The Morrison Historic Preservation Commission (MHPC) has applied to nominate an appropriate portion of the comunity’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 #34.
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.”
223 E. Main Street, Date: c. 1885, altered c. 1930, altered c. 1955–“Contributing”
Description: This is a two-story brick building with painted brick exterior. The main elevation (north) presents an original two-story building with two additions to the west: two-story (c. 1930, south) and one-story (c. 1955, north.) The two-story section is painted brick with an off-center door (glass and wood with transom) and display window (wood, stone sill, four-light transom) at the first story, and three segmental, arch openings with wood double-hung windows at the second story. Above is a wood cornice with scrollwork brackets. The roof is cross-hipped with asphalt shingles. The one-story addition has a chamfered corner entrance (glass and wood door with transom), three adjacent double-hung windows (wood, six-over-one, applied muntins), and fiberboard siding. The roof is half-hipped with asphalt shingles. Visible to the rear of the one-story addition is the second story of a semi-octagonal bay of the original building and a c. 1930 wing (painted structural clay tile) with two rectangular, double-hung windows. The rear elevation (south) has painted first story brick and unpainted second story brick (both the original building and structural clay tile addition), two-story covered wood porch with spindlework to the east, and a small one-story garage to the west (double-gable front, glass and wood doors, painted brick ,and wood siding.) The window and door openings are a mixture of historic and modern materials, infill, and utilities. The window openings of the original brick building have segmental arches.
History: Originally a residence built by John Clark, the building was converted for commercial use after 1912. During the 1960’s-70’s it was The Olde Bookstore. Currently, the original building is again a residence and the one-story addition is a beauty salon, Lion and the Lamb.