{"nrhp_refnum":"00000946","name":"Brown, William, Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"226-228 S. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rockford","county":"Winnebago County","state":"IL","lat":42.26959920400003,"lon":-89.09550387299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-08-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story Richardsonian Romanesque commercial building at 226-228 South Main Street, Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois, completed in 1892 with red brick walls over a rusticated red stone first story.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its architecture under Criterion C. Its facade composition, monumental arched entry, recessed window arches, and brick-and-iron construction closely echo Burnham and Root's Rookery in Chicago, adapted to a smaller scale and budget. Its corner turrets also made it prominent in Rockford's skyline.","narrative":"Completed in 1892 at the corner of South Main and Chestnut streets in Rockford, this six-story commercial building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque manner. Its street facades are smooth red brick above a base of rusticated red stone, with rounded corner turrets, a monumental arched entrance, and three-story arched window groups decorated with terra cotta shields and festoons. Inside, masonry walls surround slender cast iron columns carrying wood floors, and each floor holds six fireproof vaults. The nomination compares its design to the Rookery in Chicago by Burnham and Root, noting similar facade proportions and a light well, though on a smaller scale and budget. Later changes include replaced windows, covered storefronts that were restored in 1997, removed turret roofs, and altered upper-floor offices. The ground floor has long housed a bank, with 1920s Art Deco-inspired features restored. Rehabilitation into apartments on the upper floors was underway at the time of the nomination. Its architectural qualities are the basis for its listing.","period_of_significance":"1892","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival (Richardsonian Romanesque)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Under rehabilitation as apartments on floors two through six; ground-floor bank space in use and the north storefront vacant and under construction.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.626358-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/8943/28894385/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/00000946.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000946/629e0ec6ea-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000946/629e0ec6ea-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Brown_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Brown_Building.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894385","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brown_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15693996"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/winnebago-county/brown-william-building-00000946/"}