The Tinsley Building, 6th and Adams, Springfield

The Tinsley Building, constructed circa 1840-1841 in Springfield, once housed Abraham Lincoln’s law offices. Situated on a prominent corner of the Old State Capital square in Springfield, the building was also the location of Seth Tinsley’s three-story dry goods store. From 1843-1852 Lincoln shared offices with Stephen T. Logan and William Herndon in the south part of the building.  First restored in the late 1960’s by a group of local citizens, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The building is one of the best examples of a Greek Revival commercial building in the state of Illinois. Current research on the building is leading an effort to fully restore the dry goods store and law offices in time for the Bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth in 2009.

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The Senior Citizens’ Building at 101 South Spring Street in Elgin

Art Deco was a popular “modern” style in the decorative arts and architecture from the mid 1920’s until World War II. Utilizing new materials and design motifs, buildings were adorned with faceted, stepped, and zigzag forms.  Chevron, sunburst, floral and other motifs were expressed in a highly decorative yet two dimensional manner.  The Senior Services Building is an excellent representation of this style with its’ faceted pylons and parapet along the two street facades. The Building was built in 1930 as the Citadel for the Salvation Army. Built out of crisply cut limestone this building must have made a dramatically “Modern” entry to Main Street. 

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First National Bank

The First National Bank in Dwight was designed in 1906 by famous Prairie-Style architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Prairie Style horizontal massing of the bank was reinforced by the rustic Bedford limestone blocks and the deeply recessed horizontal windows. When the bank was modernized after the Second World War some of the Wright detailing was covered or removed on the interior. In the 1960’s the bank chose to restore the building back to the Wright era and detailing. In the 1980’s bankarchitect John van Scheltima designed a handsome drive-up bank addition in a highly respectful style (on the left).

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The Grojean Building, 360 West State Street, Jacksonville

The Grojean Building is a three story limestone stone building dating from the middle of the nineteenth century. Like many downtown commercial buildings, the exterior of the lower floors were altered a number of times over the years. In the 1920’s, the storefront was changed with the installation of Art Deco-patterned glass in the transom area and a deep, arched “arcaded” display area. The building was again “modernized” in the postwar era when the transoms were covered with a rectilinear sign panel and them again in the 1970’s when the City of Jacksonville constructed a brick and aluminum architectural “canopy” all around the square. Those canopies are currently being removed, which allowed owner Tom Grojean to restore the building’s lower floors in 2002. The exterior restorationreturned the elegance of one of the finest Art Deco facades in the stateof Illinois. During the 2002 major renovation the first floor was updated to support commercial functions, and the second floor was converted into rental residential. This building inspired other upper-floor renovations in Jacksonville and is shown as a case study in Illinois Main Street’s Upstairs Downtown workshop. More information about upper story redevelopment can be found at: http://www.illinoishistory.gov/ps/upperstory.htm. For more information about the Grojean Building renovation see:  http://www.illinoishistory.gov/ps/studies.htm

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Hall’s Shoes, Aledo

The Hall Building in Aledo is a fine example of a nineteenth century Italianate Style commercial building. The building had its storefronts updated in the first half of the twentieth century with a deep “arcaded storefront” and etched glass transoms. Then in 1960’s the transoms were again “modernized” with the rustic western style siding, lighting and sign there now. This property is unusual because the original Hall family still owns the building and has continuously operated a business in it. The Will and Hall sign is still evident in the cornice of the building.The Build Your Own Main Street model illustrates the history of the Hall’s business with the original 19th century upper floors, the 1920’s arcaded storefront with“Hall’s” etched onto the glass transom, and the post World War Two storefront on the right.

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The Stein Building

The street facades of this corner building in Blue Island are clad in pressed sheet metal to look like cut stone. The rounded turret, cornice, cast iron storefront and other decorative elements make this building an elegant example of the Queen Anne style, which was very popular for commercial buildings at the end of the nineteenth century. The building faces two streets and the turret projects out over the sidewalk at the street corner.

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The Dekalb Clothiers

The upper story of this Dekalb building’s front facade was built with local limestone. Originally built in the late nineteenth century with classical design elements, the building was ‘modernized’ in the 1950’s with a streamlined steel canopy, and a blue-glass mosaic tile storefront. The blue-tile recessed entrance folds back into the building with typical 1950’s asymmetry. Main Street buildings are often a combination of different design styles. The street-level retail storefronts of downtown commercial buildings formed the public “face” of a business, and were updated more often than the upper floors. The “modern” storefront on this building is a sophisticated example of postwar retail design.

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The Jensen Drug Store

The Jenson Drug Store Building, built in 1890, doubled in size in 1913 when the new owner, N. P. Jensen, purchased the building and the one next door and expanded the shop. The most prominent element of the building is its 1927 storefront. It features Tiffany brick pilasters, made locally by the Tiffany Brick Co., sand-blasted transom glass signs and copper window frames. This type of storefront is generally called an arcade front and the Jensen building is the best example of this in the region.

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78 E. Williams, Crystal Lake

The local bank, post office, and train station were often the most architecturally prominent buildings located downtown in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Banks in particular were well-financed and used monumental classicism to portray a reassuring permanence and solidity to potential customers. This beautiful bank in Crystal Lake is a typical classicist jewel-box of a bank. With its massive freestanding terra cotta columns flanking a pedimented entry, the classical detailing of this bank typifies many others built in the early twentieth century.

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The Gardner Museum, 332 Main Street, Quincy

This Romanesque Revival style building, designed by Patton and Fisher in 1888, originally housed the Quincy Public Library. When the library vacated the building in 1974, John Willis Gardner bought the building and established an architectural museum which opened in 1977.  Unique features include the large, three story, circular corner tower, extremely textured stone walls that contrast with smoother brick ones and ornamental iron railings and slate roofs.

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Harpole Building

This beautiful building was built after the civil war in Quincy’s downtown. The building retains its original cast-iron storefronts while the brick upper floors illustrate the arched windows and cornice-detailing of the Italianate commercial style. Click on the image to download a .pdf to Color Your Own Illinois Main Street

The Alton Tire Sales Co. Building.

Not all historic buildings are large and elaborate. This handsome early twentieth century Alton building has long played a part in the automotive-related history of the town. The tapestry brick walls, stone trim, and prism-glass transoms above the storefront windows create a simple but attractive design. Click on the image to download a .pdf to Color Your Own Illinois Main Street

The Village Clerk Building

This village hall building had a large entrance opening for the village fire trucks. The arched window hoods and the simple cornice indicate that this is a mid-19th century building from around the time of the Civil war. Click on the image to download a .pdf to Color Your Own Illinois Main Street

Tips for coloring sheets:
1) Print out on 8 ½ x 11 paper.
2) Have fun coloring with crayons or colored pencils and your imagination!
3) Don’t forget to check back here regularly for new coloring sheets.
Thank you for visiting Build Your Own Illinois Main Street. Come back soon for more Illinois Main Street models and coloring pages from around our state. Enjoy your historic building images!