example of Quaker meeting house architecture and contains within its design many of the major elements associated with the style. It is unique in that it allowed both male and female friends to worship together in the same room. The burial ground, however, maintains a strict separation, not by gender but by religious affiliation; there are three sections, one for Quakers, one for non-Quakers, and one for distant relatives of both.</p><br>
<h2>Building</h2><br>
<h3>Location</h3><br>
<p>The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House is located on a relatively elevated area of land east of Bloomington, Illinois, near the community of Holder. The land was originally flat, treeless prairie but today is designated mostly for agricultural use. The unincorporated community of Bentown is located nearby as well. To the east a large wind farm is being constructed within Arrowsmith Township. The building is the last extant structure in the now-defunct village of Benjaminville, Illinois.</p><br>
<h3>History</h3><br>
<p>In 1859, three years after the first Quaker settlers arrived in the area, a meeting house was constructed on the site of the present-day Friends meeting house for US$1,000. Quakers continued to flow into the area through the 1860s and in 1874 the current Friends meeting house was constructed and it has seen little change since it was built. Some minor alterations have taken place, including the addition of a concrete porch to the entryway and a shed on the east (rear) facade. The shed was added around 1910 to serve as a storage space and a privy. The building became a social, political, and religious hub for the area Quakers and the site was visited by Friends from other meeting houses around the state. The building is no longer owned by a religious institution, though there are occasional services held there.</p><br>
<h3>Architecture</h3><br>
<p>The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House is located on a 2.5 acre site planted with grass and native deciduous trees. The location is surrounded by crops and is well isolated from other nearby structures. The rectangular, balloon framed building is situated on an east–west axis, with its front facade facing west. The long side measures 42 ft (13 m) and the shorter gable ends of the building measure 32 ft (10 m). The buildings entrance is found on its south elevation and consists of dual doors which bisect the walls at the jambs. The Friends meeting house in Benjaminville is a typical example of traditional Quaker meeting houses. Elements common to Quaker meeting houses east of the Allegheny Mountains and found on the Benjaminville example are: plain, undecorated interiors, lack of stained glass, rectangular shaped log or frame construction, some type of partition within the interior space, an attached burial ground, exterior simplicity, separate mens and women&#39;s entrances, and the entryway location along the long wall.</p><br>
<p>The interior room, like the exterior, is oriented east–west. The most prominent decorative element inside is the hand graining detail on the wood surfaces. An elevated gallery lines the north wall facing the pews which are bisected by 3½ ft (1.1 m) tall, 5 in (13 cm) wide beaded board partition. The pews, partition, door, and window trim are all hand grained. The interior walls are covered with 6 in (15 cm) pine wainscotting. The original iron stoves have been replaced with oil-burning stoves, set into the original flues.</p><br>
<p>The building is considered a fine example of traditional Quaker architecture because it contains all of the elements found in the typical meeting house. However, the building does have one major difference on its interior when compared with most meeting houses. Traditionally, Quaker meeting houses had two rooms, divided by a movable partition, termed "shutters," meant to separate men from women during meetings; these shutters are noticeably absent on the Benjaminville Meeting House. The members of the meeting at the Benjaminville Meeting House were among "pioneers" within the Society of Friends in that they were one of the first seven groups to allow men and women to meet as one group of Friends. The room inside the Benjaminville building was simply divided with a waist-high partition as opposed to the movable wall.</p><br>
<p>While most Friends meeting houses were very plain in their designs and ornamentation, individual craftsmen were encouraged to be "guided by (their) own inner light" when working on building a meeting house. As such, the dominant decorative element on the Benjaminville building is fine hand graining on most of the interior wood surfaces. The decoration should not be seen as an affront to the traditional and typical Quaker style used in meeting houses. Instead it stands as a testament to the fact that the Society of Friends encouraged craftsmen to create as "the spirit moved them."</p><br>
<h2>Cemetery</h2><br>
<p>The cemetery was established soon after the original meeting house was built in 1859. Burial grounds were typical accompaniments to Friends meeting houses. While burial grounds were encouraged in the 1825 Quaker Rules of Discipline, the burial of non-Quakers in Quaker cemeteries was not. A newer section contains a mix of Quaker and non-Quaker descendants of those originally buried there.</p><br>
<p>Non-Quaker burials were originally confined to the northern section of the cemetery, the portion directly behind the meeting house. Members of the Society of Friends were buried in the middle portion of the cemetery, today surrounded by a loop in the gravel road that traverses the site. The most recent burials are found in the southernmost section of the cemetery, furthest from the meeting house. The entire burial ground is approximately 160 by, for a total area of 32,000 ft&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>Burials are oriented east–west. The burial ground covers most of the site&#39;s land and is planted with grass and trees. The surrounding land is predominantly of agricultural use but there are some nearby residences. To the east a wind farm is under construction.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House is a particularly well-preserved example of a Quaker meeting house. For several years after 1874 the building was the focus of settlement in Benjaminville, a town one author described as "one of the strongest settlements of Friends that is to be found anywhere in the state" in 1879. The structure is of historical and architectural significance. As an example of the meeting house style used by the Society of Friends, the Benjaminville building is representative of an architectural type that remained virtually unchanged from the colonial American period through the 19th century. The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House and its burial ground were listed on the USA National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 1983.</p><br>
<p>The Andrew Cunningham Farm is located near the Cass County, Illinois city of Virginia. The Cunningham Farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of only two such sites in Cass County. The other site, in Beardstown, is the Beardstown Grand Opera House. The farm is about two and a half miles east of Virginia. It has been listed on the Register since May 12, 1975.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The home, called Allandale or Allendale, was constructed in 1852 by Andrew Cunningham.</p><br>
<p>The Cotaco Opera House, also known as Masonic Building, was the first opera house constructed in the state of Alabama. It is located at 115 Johnston Street in historic downtown Decatur, Alabama.</p><br>
<p>In 1889, the city of Decatur was the largest city in North Alabama, out-sizing Huntsville. It had become increasingly apparent that the city was in need of a theater to showcase its fine arts. The Opera House was built on a 100 by 140 foot site that ran south from Johnston Street and fronting on the east side of 1st Avenue. It was built by the Cotaco Opera House Company, which was incorporated on September 16, 1889.</p><br>
<p>The C. H. Moore Homestead, in Clinton, Illinois, is one of two Registered Historic Places in DeWitt County. The other, the Magill House, was added to the Register in 2003. CH Moore Homestead DeWitt County Museum was added in 1979.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Construction was started on the C. H. Moore Homestead by John and Minerva Moore Bishop. Mr. Bishop was a prosperous grain and lumber dealer in Clinton. Work on the C. H. Moore Homestead was completed after the Civil War had ended and life took on a more normal pattern. Soon after this, the Bishops lost their only child. After Minerva Bishop&#39;s death in the early 1880s, Mr. Bishop sold the house to his brother-in-law, Clifton H. Moore.</p><br>
<p>Moore, an educated man, was the first resident attorney to commence practice in Clinton, having hung out his shingle in 1841. He served as co-counsel with Abraham Lincoln on several cases heard in the DeWitt County circuit court, of which future United States Supreme Court justice David Davis was the presiding judge.</p><br>
<p>The west wing of the home was added in 1887 to house Mr. Moores vast collection of books. At the time of his death, he owned approximately 7,000 volumes, the largest collection of books in downstate Illinois. The two-story high library has a vaulted ceiling and stenciled walls. There are four-season windows on the upper level, and an iron railing around the suspended upper gallery. The furniture and paintings include many of the original Moore furnishings. Moores book collection was left to the city of Clinton upon his death and is now housed at the Vespasian Warner Public Library.</p><br>
<p>Moore lived in the house until his death in 1901. The house sat in disrepair for several decades until 1967 when it was purchased and restored by the newly formed DeWitt County Museum Association. The Apple &#39;N Pork festival, held annually the last full weekend in September and established by the DeWitt County Museum Association, was first held in 1967 to help raise funds to restore and maintain the mansion.</p><br>
<h2>C.H. Moore Homestead Dewitt County Museum</h2><br>
<p>The C. H. Moore Homestead DeWitt County Museum is the centerpiece of the Apple n Pork Festival. This festival is held annually on the last weekend of September and has become one of central Illinois largest festivals. The C.H. Moore Homestead DeWitt County Museum includes the restored Victorian mansion, special exhibits, the Kent Collection, original carriage barn, gardens, replica of an Indiana-style covered bridge, operable blacksmith shop, three barns filled with antique farm equipment, tools, buggies, sleighs, autos, railroad items, and working telephone display.</p><br>
<p>The Magill House is a historic hotel located at 100 N. Center St. in Clinton, Illinois. Construction on the building began in 1872 and was completed in 1873. The hotel was built in order to entice the Illinois Central Railroad to move the headquarters of its Springfield Division to Clinton; the effort was successful, as the railroad moved to Clinton in the late 1870s. From its construction through the mid-20th century, the hotel was considered the finest in Clinton, and housed both Illinois Central employees and travelers on the railroad. The hotel transitioned to an apartment hotel in the 1970s, and after the late 1980s it declined and ultimately closed.</p><br>
<p>The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 2003. It is one of two properties on the National Register in DeWitt County, along with the C. H. Moore House.</p><br>
<p>Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln is one of two old lime kilns in Illinois listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The other is the Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln in Pike County. Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln is located near the Ogle County city of Polo. When in use, the kiln would have produced raw quicklime. The lime kiln was added to the National Register in 2002.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln is found outside of the city of Polo, off Galena Trail Road. The kiln sits on the floor of a limestone quarry, a little over 1,400 ft from the road. Railroad tracks pass by within ten feet to the kilns south and Buffalo Creek is just over the railroad tracks. The quarrys limestone bluffs are set off to the north, behind the kiln.</p><br>
<h2>Characteristics</h2><br>
<h3>Kiln</h3><br>
<h3>Dimensions</h3><br>
<p>Inside the kiln the fire brick column extends 25 ft into the air and has an interior diameter of six feet. Below, at the kiln&#39;s base, is a four-foot section for cooling, below that are the draw outs. The handcut stone base is 16 ft square by 16 ft high. The dry shed is nine feet high by 12 ft wide and sits on a six-foot stone base.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>After sitting idle for decades the Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln was acquired by the Polo Historical Society in 1985. They began clearing trees, brush and debris around the kiln. A restoration project began in 1992 at a cost of $10,000. The lime kiln at Buffalo Grove has had a long history that dates back even further than the lime kiln that stands on the site today.</p><br>
<h3>Restoration</h3><br>
<p>In 1992 a restoration project began under the guidance of the Polo Historical Society and member Paul Graehling. The old, loose mortar had to be removed from around the stones and replaced. The replacement was a fifty percent mortar fifty percent cement mix, to preserve the restoration. The wooden upper portion of the kiln had deteriorated completely beyond repair and had to be entirely replaced. The top portion was constructed in sections off-site and then lifted into place using a crane. The whole structure was then topped with an aluminum roof to protect it from future deterioration. The attachment of the roof rendered the kiln inoperable, although, if it were removed the Buffalo Grove Lime Kiln would be fully functional and ready for lime production.</p><br>
<p>The lime house, attached to the kiln, was also fully restored. When the lime kiln was in use the small, attached room had served as a storage area but it had been gone since at least the 1930s. Using early historical photographs as references, the lime house was reconstructed atop a stone foundation. The lumber used to construct the new lime house was authentic late 19th-century barn lumber. Atop, the lime house, like the kiln itself, an aluminum roof was placed.</p><br>
<p>The restoration was completed in 1993 at a final cost of around $10,000.</p><br>
<p>Polo Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 197 is a historic Independent Order of Odd Fellows building located at 117 W. Mason St. in Polo, Illinois. The lodge was built in 1901-02 for Polo&#39;s chapter of the Odd Fellows, which was established in 1856; it was the fifth meeting place used by the chapter. Architects Charles Wyman Bradley and Frank A. Carpenter designed the building in the Classical Revival style. The brick building is divided into three bays, which are separated by brick pilasters on the upper floors. An egg-and-dart frame encircles the upper two stories. A parapet extends along the roofline; the parapet is topped by a corbelled pediment containing a medallion with the year of construction. The Odd Fellows met on the upper stories of the building until the 1990s; the first floor has historically been used as a storefront.</p><br>
<p>The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 2004.</p><br>
<p>The John McGrath House is a Registered Historic Place in the Ogle County, Illinois city of Polo. It is one of six overall sites and three homes in Polo listed on the Register. The other two homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Polo are the Henry D. Barber House and the Bryant H. and Lucie Barber House. The McGrath House joined the Register in 1996.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The wood John McGrath House stands on a limestone foundation and has an asphalt roof. Erected in 1896, the house was constructed by builder C.A. Stone and designed by George W. McBride. The McGrath House is a significant example of Queen Anne style architecture.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The John McGrath House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 1996, for its significance in the area of architecture.</p><br>
<p>The Henry D. Barber House is a Registered Historic Place in the Ogle County, Illinois city of Polo. The Henry Barber House joined the Register in March 1974. It was designed by Joseph Lyman Silsbee, acclaimed Chicago architect and employer/mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright. The structure, also known as Silsbee&#39;s Barber Mansion, was designed for Henry D. Barber, prominent citizen and banker in Polo, Illinois.</p><br>
<p>The house retains its original features, including a glass mosaic fireplace designed by Louis Tiffany. Hand carved corbels highlight solid old wood columns in the foyer. Windows unique to this house were designed by Silsbee; they feature intersecting circles and are made of solid wood and individual panes of glass in the design. A carriage deck remains on the side porch. This extended portion of the porch floor allowed for the easy transition from porch to carriage (or horse). Two cisterns and a well exist on the property, and mechanical components for drawing and using stored water are present. Each of the eight fireplaces have hand-carved mantels that are unique to the individual rooms, as well as intricately detailed cast iron fireplace inserts. Each room, including the coat closets and butlers pantries, have working radiators that are highly decorative and original to the house. The Silsbee&#39;s Barber Mansion was a custom design for Henry Barber and is one of a kind.</p><br>
<p>It is the first Silsbee design to be placed on the NRHP.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The Henry D. Barber House was constructed around 1891 and underwent some minor alterations in 1899. Cast in Classical Revival style, the brick and limestone Barber House was designed by Chicago architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The Henry D. Barber House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 28, 1974, for its significance in the area of architecture.</p><br>
<p>Joseph Lyman Silsbee, prominent architect of many Chicago structures including the Lincoln Park Conservatory and the interior of the ‘Palmer Castle’ of Bertha and Potter Palmer of the Palmer House in Chicago, designed this house.</p><br>
<p>The Bryant H. and Lucie Barber House is a Registered Historic Place in the Ogle County, Illinois city of Polo. It is one of six overall sites and three homes in Polo listed on the Register. The other two homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Polo are the John McGrath House and the Henry D. Barber House.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The Classical Revival Bryant H. and Lucie Barber House was designed by Joseph Lyman Silsbee.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The Bryant H. and Lucie Barber House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 10, 1993, for its significance in the area of architecture.</p><br>
<p>The Buffalo Township Public Library, now the Polo Public Library, is a library listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the Ogle County, Illinois city of Polo. The library joined the Register in March 1995.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The brick Buffalo Township Public Library sits atop a limestone foundation and features a ceramic tile roof. The library was constructed between 1903 and 1904 and was built by the firm of Greig & Baum.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The Buffalo Township Public Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1995, for its significance in the area of education.</p><br>
<p>The Pinehill Inn, or just Pinehill, is a National Register of Historic Places listed house in the Ogle County, Illinois county seat of Oregon. Pinehill joined the Register in July 1978.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>Pinehill was built in 1874 by William Judd Mix. The brick, wood and limestone structure stands on five acres of land and is cast in the Italianate style of architecture.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>Pinehill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 1, 1977, for its significance in the area of architecture.</p><br>
<p>The Oregon Public Library is located in Oregon, Illinois, United States, the county seat of Ogle County. The building is a public library that was constructed in 1909. Prior to 1909, Oregons library was housed in different buildings, none of which were designed to house a library. The library was built using a grant from wealthy philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The grant was obtained after Oregons citizens voted to change Oregon&#39;s library from a city library to a township library. The building was completed by 1908 but the library did not begin operation until 1909.</p><br>
<p>The Oregon Library was designed by Chicago architects Pond and Pond. The Ponds were members of the Eagles Nest Art Colony, founded by Lorado Taft, and their association with Taft and the colony led them to design the library. Their design was influenced by the colony, and a combination of two architectural styles, Classical Revival and the Arts and Crafts movement. The completed library included a second floor art gallery to which members of Eagles Nest donated works for a permanent collection. The gallery&#39;s collection includes 64 paintings and sculptures as well as a Currier and Ives lithograph collection appraised at US$700,000. The Oregon Public Library was listed on the USA National Register of Historic Places in 2003, three years later it was included as a contributing property in a historic district that received the National Register designation.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>While the library building dates to the early 20th century the move toward intellectual outreach in Oregon started years before. The first Oregon library was organized in 1872, though it had no building of its own. Before the library had its own building, library books were stored in a drug store and then in the County Treasurers office. Eventually the Oregon Library occupied rented office space in the First National Bank building. This situation persisted until 1905 when Oregon voters voiced their collective opinion on the librarys future.</p><br>
<p>The citizens of Oregon were faced with a dilemma in 1905: either allow Oregons library to remain, truly, Oregons city library, or, by referendum, allow Oregons library to make the shift into a township library. This change would allow the library one distinct advantage; it would qualify the library for a grant from Andrew Carnegie for the construction of a new building. Initially, Carnegie promised US$7,000 for the new library but once voters approved the change the grant amount was increased to $10,000. The grant, aside from requiring the library to hold "township library" status, required a site to be selected prior to the grant application process; a site, at the corner of Oregons Jefferson and Third Streets, was selected.</p><br>
<h2>Art gallery</h2><br>
<h3>Eagle&#39;s Nest influence</h3><br>
<p>The art colony at Eagles Nest was populated by Chicago artists, all members of the Chicago Art Institute or the University of Chicago art department, who gathered in Ogle County to escape the summer heat of Chicago. Two of the charter members of the art colony were the Chicago architects, Allen and Irving Kane Pond, who designed the Oregon Public Library building. It was the Ponds association with the Eagle&#39;s Nest Art Colony that led them to design the library.</p><br>
<p>The building was constructed after the Carnegie grant approval, and its first use came in October 1908 by Leon A. Malkielski, a colony member, for an exhibition of 100 paintings. The library proper did not begin providing its services until 1909. The colony tried to contribute to area culture by requiring its members to hold art shows, lectures, and other exhibitions throughout the early 20th century. With the library complete it began to play a role in those exhibitions. Hamlin Garland, a 1921 Pulitzer Prize recipient for literature, spoke at the Oregon library while he was a member of the Eagle&#39;s Nest Colony.</p><br>
<h3>Collections</h3><br>
<p>The gallery on the second floor of the library building was not formally dedicated until July 4, 1918.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the substantial historical art collection held by the library gallery the collection consists of works by local artists. One Oregon resident has donated artwork from the annual Grand Detour Art Show regularly. Other area residents have donated pieces as well. In all, the library holds about 30 contemporary works by local artists.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The library is designed with an eye toward late 19th-century and early 20th-century movements in architecture. While it contains many elements common to Classical Revival architecture, the building&#39;s asymmetry and playfully creative style are distinctly characteristic of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The building was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Pond and Pond and is constructed of buff-colored brick. Red-brick belt coursing and accents contrast the buff-colored brick on the majority of the facade. The two-story Oregon Public Library has a full brick basement and approximately 5,500 ft&sup2; of floor space.</p><br>
<p>The building, though based on Classical architecture, is not entirely a Classical building. Its rooflines, main entrance, and the placement and style of the windows are all asymmetrical in nature, a hallmark of the Arts and Crafts style. Its simple massing and noticeable lack of ornamentation throughout the structure connects the building closely to the Arts and Crafts movement. This influence is seen most prominently on the building&#39;s interior.</p><br>
<p>Though Arts and Crafts is specifically regarded as a movement within architecture, as opposed to a full-blown style, there are elements that are considered typical to buildings designed in the style. Examples include, dark, heavy woodwork and very simple ornamentation. The Oregon Public Library contains functional elements associated with that movement. Dark woodwork is found throughout the building, first in the stairwell to the gallery and its balusters and newel posts and then in the four-panel wooden interior door. The ceilings are coffered and have exposed wooden beams. Also located in the interior is a large 1909 wooden floor clock, a built-in storage cabinet, and two wooden fuse boxes that all evoke the Arts and Crafts movement.</p><br>
<p>The building does demonstrate elements of Classical Revival architecture but they are minimal and concentrated around the front entrance. Below the front entrance hood there are two stone pilasters and a stone lintel, as well as relief work adorning the pediment; leading to the front entrance are seven concrete stairs. The entire entry facade is a gable-front, temple style design and on the library&#39;s east wing there are stone-capped modified buttresses. Each of these elements demonstrates the Classical Revival style.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The Oregon Public Library was added to the USA National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 2003, for its architectural and educational significance. The building represents a good example of the Arts and Crafts movement in architecture. As a Carnegie library, the Oregon Public Library satisfied the requirements laid out for listing on the National Register in the Illinois Carnegie Libraries Multiple Property Submission. The library building is considered the most "outstanding" of the Craftsman or Arts and Crafts buildings within the historic district boundaries.</p><br>
<p>The Oregon Commercial Historic District is a historic district in Oregon, Illinois, that has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2006. The district is roughly bordered by Jefferson, Franklin, 5th and 3rd Streets in Oregon. It is one of six Oregon sites listed on the National Register and one of three to be so listed since the turn of the 21st century. The other two are the Oregon Public Library, listed in 2003, and the Chana School, listed in 2005.</p><br>
<h2>Establishment history</h2><br>
<p>The Oregon Commercial Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 16, 2006. The National Register of Historic Places Registration form was dated July 12, 2006 and was completed by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.</p><br>
<h2>Boundaries</h2><br>
<p>The boundaries for the district are roughly encompassed by Jefferson Street on the south, Franklin Street on the north, and 3rd and 5th Street on the east and west. The grounds cover 30 acre and include 62 buildings and objects. Of those, 51 are contributing properties, 44 buildings, two structures and five objects. Another eleven buildings are considered non-contributing to the overall general historical character of the historic district.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The 44 buildings, five objects and two structures that make up the contributing properties of the historic district represent a wide range of architectural styles and uses. Italianate, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and the Arts and Crafts Movement, and other styles and movements, have all had their influences on the collection of mostly low level commercial architecture in the district.</p><br>
<h2>Structures</h2><br>
<p>Of the numerous buildings two of them are listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. They are the Arts and Crafts Oregon Public Library and the Romanesque Revival Ogle County Courthouse. The buildings are a mix of commercial, government and private residence usage, mostly some apartments on the upper floors of some buildings. Aside from buildings other sites are included, such as, cannons, a drinking fountain, sculptures and a well house.</p><br>
<h3>F.G. Jones Block</h3><br>
<p>This two-story Italianate structure is attached to two other historically significant buildings at the corner of Washington and Third Streets in Oregon. It is the most ornately detailed of the three.</p><br>
<h3>Jacobs Block</h3><br>
<p>The three-story Italianate Jacobs Block was known also as the National Clothing House. The structure was built sometime around 1870 and the aluminum awning was added in the 1960s.</p><br>
<h3>Masonic Temple Lodge No. 420</h3><br>
<p>This three story yellow brick building is in the 100 Block of South Fourth Street. Its exterior is decorated with ivory brick detailing and it sports a three globe milk glass sign over the door on its second story.</p><br>
<h3>Old Ogle County Courthouse</h3><br>
<p>The Romanesque Revival Ogle County Courthouse stands in the middle of a large public square. Though no longer the county&#39;s primary judiciary center some county office still occupy the first two floors. The building was designed by Chicago architect George O. Garnsey and constructed in 1891.</p><br>
<h3>Oregon City Hall</h3><br>
<p>The Oregon City Hall was constructed in 1920, though its front facade, specifically the windows, have seen some renovations and replacement. The building is still home to the city government in Oregon, Illinois.</p><br>
<h3>Oregon Coliseum</h3><br>
<p>The Oregon Coliseum stands on the corner of Fourth Street and Franklin Street on the north end of the historic district. The largely stucco exterior is heavily influenced by Art Deco style.</p><br>
<h3>Oregon Public Library</h3><br>
<p>The design of the Oregon Public Library is a product of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Its second story includes an art gallery which displays works from its permanent collection which includes donated works created by Lorado Taft and Nathaniel Currier.</p><br>
<h3>Oregon Theater</h3><br>
<p>This 1910 theater building started as the Star Theater and was later the Oregon Theater. The facade was re-clad around 1940. Though now converted for commercial use the building still features its marquee with "OREGON" written on it in large neon letters.</p><br>
<h3>Other notable structures</h3><br>
<p>125 S. Fourth St.</p><br>
<p>300 Washington St.</p><br>
<p>302 Washington St.</p><br>
<p>Iron Mike</p><br>
<p>F.G. Jones Block</p><br>
<p>Oregon State Savings Bank Building</p><br>
<p>USA Post Office</p><br>
<h3>Rock River Hotel</h3><br>
<p>This traditional I-house structure was built around the beginning of the American Civil War and began its history as a private residence. Later it was converted into the Rock River Hotel and then later the Blackhawk Hotel. Oregon once had three historic hotel buildings, the Rock River Hotel is the last of those standing.</p><br>
<h3>Schiller Piano Company</h3><br>
<p>Historically Ogle County&#39;s largest employer the Schiller Piano Company building is a 120,000 ft&sup2; industrial building on the northern end of the district. Its iron water tower base still stands in the northwest section of the lot. Both separately contribute to the integrity of the historic district.</p><br>
<h3>T. Goings Building</h3><br>
<p>The two-story Italianate T. Goings Building stands out because of wooden pediment over the brick parapet which is emblazoned with the name "T. Goings". The building was constructed of red brick in 1895.</p><br>
<h3>The Soldiers&#39; Monument</h3><br>
<p>The Soldiers&#39; Monument is located on the courthouse square. It features three sculptures by Lorado Taft and an exedra designed by the architects Allen and Iriving Pond. It was originally dedicated to Ogle County veterans of the Civil and Spanish–American Wars, later World War I veterans were added.</p><br>
<h3>Union Block Opera House</h3><br>
<p>The three-story structure known as the Union Block, or Hall, Opera House is a Romanesque Revival influenced building constructed around 1880.</p><br>
<h3>Unity Building</h3><br>
<p>The Unity Building is an ornate Queen Anne commercial building. It has a large second story oriel which causes it to stand out from the surrounding buildings which are designed in a more sedate Classical Revival and Italianate styles.</p><br>
<p>The Ogle County Courthouse is a National Register of Historic Places listing in the Ogle County, Illinois, county seat of Oregon. The building stands on a public square in the city&#39;s downtown commercial district. The current structure was completed in 1891 and was preceded by two other buildings, one of which was destroyed by a group of outlaws. Following the destruction of the courthouse, the county was without a judicial building for a period during the 1840s. The Ogle County Courthouse was designed by Chicago architect George O. Garnsey in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. The ridged roof is dominated by its wooden cupola which stands out at a distance.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the courthouse building, the public square contains several outbuildings and sites that are also historic in nature and considered contributing properties to the Oregon Commercial Historic District, including a sculpture by Lorado Taft and a cast-iron fountain. The courthouse joined the Register in 1981 and was included as a contributing property to the historic district in 2006. After initially joining the Register the structure underwent a careful restoration. The courthouse no longer serves as the primary judiciary center for the county; its successor is located directly across the street.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Ogle County Courthouse has been the name of three buildings. The current structure on the public square, no longer in use as the judiciary center in Ogle County, was constructed in late 1890 and early 1891 at a cost of US$107,000. The basically square Romanesque Revival structure is topped with a cupola and features a full basement. It was designed by Chicago architect George O. Garnsey.</p><br>
<h3>First courthouse</h3><br>
<p>The first session of the Ogle County Commissioners&#39; Court took place on January 3, 1837, after the city of Oregon was picked as the county seat. The first courthouse was completed in 1840–1841, but it never saw use. The 1840-41 courthouse was constructed at a cost of $4,000, partially in response to "a gang of villains" harassing citizens. On March 21, 1841, the night before court convened in its new building, the bandits allegedly set the courthouse on fire, completely destroying it. The town, whipped into a fury by horse whipping and thievery and, even murder, later formed a band of "Regulators" to hunt down and bring the bandits to justice. Essentially vigilantes, the group tracked down two residents, "Old Man Driscoll" (possibly Driskell) and his son, William Driscoll, both suspected of the murder. The Driscolls were arrested and brought to Oregon by the Regulators. A trial was organized at a nearby mill. The defendants were provided with counsel and the trial ensued, which residents involved called "fair" at the time.</p><br>
<p>The swift outcome of the trial resulted in the almost immediate execution of the two men. One Driscoll, led out alone, was shot first. Then the other was led out, shown his dead relative&#39;s body and pushed for a confession. The defendant refused to confess, though he reportedly said he had committed other crimes for which he deserved death, and was also shot.</p><br>
<p>After the lynching, friends and relatives of the Driscolls attempted to strike back at the Regulators. They obtained an indictment against many of the Regulators charging them with murder. The Regulators responded by obtaining their own Bills of Indictment against every person who had stood by and witnessed the lynching. With 125 people under indictment no witnesses could be found, and no jury could be formed, so the judge cleared the charges.</p><br>
<h3>Courthouse limbo</h3><br>
<h3>Second courthouse</h3><br>
<p>The replacement for the first courthouse, destroyed by arson, was not completed until the summer of 1848. A one-story brick building, the second Ogle County Courthouse was constructed for $3,000. The county used it for several decades but it was soon outgrown as various county offices began to accumulate more and more records and files. The structure exhibited Greek Revival style, common at the time. Some of the 1848 building&#39;s architectural elements included, a vent cupola, double-hung sash windows, complete with shutters, a gabled front roof and corniced returns. The new building was used as a multi-purpose public building; besides being the courthouse it served as the meeting hall for the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Oregon until 1850. When community leader Henry Mix died in 1867 citizens gathered at the courthouse to mourn. Though the 1848 Ogle County Courthouse was soon found to be "inadequate in every respect" it would be over 40 years before a new facility was built. The idea of a new courthouse was met with staunch opposition and it was not until 1891 that the 1848 building was demolished and the current building erected.</p><br>
<h3>Third courthouse</h3><br>
<p>The current old courthouse in Ogle County was completed in 1891 and has been in constant use since. It was dedicated on August 20, 1891, and remained the county&#39;s primary judicial building until the same date 114 years later, in 2005. On that day Ogle County dedicated its fourth courthouse, across the street from the historic old courthouse. The 1891 courthouse was completed at a cost of slightly more than $100,000. It is constructed of red brick and detailed with Naperville and Ashton limestone in a rock-faced motif. Architect George O. Garnsey, who also designed the Ellwood House in nearby DeKalb County, designed the building in the Romanesque Revival style. The cupola was not added to the roof until 1892.</p><br>
<p>During its early years, the courthouse was a popular community meeting place; the courthouse lawn was a common setting for community events and gatherings. Today, events no longer regularly take place on the courthouse lawn, but some festivals still occur at the location. After being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 a series of renovations began on the building, in order to, "preserve its historical and architectural integrity." Inside the courthouse, each office and courtroom was renovated, the exterior of the structure was refurbished and restored as well. The work was completed in 1983 and the building opened for public tours in 1984.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>This example of Romanesque Revival architecture was designed by George O. Garnsey, a Chicago architect well known in northern Illinois. An impressive structure, the courthouse is designed on a monumental scale.</p><br>
<h3>Exterior</h3><br>
<p>The building is constructed of red pressed brick, detailed with locally quarried limestone, and reinforced with steel girders. The building&#39;s primary contractor was C.A. Moses.</p><br>
<p>The red brick facade is detailed with significant amounts of limestone, including in its continuous lintels and sills. The entrances are covered with large round arches. The full basement is hinted at by the building&#39;s prominent foundation and water table. The window lintels, and sills, as well as the arches and stairs are trimmed with limestone.</p><br>
<p>The roof is sharply angled toward its center, where a wooden cupola tops the building. It was completed after the building, in 1892. At each of the square shaped buildings four corners are dormers, which serve to break up the monotony of the otherwise ridged roof. The dormers resemble the cupola, in that they are dormered as well as multi-gabled. The roof has had routine maintenance performed as required. The buildings dominant feature, its cupola, sits on an oversized brick base with a terra cotta belt around its base top. It features blocked openings with multiple arches, double round arches, Corinthian pilasters, and organic corner detailing.</p><br>
<p>The courthouse is elaborately windowed. Some windows, mostly on the first floor are straight topped. On the second floor most of the windows are topped with limestone arches. The original, wood-framed windows were replaced in 1972. The building&#39;s two main entrances feature stone arches over recessed doors; eleven step stairways lead to both doors. New doors were installed in both entrances in 1971.</p><br>
<h3>Interior</h3><br>
<p>The remaining original woodwork, sills, door frames, and interior doors, are all solid oak. The interior walls are 12 inches thick and, either painted or covered with paneling. An open, double staircase leads from the first floor to the second and third floors and the center of the building houses an elevator which moves from the basement to the third floor. The interior floors are all white pine wood, though some of the floors have now been carpeted. First floor ceilings are 15 feet high, with doors at a height of 12 feet. The second floor features the courtrooms, which, through the 1980s remodel, had the ceilings lowered to 10 feet.</p><br>
<h2>Other features</h2><br>
<p>The public square where the Ogle County Courthouse stands is in the heart of the Oregon Commercial Historic District. Besides the courthouse, there are five other important sites on the public square, all of which are considered contributing properties to the historic district. The sites include cannons, war memorials, and a cast-iron fountain. Iron Mike, the 1896 cast-iron fountain, is on the south side of the 400 Block of Washington Street in the Oregon Commercial Historic District. The multi-tier fountain is set into a matte green concrete base, and is four feet tall and three feet wide, at its widest point. Its lowest tier is adorned with the words "Illinois Humane Society."</p><br>
<h3>Civil War cannons</h3><br>
<p>The public square also features two surplus Civil War era cannons. The two cannons "guard" the eastern entrance to the Ogle County Courthouse. Both cannons were put in place sometime between 1898 and 1900. The Columbiad Cannon (the southernmost cannon) was cast in 1846 in Boston, Massachusetts. The northernmost cannon, the Parrot Cannon, was cast in 1864.</p><br>
<h3>The Soldiers&#39; Monument</h3><br>
<p>The Soldiers Monument sits on the southeast corner of the public square. The monument was designed by sculptor Lorado Taft in 1911 and Chicago architects Allen Bartlit Pond and Irving Kane Pond designed the structure that encompasses Tafts sculptures. The installation was dedicated in 1916. The monument is adorned with plaques honoring Ogle County&#39;s war dead from the American Civil War, Mexican War, War of 1812 and World War I, the last of which was added later.</p><br>
<h3>War memorial</h3><br>
<p>On the north side of the public square is a terraced concrete memorial dedicated to Ogle County veterans of wars other than those included on The Soldiers&#39; Monument. Dedicated on June 29, 1950, the War Memorial is adorned with plaques representing five American wars, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War. The plaques were added from 1951 to 1991. The memorial features four brick tiers topped with concrete caps, each cap holds a flagpole base.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The Ogle County Courthouse was added to National Register of Historic Places on September 10, 1981. On August 16, 2006, its historic importance was reasserted when it was included as a contributing property in the Oregon Commercial Historic Districts listing on the National Register. On its original National Register nomination form the building was cited as significant in the areas of "architecture" and "politics and government." The courthouse has been called a "prized landmark," and a site "that holds a special place of honor" in the city of Oregon. Three of the features on and around the courthouse grounds, Iron Mike, the War Memorial, and The Soldiers Monument, all greatly contribute to the sense of time and place that the Oregon Commercial Historic District conveys.</p><br>
<p>Chana School is a Registered Historic Place in Ogle County, Illinois, in the county seat of Oregon, Illinois. One of six Oregon sites listed on the Register, the school is an oddly shaped, two-room schoolhouse which has been moved from its original location. Chana School joined the Register in 2005 as an education museum.</p><br>
<p>The schoolhouse was built in 1883, in the village of Chana, Illinois. Due to the elimination of the Chana School District, the school was abandoned by the 1960s. A restoration effort was undertaken in the late 1990s, ending with a move and refurbishment in 2002 and 2003. The building now stands in a public park along the Rock River in Oregon, Illinois. Its interior also features architectural elements which set it apart from the typical 19th-century schoolhouse. From a distance, the building is dominated by its bell tower.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early years</h3><br>
<p>The village of Chana was founded in 1871, half a mile northwest of White Oak School,</p><br>
<p>Chana&#39;s first teacher was D.C. Sears, an Oregon, Illinois resident. The late 19th century saw at least ten individuals teach at Chana School at different times. By 1888, Pine Rock Township was ready to address the question of whether or not to build a high school; Chana students attended high school in Oregon. The question was brought to a vote but failed and Chana students continued to go to Oregon schools after eighth grade.</p><br>
<h3>After closing</h3><br>
<p>After the school closed in 1953, the larger, original room was converted into a bus garage by the Chana School District. A large garage door was cut into the building and the floor completely removed. The smaller, 1893 room became a storage area. In 1962, the Chana School District ran out of room and used the building as an overflow classroom. By the mid-1960s, the Chana District folded and was absorbed by the Oregon School District. Residents were allowed to remove any items from the school after the district shut down.</p><br>
<h3>Restoration</h3><br>
<p>In 1997, the property was sold and the Chana School was nearly demolished. Citizens formed the Chana School Foundation to save the building. It was relocated to City Park East in Oregon, Illinois and volunteers began the process of refurbishing the building in August 1998. Five years later, in September 2003, the school had its grand opening. Since then, it has operated as a museum to help illustrate 1880s education in the United States.</p><br>
<p>The moving and restoration of the Chana School was facilitated, in part, by a US$15,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The grant was intended to help restore the building to its original state, restore a sand hill prairie on the site, develop museum exhibit space, and establish learning links to other museums in support of "the rural education focus" as part of the curriculum.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>Chana School is, on one hand, typical of rural schoolhouses, with a gabled roof and trademark bell tower. On the other hand, the building is unique among 19th-century schoolhouses. It does have some stylistic elements, mostly of the Italianate style. Examples include pedimented window crows and pronounced hoods over the belfry openings. However, Chana School&#39;s architectural difference lies in its design and, thus, its floor plan.</p><br>
<h3>Exterior</h3><br>
<p>The bell tower rises 43 ft, and halfway up its length is a large round sign. The sign denotes the school district, Pine Rock, and the year of the school&#39;s foundation. Originally, the sign graced the front exterior wall of the larger of the two rooms. The tower rises above the roof by about fifteen feet and at its top are four arches, one on each side. Wooden construction is found throughout the tower, its arches, and the rest of the schoolhouse, save the limestone and cement foundation. At the bottom of each of the four arches are balustrades decorated with spindles. Inside the tower is the school bell. The bell house is topped with a multi-gabled roof. The roof of the overall schoolhouse is covered with cedar shingles and features chimneys rising from each of the classrooms.</p><br>
<p>The building&#39;s southern facade, that of the original 1883 room, features three windows. The same room has two rear windows of the same style. The windows are all double hung and of four-over-four design.</p><br>
<h3>Interior</h3><br>
<p>The interior of the 1883 room has been restored to its original appearance. The red oak floor is trimmed by nine inches of mop board and quarter-round, decoratively accented. The two curved and semi-circular front walls mark the two coat rooms in the original, one-room building. The rounded walls hold a chair rail and are wainscoted below the blackboards. Blackboards cover available space on the north, east, and south walls. Pressed tin extends over the ceiling and is used as a crown molding around the room on the walls from the ceiling to the top of the blackboards.</p><br>
<p>The second, newer room has also been fully restored as a schoolroom and is currently being used as a museum. The rectangular room features a half chimney, partial original oak floors, and original blackboards which are set lower for smaller children.</p><br>
<h3>Unique features</h3><br>
<p>This building, at least among schoolhouses from the time period (1880s), is architecturally unique in two ways. One feature that sets this structure apart from most rural schoolhouses of the day is the building&#39;s design. Chana School started off as a simple, run-of-the-mill, one-room schoolhouse. Ten years later, however, an addition to the building attached a second, smaller classroom, perpendicular to the original. The bell tower was then constructed to connect the two rooms. The result was a unique layout resembling an "L" with its corner shaved off. Inside the building is another unique feature for schoolhouses of the time—the coat rooms are surrounded by two semi-circular front walls in the original wing of the building.</p><br>
<h2>Outbuildings</h2><br>
<p>The only other buildings on the site are two outhouses, located to the rear of the school building. Both are non-functional, display models. One outhouse is an original 1870s structure, transported to the site and reassembled. The other outhouse is a copy, built from salvaged materials during the school restoration. Neither outhouse is historically associated with Chana School and both are considered non-contributing factors in the schoolhouse&#39;s National Register of Historic Places listing.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>Chana School was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 2005. On its original nomination form to the National Register, Chana School was cited as being significant for inclusion in the Register under criteria C, which states a property: "embod(ies) the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction."</p><br>
<p>The South Side German Historic District is a neighborhood within Quincy, Illinois, United States just south of downtown. The neighborhood includes most of Quincy&#39;s rich German architecture. The region is also widely known as "Calftown", named for the number of calves once owned by its inhabitants. It was added into the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 with a boundary increase in 1995.</p><br>
<h2>Notable Structures and Attractions</h2><br>
<h3>Dick Brothers Brewery Building</h3><br>
<p>In 1857, three brothers; Matthew, John, and Jacob, founded the Dick Brothers Brewery. At one time, 70,000 barrels of brew would be produced and shipped around the Midwest, making Dick Bros. one of the largest beer brands in the country of the early 20th Century. The company&#39;s operations were once even larger than Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis. Prohibition and World War II brought much hardship to the brewery, and the brand declared bankruptcy in 1951. The property was also auctioned off. Today, the building remains as a regional landmark and numerous renovation projects have been started to revitalize the building, including the introduction of a fine art studio. There have even been projects attempting to revive the Dick Brothers brand.</p><br>
<h3>Dr. Richard Eells House</h3><br>
<p>In 1835, Dr. Richard Eells built his house, which now is part of both the Downtown Quincy Historic District and the South Side German Historic District. Eells was an outspoken abolitionist in his community, offering runaway slaves shelter on their way north. He was found guilty of harboring fugitive slaves in 1842, and his trial was heard by Judge Stephen A. Douglas, of the Lincoln-Douglas debate fame. Following his arrest and trial, he became President of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Party and unsuccessfully ran for the Liberty Party&#39;s nomination in the 1844 US presidential election. Today, the home of Dr. Richard Eells has been restored and is maintained by the local organization Friends of Dr. Richard Eells House. They provide tours of the historic house on an appointment basis.</p><br>
<h3>Eighth Street Business District</h3><br>
<p>The Eighth Street Business District (pictured) forms the heart of the South Side German Historic District, and many notable features are along or nearby this interchange including the State Street Theater, LaGondola&#39;s Spaghetti House, Gem City College, and the Salem Evangelical Church.</p><br>
<h3>Gem City College</h3><br>
<p>Gem City College is a school that specializes in horology and cosmetology.</p><br>
<h3>LaGondola&#39;s Spaghetti House</h3><br>
<p>LaGondola has moved to a new location at 12th and Jefferson.</p><br>
<h3>Quincy Public Library</h3><br>
<p>The Quincy Library serves much of the areas literature needs. It is built with a modern design, not a German-influenced one like much of the neighborhoods culture, however the site has become a city landmark regardless. As of 2011, the Library has begun an expansion providing a larger children&#39;s and teen section, as well as added more conference spaces for events.</p><br>
<h3>Salem Evangelical United Church of Christ</h3><br>
<p>The Salem Church stands as a prominent feature in Quincy&#39;s German historic district. Although not its original location, the church began services in 1848 by a German mission society. It moved to its present location in 1877. The church is also an historical landmark.</p><br>
<h3>The State Street Theater</h3><br>
<p>The State Street Theater is a former 500-seat movie theater that has been modified to function as a concert venue, reception hall, and bar. The ticket booth is still present and the outside has an array of many incandescent lightbulbs, retained features from its theater roots. State Room opened as a theater in 1938.</p><br>
<h3>Woodland Cemetery</h3><br>
<p>Woodland Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in the state and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The first graves began the cemetery in 1847. It is also placed on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River.</p><br>
<p>The D. B. James House is located in Sycamore, Illinois and is part of the Sycamore Historic District. The district was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The James House is one of 226 properties located within the district boundaries. It stands on the corner of Exchange and Main Streets behind the DeKalb County Courthouse.</p><br>
<h2>Daniel B. James</h2><br>
<p>Daniel B. James, original owner of the home on Exchange Street, was born in Vermont in 1817. While in Vermont he practiced law. The 1860 USA Census says he came to Illinois via California in 1852. James helped found the Republican Party in Sycamore and in 1857 he co-founded the Sycamore True Republican, a newspaper. In 1865 he was elected county judge and stayed in office until 1869. James died in 1877 and is interred at the Elmwood Cemetery in Sycamore.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Old maps of Sycamore, dated 1892 and 1894 show just one other house in the 100 block of Exchange Street, where the James House is located. By the turn of the 20th century the lots on the block had been built on. The date attributed to the house, when the district was listed on the Register of Historic Places, was 1862. However, according to old newspaper articles Daniel B. James commissioned a firm, Hammond & Carlson, to design the home in 1858 or 1859. James used the home as a law office, also its current function as of 2007.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The USA Post Office in Sycamore, Illinois, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Sycamore Historic District. The district was designated and listed in May 1978. It stands directly across the street from another key structure in the district, the Sycamore Public Library and cross-corner from the district&#39;s largest structure, the DeKalb County Courthouse. It is open M-F from 8:30 am – 6:00 pm, Saturday from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, and it is closed on Sunday.</p><br>
<p>The David Syme House is located in Sycamore, Illinois and is part of the Sycamore Historic District. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1978. The Queen Anne style home was constructed circa 1880.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>David Syme arrived in Sycamore in 1868 and was president of Sycamore National Bank. During his tenure in Sycamore, Syme served as mayor and president of the school board. He often donated time and funds to the Sycamore Public Library, another building within the district. His home was constructed for about $8,000 around 1880. The architect, George O. Garnsey of Chicago, designed the home in the Queen Anne style, and published his design in May 1885. Other homes that used the same original design include the Jenkinson House in Port Huron, Michigan, built in 1889, the Shearer-Christy House in Waupaca, Wisconsin, built in 1892, and the McClure House in Los Angeles, California, built in 1887. Some of the home&#39;s features are its two, prominent turrets and stained glass windows.</p><br>
<p>The Frederick Townsend Garage is located in Sycamore, Illinois and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Sycamore Historic District. It sits at the base of a small incline overlooked by the large Queen Anne style Townsend House. First a gas station, the building has been used by a number of restaurants since then. It was restored and remodeled for use as a community bank in 2016. The Sycamore Historic District was listed on the Register in May 1978.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The distinctive stone structure was constructed in 1905 for use as a garage for the estate of Frederick B. Townsend, his former home is the Queen Anne mansion that overlooks the garage property. When it was first constructed the local newspaper, the Sycamore True Republican, stated that the building was meant to hold "benzine vehicle" owned by Townsend and his brother-in-law Elmer E. Boynton. The structure was erected at a cost of about $3,000 and made of granite rocks gathered from Townsend&#39;s farmland.</p><br>
<p>After the building left private ownership the property was exploited for commercial use and became a gas station. Despite the years and the changes in function the building&#39;s historical character remains intact. The front roof, over the canopy, has seen the most change. It was originally covered with red tile, matching the building. Also, the canopy is non-original but the pillars supporting are. The last gas station at the property closed in the early 1980s and it housed a restaurant until 2015.</p><br>
<p>In 2016, the garage was restored and remodeled by Resource Bank, N.A., and now serves as a community bank for the city of Sycamore.</p><br>
<p>The Patchett House is located at Ward Street , on the junction with Factory Street, in Montgomery, New York. It was originally built in the early 19th century as a tavern serving travelers on the Newburgh–Cochecton Turnpike, whose eastern half 17K follows today.</p><br>
<p>Arthur Patchett, at the time co-owner of the Montgomery Worsted Mills at the end of Factory Street on the Wallkill River, moved into the house sometime in the 1890s. His family continued living there until the 1970s.</p><br>
<p>The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Later on, though, it remained vacant and by the end of the century had fallen into serious neglect and disrepair. In 2005, serious renovations were undertaken and today the house looks as good as new. The most recent tenants are the nonprofit artist&#39;s environmental cooperative.</p><br>
<p>A nearby townhouse complex is named Patchett Crossing. The Montgomery Water Works, built on land originally owned by the Patchetts, stands almost just across 17K, and the Orange County Choppers production facility is just up the street.</p><br>
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<p>The Montgomery Water Works is located along NY 17K in the village of Montgomery, New York. The two small brick buildings were built in 1895 on land sold to the village by Arthur Patchett, whose own house still stands across the road.</p><br>
<p>It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. a new senior housing development has been built near the water works. Workers had to take care to avoid damage to the building.</p><br>
<p>The Mai Wah Museum is located in Butte, Montana, United States. Its mission is to document the history of Asian people in the Rocky Mountains. The museum is housed in the Wah Chong Tai building and Mai Wah Noodle Parlor building at 17 West Mercury Street.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Chin Hin Doon of the Chinn family relocated to America amidst famines and unrest in Guangdong province to start a new life in America. Chinn settled in Butte as a merchant in the Wah Chong Tai Company by 1894. By the 1930s, his son Albert Chinn who attended public schools in Butte ran the business out of the present Wah Chong Tai Mercantile and Mai Wah Noodle Parlor buildings, providing services and lodging to the local Chinese population. The Wah Chong Tai Mercantile, moved into the present building in 1899, now stands as the countrys only original Chinese store from the early 20th century. Buttes Chinatown was once the largest between Minneapolis and Seattle. Now, the mercantile and adjoined Mai Wah Noodle Parlor exhibit 2,500 artifacts dating back to as early as 1905.</p><br>
<p>In 2018, the Mai Wah Museum secured $133,000 through a Partners in Preservation grant to restore the exterior of the two buildings that make up the museum. The Partners in Preservation campaign highlighted sites that helped tell stories of diversity and of fights for equality. The online voting concluded with the Mai Wah Museum in the No. 6 position among 20 finalists.</p><br>
<p>The Georges Block, once known as the James Block, is a 19th-century structure located in Sycamore, Illinois, along Illinois Route 64  as it passes through the DeKalb County seat. The Block is part of the Sycamore Historic District and as such is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district joined the Register in May 1978. The building dates from 1857 when it was owned by Daniel P. James but by the 1860s the building has become known as Georges Block.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Georges Block began its life in 1857 and was then known as the James Block, after the owner Daniel P. James. James, a prominent citizen, lived in the nearby Jerkin-roofed D. B. James House, also part of the Sycamore Historic District. By the 1860s the James name was gone but the building was still known as a block. Many buildings of the period were known as blocks, usually multi-story and multi-business, the buildings contained retail and professional space or, in the case of Georges Block, lecture halls or auditoriums. The third floor of the George&#39;s Block, not in use as of 2007, contained a lecture hall where a wide variety of speakers from around the United States would come for presentations. In the first year the building existed such famous men as Horace Greeley, Charles Sumner and Bayard Taylor spoke there.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The George&#39;s Block has undergone several changes through the years. Even before the turn of the 20th Century a partial balcony, that had been in place below the second-floor windows of the three-story structure, was gone. It is thought that this balcony probably crossed the entire State Street facade of the building. After the turn of the century the balcony had been replaced with awnings. The original brick cornice remains intact. The first floor level once held a variety of storefronts, on both the State and Maple Street sides of the building. Today the building is mostly converted for use as a real estate office. Windows have been slowly replaced or removed over time. The real estate office windows are somewhat in the spirit of the originals and the areas where windows once were on the Maple Street side of the building have long since been bricked over. On the upper floors the double hung windows have been replaced with single pane sashes. Of the 16 third floor windows only three are present, the other thirteen were boarded up through the decades.</p><br>
<p>The Amos B. Coe House is a historic home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was built for a local real estate developer in 1884 in the Eastlake Style of Queen Anne architecture. A carriage house in the Shingle Style was added in 1886.</p><br>
<p>The house is located at 1700 3rd Avenue South in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for its architectural significance.</p><br>
<p>Attorneys for the construction, plumbing and electrical companies that had previously won a court judgment for unpaid work at the museum joined to purchase the property for $1.3 million: the total amount a judge found that they are owed. The group was the sole bidder at the public auction.</p><br>
<p>Beginning in 2008, the Minnesota African American Museum and Cultural Center occupied the structure. The museum began a $6 million fundraising effort to renovate it. Although the museum spent several million dollars on improvements, its fundraising effort failed to cover the cost of renovations. Creditors won a lawsuit in September 2015 evicting the museum. The creditors now jointly own the property. In 2016, the property and adjoining carriage house were divided into 9 apartments.</p><br>
<p>The Frederick B. Townsend House is located in the DeKalb County, Illinois county seat of Sycamore. The home is within the boundaries of the Sycamore Historic District. The district was designated and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1978. The Queen Anne style home was designed and constructed in 1890 or 1892 by the same architect and general contractor responsible for Altgeld Hall at Northern Illinois University and the nearby DeKalb County Courthouse, as well as the courthouse in Lee County.</p><br>
<h2>Frederick B. Townsend</h2><br>
<p>Frederick B. Townsend was born in Malta Township, DeKalb County, Illinois in 1858. This native son belonged to an elite family tree that included such prominent residents as Daniel Pierce, his maternal grandfather, who founded the National Bank & Trust Co. in 1867. Townsend married Mary Boynton, the daughter of a lender and land speculator in 1890. They eventually became parents to Charles and Eleanor. Eleanor Townsend married Thomas H. Roberts of Clinton Township in 1920. Roberts would go on to found DeKalb Ag, a company later known as DeKalb Genetics Corp. and bearer of the famous corn ear DeKalb logo. That company merged with Monsanto Company in 1998.</p><br>
<p>Townsend was active as a local community leader and served in a variety of positions. At one time or another Townsend was mayor of Sycamore, county judge and instrumental in keeping Sycamore the DeKalb County seat when the courthouse was reconstructed in the early 20th century.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Local legend has it that the house was given as a dowry of sorts to Frederick Townsend and his new bride, Mary Boynton, by her father, Charles O. Boynton, in 1890. However, newspaper articles from 1892 indicate that the mansion was new at that time.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The Townsend House, much like the Townsend Garage, a short distance from the mansion, incorporates granite boulders collected from Townsends many DeKalb County farms. Unlike the Garage, however, only the lower portion of the house and porch facade and the foundation utilizes the boulders. The large granite porch wraps around the house from the front door, the porch includes a porte-cochere and is topped with wooden pillars. Transoms of leaded or stained glass can found on many of the first floor windows. A balcony is on the second floor where the structure has a multi-gabled roof. Both the east and south gables have large Palladian windows. The south gable has what has been termed an "M-roof." The enclosed turret is capped with a conical roof and is accessible only from the homes attic.</p><br>
<p>The Charles O. Boynton House is located in the DeKalb County, Illinois, city of Sycamore. The home is part of the Sycamore Historic District which was designated and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1978. The Queen Anne style mansion sits on a stretch of Sycamore&#39;s Main Street that is dotted with other significant Historic District structures including, the Townsend House and the Townsend Garage. The Boynton House was designed by the same architect who designed the Ellwood House in nearby DeKalb and the David Syme House, another house in the Sycamore Historic District.</p><br>
<h2>C. O. Boynton</h2><br>
<p>Charles O. Boynton was born in 1826 in Rockingham, Vermont. He came to Illinois in 1847 and opened a dry goods store in Chicago. Two years later he moved to Sycamore and opened another store, this time a general store. He began lending money in 1852 by obtaining capital from back East at lower interest rates and then lending locally at a higher rate. He did this until the early 1870s and made a significant amount of money.</p><br>
<p>After lending Boynton moved on to land speculation. Boynton owned farmland in DeKalb County as well as almost 75,000 acres (300 km) in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Arkansas. He held nearly 60,000 acres (240 km) of walnut forests in Arkansas where he owned a lumber mill.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The house remained in the Boynton family for around 100 years but went through numerous changes throughout its history. In the 1940s the family converted the first floor of the home for use as a gift, antique and women&#39;s clothing shop. To add merchandise space they enclosed the porch with glass and consolidated their living quarters to the upper floor. Finally, in 1986, the home left the hands of the Boynton family as third generation Lillian Boynton put the home up for sale, asking $275,000. The home, nearby Charles O. Boynton Carriage House, and surrounding property sold for $207,000.</p><br>
<p>The homes new owners set about remodeling, mostly the interior of the home. Outside they returned the porch to its 1880s appearance. The third floor had originally held a grand ballroom, said to have been even larger than that in the Ellwood House. At its height the ballroom was lavishly decorated and furnished. Even in the homes last years with Lillian Boynton the ballroom still retained its deteriorated original wallpaper and gas chandeliers. After the sale, the ballroom was gutted to make way for a new master bedroom.</p><br>
<p>The home hit the market for the third time in a little over 100 years in 1997. Both the home and carriage house passed hands, separately this time, due to bankruptcy proceedings. The home, at 8,824 ft&sup2; remained a single family home while the carriage house was converted for office space.</p><br>
<p>On December 16, 2016, the Boynton House was damaged in a fire that originated in the homes carport. Authorities speculated that a carpenters van owned by a hardwood flooring company that was working on the property ignited, causing an estimated $175,000 in damages. No one was harmed in the fire.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The facade is red brick and light colored stone. There is a diagonally placed turret in the mansions southeast corner, rising above the rest of the house. Bays are formed in the first and second floor rooms within the tower. A prominent oriel projects from the second floors northeast corner, opposite the tower. Many windows are detailed in stained glass including those in the oriel. The porte-cochere has been remodeled over the years and was originally intended to awe and amaze visitors to the Boynton House.</p><br>
<p>The home has seen a number of changes aside from the porte-cochere. The front porch has undergone dramatic altering through the years. When Garnsey designed the building he intended the porch as an open and wooden decorative touch. By the turn of the 20th century the porch had been replaced with a brick based porch. The 1940s brought the commercial conversion of the first floor of the home and the porch was enclosed with glass to provide additional space for the business.</p><br>
<p>The White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins are located in rural Ogle County, Illinois near the village of Mount Morris. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The Cabins are one of two Historic Places found in or near Mount Morris, the other is the Samuel M. Hitt House. The Lodge and Cabins are part of a National Register Multiple Property Submission, they were submitted with several other state park lodges, all designed by Joseph F. Booton.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>With the Great Depression in full swing the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sought to relieve the work needs of unemployed Americans. The National Park Service sought to work with state governments in an effort to meet those ends. Many of the projects the CCC was involved with were construction projects. The project at White Pines was originally meant to be the construction of a lodge building. Two hundred men worked on the State Park construction project at one time, in the years 1933-1939, many of them World War I veterans.</p><br>
<p>After the lodge was completed, it was decided to build a restaurant and breezeway onto the lodge building. Logs for most of the project were shipped via railroad from as far away as Oregon and Washington state, unloaded in Stratford, Illinois and dragged to the construction site by teams of horses. The CCC project also completed sixteen one room log cabins and three four-bedroom cabins. The work crews also built picnic shelters, trail shelters and foot bridges. Only the logs for the cabins came from another source. They were purchased from a salvage company that had purchased utility poles from a defunct utility company at the price of 30 cents a piece.</p><br>
<p>As of 2007, the site was home to the sixteen one room cabins and the lodge building, which had been renovated and revamped. Modern amenities were available and the site is operated as a private lodge.</p><br>
<h2>Site</h2><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The architecture of the lodge and cabins at White Pines was probably most influenced by the limitations on size instilled by the conservation effort underway at the southernmost stand of native white pines in the United States. When the site was under consideration for the lodge and cabins it had already seen extensive recreational use by the surrounding population. That use threatened to unhinge the delicate balance that existed within White Pines fragile ecosystem. As such, the Illinois State Park Plan, implemented at the time of the lodges construction, already called for additional state recreational areas in the northern Illinois area to alleviate the burden on White Pines. Because of the concern for conservation at the site, the White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins is the smallest of the five sites on the Multiple Property Submission. Despite its relative small size, especially compared to the Starved Rock Lodge or the Pere Marquette Lodge, the complex remains faithful to Bootons vision of "fanciful forest retreats."</p><br>
<h3>Lodge</h3><br>
<p>The lodge was the first structure to be completed at the site.</p><br>
<h4>Exterior</h4><br>
<p>The lodge building at White Pines is really a combination of two buildings connected by a covered breezeway. The north building contains the lounge and the south building a dining room and kitchen. Both rectangular lodge buildings are of unhewn pine log construction and set on a limestone base. Gable roofs are covered with wood shakes and supported by exposed interior log rafters. Both of the buildings have stone chimneys extending from the large stone fireplaces which form the interior focal point. The building almost comprehensively makes use of wooden logs in its construction, the only non-wood part of the lodge, and for that matter, the cabins, are its stone fireplaces and chimneys.</p><br>
<h3>Cabins</h3><br>
<p>The cabins, constructed after initial construction at the lodge was completed, are laid out in a circular pattern north of the lodge. The whole cabin area is ringed by a blacktop road and is set in a stand of white pines.</p><br>
<h4>Exterior</h4><br>
<p>The northern three cabins are the larger of the sixteen structures, being family units with multiple rooms. The remaining thirteen cabins are single room buildings. Like the lodge they are of largely unhewn log construction and feature stone chimneys extending from their roofs.</p><br>
<p>The Samuel M. Hitt House is located in the Ogle County, Illinois village of Mount Morris, along Illinois Route 64. The Hitt House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a status bestowed it 1985.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The Samuel M. Hitt House was built by Samuel M. Hitt. It is designed in the Italianate style and features limestone wall material. The Hitt house was constructed in 1858.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The Samuel M. Hitt House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 14, 1985, for its significance in the area of architecture.</p><br>
<p>The Moultrie County Courthouse is the only site in Moultrie County, Illinois that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in the county seat of Sullivan, the courthouse has been listed since 1995.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Earlier courthouses</h3><br>
<p>Moultrie County, Illinois was first settled around 1820. By 1842, local residents wanted a more local representation in government. That Fall, residents presented a petition to the state government to form a new county out of parts of Shelby and Coles Counties. The county was officially formed on February 16, 1843; it was named after Col. William Moultrie. East Nelson was chosen as the first county seat, but residents could not agree on a suitable location for the courthouse. The county held a second election for county seat and Asa&#39;s Point, which would thenceforth be known as Sullivan, was chosen as the site. The first courthouse was built in 1847. It was destroyed in a fire on November 25, 1864. The next year, plans were made for a new courthouse, built with local materials. It was completed in 1866. In 1896, the north side of the courthouse was host to a lynching. Grant Atteberry was imprisoned under accusations that he assaulted a local woman. An angry mob stormed the courthouse and demanded that the sheriff release the man to their custody. The sheriff agreed and the man was hanged from a tree on the northwest corner of the courthouse lawn.</p><br>
<h3>Present courthouse</h3><br>
<p>By 1904, the courthouse was deemed too small for county needs and plans for a new courthouse were approved. Deal & Ginsel were selected as architects and H. B. Walters of Danville, Illinois was appointed contractor. Work started some time between August and December 1904 and the courthouse was completed on August 6, 1906. Since its completion, the building has housed functions of county government. Its Circuit Courtroom has been a popular location for community functions because of its large size. From about 1907 to 1930, the courthouse was home to the Moultrie County Farmers&#39; Institute, a popular three-day educational meeting co-sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Agriculture. The most noteworthy trial to take place was the embezzlement trial of Jimmy Steel and Z. B. Whitfield of the Merchants & Farmers State Bank in 1921. On April 20, 1995, the building was recognized by the National Park Service with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>The John Deere House and Shop is located in the unincorporated village of Grand Detour, Illinois, near the Lee County city of Dixon. The site is known as the location where the first steel plow was invented by John Deere in 1837. The site includes Deere&#39;s house, a replica of his original blacksmith shop, a gift shop, and an archaeological exhibit showing the excavation site of his original blacksmith shop. The Deere House and Shop is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it joined that list in 1966, the year the Register was established. Prior to that, it was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 19, 1964.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1836, native Vermonter John Deere set out from Rutland, Vermont to Grand Detour, Illinois, founded by his friend and fellow Vermont native Leonard Andrus. The town lacked a local blacksmith, Deere&#39;s trade, and within two days Deere had a forge and new business established. In Vermont, Deere produced plows made from cast-iron and when he first arrived in Illinois he produced the same plows. Soil conditions in Illinois differ from those in Vermont. In Vermont the soil is sandy and falls easily away from the plow blade but in Illinois the soil is thicker and wetter; it stuck to the plow and had to be scraped off by the farmer as he plowed.</p><br>
<p>There are varying tales as to the inspiration for Deere to create the invention he is famed for, the steel plow. In one version he recalled the way the polished steel pitchfork tines moved through hay and soil and thought that the same effect could be obtained for a plow. Deere learned the technique polishing sewing needles for his mother, a seamstress. By early 1838, Deere completed his first steel plow and sold it to a local farmer, Lewis Crandall. Crandall spread word of his success with Deere&#39;s plow quickly, and two neighbors soon placed orders with Deere. By 1841 he was manufacturing 75 plows per year, and 100 plows per year in 1876.</p><br>
<h2>John Deere Historic Site</h2><br>
<p>The John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, Illinois is operated by the John Deere Company and has five components. Outside of the perimeter, which is surrounded by a white, wooden fence, are 2 acre of prairie restoration. Inside of the fenced area is the replica blacksmith shop, the John Deere House and the visitor center which is a gift shop. Also on the grounds is a building which houses the 1960s archaeological dig site. The blacksmith shop is a replica of the original Deere Shop, unearthed during the 1960s dig. The shop recreates Deere&#39;s shop and includes a demonstration by a modern blacksmith using antique tools of the trade and an open furnace. The visitor center is inside an 1843 home built by a Deere neighbor, it houses a gift shop which has an original Deere family wall clock on display. The home was originally owned by William Dana.</p><br>
<p>Part of the John Deere Historic Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with being designated a National Historic Landmark. The only contributing property on the National Register listing for the site is the John Deere House. The house is also the only "property type" listed on the National Historic Landmarks&#39; online database entry for the site. The house obtained National Historic Landmark status on July 19, 1964, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places soon after its inception on October 15, 1966.</p><br>
<h2>House</h2><br>
<p>The John Deere House was built in 1836 when Deere arrived in Grand Detour and the building was added onto as his family grew. It is furnished with period furniture and household objects that would have been common around the time the Deere family occupied the home. The house has two levels with four rooms on the main level and two rooms upstairs. Each of the upstairs rooms is accessible via a private staircase and it is believed one of the rooms was used by Deeres apprentices while the other was used as a childrens bedroom.</p><br>
<p>The front entry leads into the living room where polished wood is found throughout as well as 19th century furnishings. The front room is part of the original building which consisted of one room. The room acted as the Deere&#39;s kitchen, living room, bedrooms, essentially everything. Deere eventually added onto the house, including a bedroom and an upstairs loft. The first floor bedroom would have been used for John and his wife, and possibly a couple of the children while the upstairs room would was used for the rest of the children. The Deeres left the home in 1847 when they moved to Moline, Illinois.</p><br>
<h2>Shop</h2><br>
<p>The original blacksmith shop on the site is long gone, however, in 1962 an archaeological team made of students from the University of Illinois approached the Deere Company about excavating the site where the shop once stood. The team unearthed the location of the original Deere Blacksmith Shop where the first successful steel plow was developed in 1837. The dig site is preserved beneath a building, known as the pavilion. The site is surrounded by museum exhibits which include artifacts, news clippings, and photographs.</p><br>
<p>A blacksmith shop does occupy the current John Deere Historic Site grounds. Archaeologists used a magnetometer to locate the position of the forge in the original blacksmith shop, thus, the current shop shares an interior which is an exact replica of the original. The exterior of the building has the same dimensions as the original as well.</p><br>
<h2>Historic significance</h2><br>
<p>The John Deere House and Shop is historically significant for its influence in the areas of commerce, agriculture, industry, and invention. The site was designated a USA National Historic Landmark on July 19, 1964. The Landmark designation was assigned by the USA Department of Interior because of the House and Shop&#39;s association with John Deere, founder of the John Deere Company and inventor of the first steel plow. His invention was of significance to the entire United States and made large scale cultivation of areas in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio possible. When the USA National Register of Historic Places was established in 1966 the John Deere House and Shop was among the first properties to join that list. It was added to the National Register on October 15, 1966, the same day the National Register was established.</p><br>
<p>The Soldiers Monument in Byron, Illinois, is a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in Ogle County, Illinois, the monument is the city of Byrons only National Register listing. This monument is the oldest still standing in Illinois, despite being struck by lightning and damaged by a tornado in 1918.</p><br>
<h2>Monument</h2><br>
<p>The Soldier&#39;s Monument in Byron, Illinois is a marble spire located in the intersection of two streets. In the summer of 1865, shortly after the end of the Civil War, The Byron Monument Association was formed to erect a statue dedicated to the fallen soldiers. The Byron monument was one of the earliest in the state. The monument was erected in 1866 and constructed by builders Heard and Lindsley for $1,400. It is made of Rutland white marble. The monument was dedicated on October 16, 1866.</p><br>
<p>In 1877 the original spire was increased from 12 feet in height to 19 feet in height. Other alterations have taken place on the Soldier&#39;s Monument throughout the years. In 1897 the two cannons were added as was a cement base, two years later a lightning strike caused damage that had to be repaired. In 1918 the eagle atop the original spire was broken off in a tornado and in 1965 a new cement base was added. The original spire featured an eagle atop the point. After damage to the original spire and the first replacement, the decision was made to exclude the eagle (which significantly increased the cost of the spire) in the most recent replacement made.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The Soldier&#39;s Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 7, 1984 for its significant connection to social history.</p><br>
<p>The William Moats Farm, near Ashton, Illinois, United States, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in Ogle County, Illinois, the farm is the only National Register listing in or around Ashton.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The William Moats Farm house is an example of an I-house style construction. the house was built around 1844 and designed by an architect named Stoddard. The Moats House sits on a stone foundation and is constructed from mostly stone, but incorporates weatherboard and brick into its construction as well.</p><br>
<h2>Outbuildings</h2><br>
<p>The National Register of Historic Places listing for William Moats Farm includes the house and three other contributing properties. A smoke house is on the property, it was built, along with the house, in 1844. A gable-roofed barn was erected on the property in 1900 and is clad in weatherboard. A third structure, classified as an "energy facility", the windmill, was built in 1930.</p><br>
<h2>Significance</h2><br>
<p>The William Moats Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 12, 1987 for its significance in the areas of agriculture and architecture.</p><br>
<p>The Nazareth Convent and Academy in Concordia, Kansas is the official Motherhouse and Home for the 160 Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia. It was built in 1903 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The beautiful Lourdes-Park, restored in 1990, offers a place for walking and enjoying nature and the large stained glass window is known as "the beacon light of Concordia" as it looks over the community from the convent.</p><br>
<h2>Early years</h2><br>
<p>In 1884, the Rev. Joseph Perrier invited the Sisters of St. Joseph to come to Concordia to open a school in the Catholic Parish. Mother Stanislaus Leary, superior, and five sisters answered the invitation. They came to Concordia and established the Nazareth Motherhouse and Academy in a new building located next to the church.</p><br>
<p>The cornerstone ceremony was held on May 15, 1902. The main building was completed in late June 1903 and a section known as the Music Hall was added in 1906. 1908 saw the edition of a Chapel wing to the east end of the building.</p><br>
<h3>St. Joseph&#39;s Hospital</h3><br>
<p>The year 1903 brought the St. Joseph&#39;s Hospital. The order founded the hospital in the building which had been used for the academy after it had been moved to its location in the newly built Mother House. The hospital would change locations again in 1950 to a new building.</p><br>
<p>The sisters added a school of nursing in 1919 and continued in Concordia until Marymount College in Salina (another project of the Sisters of St. Joseph) introduced a complete nursing school in 1964.</p><br>
<h3>Education</h3><br>
<p>The sisters quickly gained a fine reputation for the education of young women at Nazareth, giving them a sound academic program as well as instruction in the fine arts, music, French and the social graces. In 1903, the Sisters of St. Joseph entered the health care field in Concordia with the establishment of the St. Joseph Hospital on the original site after the new Nazareth Motherhouse was built at its present location.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Mary Nicholas Arnoldy, sister and mathematician</p><br>
<h2>Present day</h2><br>
<p>The Sisters of St. Joseph remain active to this day.</p><br>
<p>The Snake River Ranch, near Wilson, Wyoming, is the largest deeded ranch in the Jackson Hole area. The ranch buildings are grouped into three complexes comprising headquarters, residential and shop complexes. The ranch combined two neighboring homesteads and was first owned by advertising executive Stanley B. Resor and his wife, Helen Lansdowne Resor. The Resors used the property as a vacation home, but the ranch was also a full-time, self-sustaining operation.</p><br>
<p>The ranch could produce its own food, water and electricity. It became significant for the Resors&#39; employment of notable architects, include Mies van der Rohe, and the wide variety of celebrity visitors it attracted. The Snake River Ranch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Resors primary home was in Greenwich, Connecticut, convenient to the JWT offices in New York City. In 1929 Stanley and Helens twelve-year-old son Stanley Rogers Resor spent part of the summer in Jackson Hole with the Huyler family, who had bought a ranch on the Snake River. The younger Stanleys enthusiasm about his experience led his father to buy 400 acre of land, sight unseen. The entire family arrived in 1930 to see one pre-existing cabin, a barn, and what would become known as the One-Room Cabin and the Parking Lot Cabin. The family was enthusiastic about the ranch, tempered by Helens preference for New York. To begin expanding the ranch the Resors hired architect Paul Colborn of New Canaan, Connecticut, to design a new main house. Work was well under way by the end of the summer, and Colborn ended up buying land for himself as well, which became known as the Aspen Ranch. The Resor property reputedly had the first flush toilets in Jackson Hole, as well as electricity generated on site.</p><br>
<p>Stanley Resor became enthusiastic about building a functioning ranch operation. During 1931 Resor established the ranch as a self-sustaining unit. He pulled down the old barn and hired landscape architect Isabelle Pendleton to lay out the headquarters complex. In 1933 a water wheel was added to the side of the ranch&#39;s pumphouse, which proved troublesome when it froze in the winter. In 1938 a Fitz turbine was installed in its place, to provide electricity, and was not retired until 1955. In the late 1930s the ranch infrastructure was further developed with the building of the shop complex.</p><br>
<h3>Mies van der Rohe</h3><br>
<p>In 1936 the Resors built the White Cabin for guest quarters. The White Cabin was designed by Philip Goodwin, who worked with Edward Durrell Stone on the Museum of Modern Art, and was on the board of directors of MOMA along with Helen Lansdowne Resor. The cabins white interior lent it its name. Soon after, Helen asked architect Mark Peters, a relative of one of the younger Resors school classmates, to "design a building in the style of Le Corbusier". The dining room, as it was called, was to span the mill stream, the arm of the Snake River that fed the power turbine, resting on four concrete piers. At some point Helen Resor lost confidence in the Peters design and sought another architect. She apparently turned to MOMA director Alfred Barr for advice. As a result of internal divisions within the MOMA board, which was divided between a faction led by Abby Rockefeller who supported Stone and Goodwin for the new MOMA building and a faction led by Barr and Resor who supported Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Helen Resor hired Mies to complete the dining room, his first project in the United States. The Resors also considered Walter Gropius but settled on Mies as a more practical choice. In summer 1937 the Resors met Mies in Paris, and he accompanied them back across the Atlantic for his first trip to the United States, stopping in Chicago before going on the Wyoming. Mies stayed in the White Cabin, sharing it for a time with artist Grant Wood, a figurative painter of American themes. Mies stayed for two months before moving back to Chicago to be offered the directorship of the Armour Institute of Technology.</p><br>
<p>Back in Chicago, Mies developed elaborate plans for a two-story building connecting the banks of the stream using long floor-to-ceiling windows. The only concession Mies made to the Western aesthetic of the ranch was to use wood to clad the building, for the first and only time in his career. However, rather than the Resors preferred local lodgepole pine, Mies settled on cypress. Mies did choose to use local fieldstone for the ground-level walls, the fireplace and central stairs. By March 1938, Mies was returning to Germany on the RMS Queen Mary when he received notice from Stanley Resor that the project was canceled, citing "business conditions". Resor suggested that the project might continue if Mies returned to the United States and worked with an American architect familiar with American construction practices. The project was projected to cost more than twice its budget, and there were technical difficulties with the proposed glazing. By fall 1938, Mies had returned to Chicago and had resumed work on the project, scaling it back somewhat, but it was finally canceled. Whatever the outcome of the design work at the Resors ranch, the project played a significant role in Mies&#39; departure from Germany just prior to the outbreak of war with a regime that was hostile to Modernist architecture.</p><br>
<h2>Ranch operations</h2><br>
<p>Stanley Resor developed the ranch into an efficient operation that could run without his direct management. By 1938 Resor&#39;s holdings included the Lower Ranch, 14 mi south of Wilson, Wyoming (actually two ranches), and four more in the main valley, all totaling 5,100 acre, second only to the Snake River Land Company.</p><br>
<p>A major flood in 1943 was the result of water unexpectedly released by Jackson Lake Dam. The flood destroyed the millstream headgate and the power house, and flooded the White Cabin with 2 ft of water. The piers for the proposed dining room were upset. Had the dining room addition been built, it would have been damaged or destroyed. As a result of the flood Resor, on the advice of Arthur Ernest Morgan, consulted with engineer C.C. Chambers, who designed a dike system for the ranch. The dike project was hampered by a wartime labor shortage, which affected ranch operations as well. Resor increasingly mechanized the ranch as a result.</p><br>
<p>By the time of Stanley Resor&#39;s death in 1962, the operation was mature. The ranch remains in the Resor family.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The ranch is functionally divided into three sections.</p><br>
<h3>Shop complex</h3><br>
<p>The shop complex is at the north end of the site. The complex is the location of the headgate inlet from the Snake River to the ranch&#39;s irrigation ditch. Structures include the</p><br>
<p>Cowboy Barn (Harnessing Barn) 1931-1937</p><br>
<p>Scale House</p><br>
<p>Dipping Vat, late 1930s</p><br>
<p>Snake River Dike and Heagate, constructed after flooding in 1943</p><br>
<p>Calving Barn (Vet Shack)</p><br>
<p>Fuel Shed (Turkey Coop), early 1930s</p><br>
<h3>Ranch Headquarters Complex</h3><br>
<p>The ranch headquarters complex is the next compound to the south and is arranged in a rectangle around a central open area. The site and buildings were designed by architect Isabelle Pendleton to frame a view of the Teton Range.</p><br>
<p>Root Cellar</p><br>
<p>Potting Shed</p><br>
<p>Blacksmith Shop&#39;</p><br>
<p>Office (Bunkhouse) (1935, rebuilt in the 1970s after a fire, non-contributing due to recent construction compared to other elements)</p><br>
<p>Woodshed (Coal House)</p><br>
<p>Manager&#39;s House, 1931</p><br>
<p>Ice House, 1933</p><br>
<p>Milk House, 1931</p><br>
<p>Turbine House and Dam, 1938</p><br>
<p>Penthouse (Old Shop and Bunkhouse). 1943</p><br>
<p>Main Barn, 1931</p><br>
<p>Saddle House</p><br>
<h3>Residential Complex</h3><br>
<p>The southernmost group of buildings was used for family and guest quarters.</p><br>
<p>Main Cabin, designed by Paul Colborn</p><br>
<p>Kitchen Cabin, 1916–1917, expanded 1930s and 1960s.</p><br>
<p>White Cabin, 1936, designed by Philip L. Goodwin</p><br>
<p>Parking Lot Cabin, 1930</p><br>
<p>Swimming Pool, circa 1936</p><br>
<p>Mies van der Rohe building piers, intended to support a dining room spanning the mill stream designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The piers are 40 ft long, 3 ft thick and 30 ft from their below-grade bearing to the top. The piers were to support a two-story structure. The building project was halted in 1938 and damaged by flooding in 1943.</p><br>
<h2>Notable visitors</h2><br>
<p>Peter Blume</p><br>
<p>George H. W. Bush (at about age 17)</p><br>
<p>Lawrence Ferlinghetti</p><br>
<p>Allen Ginsberg</p><br>
<p>Herbert Hoover (post-presidential)</p><br>
<p>Peter Hurd</p><br>
<p>Ludwig Mies van der Rohe</p><br>
<p>Charles M. Rose</p><br>
<p>Valentino Sarra</p><br>
<p>Grant Wood</p><br>
<p>Benjamin E. Levi and Daniel F. Levi, sons of John G. Levi</p><br>
<h2>Conservation</h2><br>
<p>In December 2007 the Hauge, Laughlin and Resor families donated conservation easements totaling 360 acre on the north side of Munger Mountain to the Jackson Hole Land Trust, adjoining a previous 80 acre easement. The lands came from the Lower Snake River Ranch property. The family has also negotiated with the National Park Service to sell 208 acre of inholdings to Grand Teton National Park.</p><br>
