{"nrhp_refnum":"01000866","name":"King, Moses, Brick and Tile Works","other_names":["Colchester Brick &amp","Tile Company","Brick Village"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"738 N. Coal St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Colchester","county":"McDonough County","state":"IL","lat":40.43568280700006,"lon":-90.79617779622929,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-08-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An industrial historic district at 738 North Coal Street in Colchester, McDonough County, Illinois, centered on a brick and tile works begun in 1881 by Moses King. It includes four beehive kilns, two exhaust stacks, a factory building with drying tunnels, small support buildings, and King's 1884 brick home.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the works played an important role in the brick and tile industry of the area, under Criterion A (Industry). The beehive kilns and stacks are described as a rare type of manufacturing architecture. The site's clay, shale and fireclay deposits supported production well into the 1950s, when most small Illinois yards had closed.","narrative":"Moses King Brick & Tile Works is an industrial complex on North Coal Street in Colchester, Illinois, where brick and tile were made from 1881 into the 1950s. King, an English-born coal miner, began the business after finding that his land held surface clay, shale and fireclay, and that he had more coal than he could sell for firing. The district includes four surviving beehive kilns, two tall exhaust stacks, a 1920 factory building, a 100-foot drying shed with tunnels, an office, a machine shop and King's own 1884 brick house. The kilns, lined with firebrick and held by steel bands, switched from coal to natural gas in the mid-1950s. Illinois had 462 towns with brick and tile operations in 1886 but only 71 by 1920, and the King yard kept developing through that decline. Today the site hosts art workshops, events and gardens, and some small buildings serve as guest cottages.","period_of_significance":"1881-1951","architect_builder":"Moses King (built the King home and the brickworks)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian, Front-Gabled; King home described as Folk Victorian with Carpenter Gothic details","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Parts are used for art workshops, events, gardens and guest cottages. The kilns vary from good to poor condition, and the factory machinery has been sold off.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.439128-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/22/8936/28893622/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/01000866.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000866/7cdbbc9c8a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000866/7cdbbc9c8a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Chris Sutton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kilns_and_Factory_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Sutton</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:Kilns_and_Factory_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893622","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_King_Brick_and_Tile_Works","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24061412"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mcdonough-county/king-moses-brick-and-tile-works-01000866/"}