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 #26.
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.”
125-127 E. Main Street, Martin & Clendenin Building, Date: 1875–“Contributing”
Description: This is a two-story brick building with painted brick exterior. Both storefronts of the main elevation (north) have been replaced. The west one (125 E. Main) is symmetrical with aluminum door (recessed) and windows, and brick bulkheads with the transom covered in vertical aluminum siding. The east storefront (127 E. Main) is asymmetrical with a glass and wood door (recessed), aluminum windows, and brick bulkheads. A non-historic wood lintel cornice is immediately above the storefront, while the transom area has been infilled with brick. Separating the storefronts in the center is a slightly recessed upstairs entry door (steel replacement) with a transom. The upper story features seven, semicircular arch window openings with segment top wood double-hung windows, stone sills, and pedimented sheet-metal window hoods with corbels and finials. A bracketed, galvanized sheet-metal cornice spans the top of the parapet. The rear elevation (south) is clad in horizontal vinyl siding (125 E. Main) and pargeted (127 E. Main.) The window and door openings are a mixture of historic and modern materials, infill, and utilities, with 127 E. Main retaining the segmental arches.
History: The building was constructed to house a drugstore in the east half (A. H. Martin and William C. Clendenin) and boots and shoes store in the west half (F. J. Beuzeville), with offices above. Subsequent main floor functions included a clothing store (1890’s), a series of cigar stores (1900’s-80’s), a barber shop (1900’s-10’s), and a number of meat stores (1910’s-30’s), which then morphed into a similar series of grocery stores (1930’s-60’s.) From 1988 to 2012, 127 E. Main largely housed financial and tax services. Among second story occupants were a physician (Sidney Hall, 1870’s), a law firm (McCalmont and Ramsay, 1910’s), and a Justice of the Peace (Albert Baird.) Current tenants include Mance Chiropractic and Farmers Insurance Agency.