The Morrison Historic Preservation Commission (MHPC) is applying to nominate an appropriate portion of the community’s commercial district to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. With the assistance of our consultants, the MHPC has spent months researching and writing the substance of our application. In the hopes that the community will find the information contained therein both interesting and informative, we will be running, one at a time, in no particular order, over the next year, the architectural and historical description of each building included. We hope you enjoy installment #2.
Note: The National Register of Historic Places is literally a listing of spaces, structures or areas recognized to be of National historic, cultural or architectural importance. It is kept by the United States Department of Interior, but the program is largely administered by an individual state’s preservation authority. In Illinois, this is the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. The term “contributing” means that the structure lies within an historic district and adds to the architectural or historic significance of the same as a whole. If it is within the boundaries of the district, but does not so supplement, it is deemed “non-contributing.”
Whiteside Hotel, Date: 1865–“Contributing”
Description: Large freestanding three-story corner building with unpainted brick exterior (130 E. Main Street.) The non-original, asymmetrical storefront of the main elevation (south) consists of a recessed glass and aluminum double-door entrance (Kawneer), aluminum display windows, and brick veneer. A retractable fabric awning is immediately above the storefront, with the transom area covered with vertical aluminum siding. The siding continues along the side elevation. The upper facade features five segmental arch window openings per story. The second-story windows are rectangular replacement, while the third-story windows are historic segment top, wood double-hungs. A deeply projecting wood cornice with scrollwork brackets spans the width of the parapet and wraps around the corner onto the side and rear elevations. The long side elevation (east) lacks first-story openings, instead featuring a non-historic painted mural which spans the entire length of the side wall. The upper facade has eleven window openings per story, with replacement second-story windows and four-over-four segment top, wood double-hung windows above. The rear elevation (north) is similar to the side but with three window openings per story. One at second story is a door. There is also a non-historic loading dock and rear entrance. A three-story concrete block elevator shaft is near the northwest corner.
History: The 50-room hotel was built by Worthington, Paley, and Baker. Originally called the Worthington House, it became the Revere House by 1869 and later the Whiteside Hotel, with a 200-person lodging capacity in the 1890’s. In the 1890s, the basement housed Vogel’s barbershop and later a liquor store. After it ceased being a hotel in 1966, the building was occupied by a hardware store until 2012 (first as Coast to Coast, then as Morrison True Value.) The building is connected to 126 E. Main Street. The current tenant is Old Hotel Antiques.