The Morrison Historic Preservation Commission (MHPC) has applied 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 #47.
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.”
205 W. Main Street, Date: c. 1890, 2013–“Non-contributing”
Description: This is a one-story brick building with unpainted red brick exterior. The entire main elevation (north) is non-historic, with new red brick with blonde brick quoining, two raised window openings (stone sills, six-light aluminum windows, steel lintels), and stone parapet coping. There is no entrance because the building is connected to 203 W. Main, but it is, however, a separate building. The rear elevation (south) is pargeted with a center double door (smaller than historic, with siding infill) flanked by two raised, segmental arch openings with wood double-hung windows. West opening is blocked. A single, 36-inch doorway is located on the east elevation, with a centered 9-foot wide garage door, including limestone lintels.
History: The building has housed a number of businesses, including a blacksmith (1890’s), a harness shop (1890-1910), a warehouse for the Stiner Brothers Grocery (1903 to 1917), located next door at 203 W. Main Street), John Shapiro junk (1920), M. R. Thackberry Automobile Company (1920-1923), Louis E. Fruit Dealer (1925), Economy Paint Store (1928-1935), Bierman’s Paint Store (1935-1945), Riep Brands Westinghouse Refrigerator Oil Burners and Stokers (1945-1948), Riep Brands Sheet Metal Works and Home Appliances (1948-1965), Brands Heating and Appliance (1965-2010) as one of three adjacent storefronts used by the business. It has now been rehabilitated as the Donnybrook Bakery Café and incorporated into 201-203 W. Main Street.