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 #4.
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 Sentinel Building, Date: 1888–“Contributing”
Description: This two-story brick building with painted brick exterior is at 126 E. Main Street. The storefront of the main elevation (south) is elevated on a concrete sill with two steps leading to a slightly-recessed entrance at the west corner (multi-light, residential style wood door), with two multi-light wood display windows on top of wood bulkheads to the east. Above is a rigid shed-shaped wood canopy with asphalt shingles and gable above the entrance. Above the canopy are several boards of wood siding. The upper story has three window openings with non-historic double-hung windows, stone sills, and bracketed and pedimented galvanized sheet-metal window hoods. Wood cornice with scrollwork brackets spans the top of the parapet and continues along the adjacent building to the west (124 E. Main.) At rear (north) is a one-story structural clay tile addition with pargeted exterior (1943.) The main elevation (north) has an historic door near the east corner (single light, wood, three panel), blocked garage door in center, and a raised blocked window opening to the west. The ground floor is painted with a realistic mural of the Lincoln Highway Garage. The parapet is stepped with terra cotta coping. The side elevations are likewise pargeted with concrete block infill in window openings (two on west elevation, seven on east).
History: Built by Charles Bent, publisher of the Whiteside Sentinel, to be used as the newspaper’s print shop and office, where it remained until 1966. From 1967 until 2012, the first floor was used as a hardware store (Coast to Coast, then Morrison True Value) connected to 130 E. Main. The second floor was originally occupied by attorney L. T. Stocking. The current tenant is Old Hotel Antiques.