“Keokuk was easily recognizable. I lived there in 1857, an extraordinary year there in real-estate matters. The “boom” was something wonderful. Every-body bought, every-body sold-except widows and preachers; they always hold on; and when the tide ebbs, they get left. Any thing in the semblance of a town lot, no matter how situated, was salable,…
Tag: Queen Anne Style
Northeast Peoria, Early June 2025
It wouldn’t be a complete visit to Central Illinois without checking in on Northeast Peoria, those streets that stretch out in a diagonal fashion from downtown Peoria. It is an interesting mix of rehabbed and abandoned buildings. This gas station is a find; if you look carefully, there are the letters for Standard Oil on…
Gatehouses, Bellefontaine Cemetery, Revisited
I was driving up North Broadway past Bellefontaine Cemetery when I noticed that the gatehouse was undergoing some renovation. With so many absentee landlords and other slumlords letting their properties fall into disrepair, its nice to see the Cemetery taking pride in their buildings. I’ve looked at these gates back in November of 2016. As…
McNair Avenue Between Pestalozzi and Lynch Streets, West Side
I’ve briefly looked at this stretch of McNair Avenue in Benton Park before, but it was the east side of the street and only with a few photos. This time we’ll look at McNair north of Pestalozzi to Lynch Street on the west side, where there is a wealth of beautiful houses fitting for the…
Cottleville, St. Charles County
They’re doing some great things out in St. Charles County. Yes, I know you might be really surprised to hear me say that, but it’s true. Let’s head out to the historic town of Cottleville (where yes, they were still repairing some damage from the unrelenting severe storms that have hit our region this spring),…
Four Historic Districts, Bloomington, Illinois, Part Four: Franklin Square, Revisited
I’ve actually looked at Franklin Square in Bloomington before back in March of 2016, but I thought I would take another look. The square has served as a public forum in much of the city’s Nineteenth Century’s history, including a speech by William Jennings Bryan, the wedding of Adlai Stevenson’s daughter, and other events.
Four Historic Districts, Bloomington, Illinois, Part Three: Davis-Jefferson
The centerpiece of the Davis-Jefferson Historic District, east of the center of Bloomington is the David Davis House, Clover Lawn, whose estate clearly once encompassed much of the surrounding blocks. Davis was actually a friend and ally of Abraham Lincoln and served on the Supreme Court after being appointed by the President. French American architect…
Four Historic Districts, Bloomington, Illinois, Part Two: East Grove Street
East Grove Street is the next historic district, which extends out east from downtown Bloomington. It is primarily populated with Queen Anne style houses from the 1880s. There has been extensive rehabbing of the houses, and it is really an impressive group of homes from the period. There are one or two Italianate style houses…
South Main Street, Revisited, Washington, Illinois
I first photographed these houses all the way back in July of 2009, and then I completely forgot I just photographed them again back in May of 2024 in Washington, Illinois. But I liked how the branches were casting shadows on the facades of the houses in the early morning late of the early spring….
Amsted Rail, Granite City
I’d driven by this complex on Niedringhaus Avenue on the way into downtown Granite City dozens of times and I finally looked up what it is. Now part of Amsted Company, which has many different branches, it apparently has had an electric-arc furnace for melting down scrap iron and forging into what eventually becomes railroad…