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 #61.
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.”
109 W. Main Street, Spafford Building, Date: 1864—“Contributing”
Description: This is yet another three-story, brick building with painted brick exterior. The symmetrical three-bay main elevation (north) has a modernized storefront, with a recessed full glass aluminum door, sidelight, and shed-shaped fabric awning. It contains two display windows, each divided into three tall lights and topped by a segment top transom, pargeted wall surface, and an iron lintel with rosettes. The upper story bays are recessed between continuous pilasters connected by semicircular arches below the cornice. The window openings have semicircular arches with segment top, wood, double-hung windows. The third story windows are paired with an oculus (Florentine) above. The parapet is topped by a deeply projecting wood cornice with large scrollwork brackets, identical to the cornice at 111 W. Main Street. The rear elevation (south) is similar to the main elevation but lacks a storefront, and features segmental arch window openings and a rectangular corbel table. The window and door openings are a mixture of historic and modern materials, infill, and utilities. A staircase leads to a second story wooden deck on posts.
History: This structure was constructed by Dwight S. Spafford at a cost of $4500. The building housed a grocery store continuously from 1864 until 1917. The Masonic Lodge met on the third floor from 1888 to 1899. Other occupants included three other groceries, a cigar store, a bakery, the County’s Agricultural Conservation office, a Sterling-based radio station outlet, a realtor, two income tax services, an optometrist, and a dentist on the first and upper floors. The Communitys revered father-son physicians, Doctors Ike and Richard Vandermyde, also occupied the building–as well as an art guild and gallery. The building became the hub of planning activities for the City’s Bicentennial Commission. The current tenant is Happy Joe’s Pizza.