{"nrhp_refnum":"02000095","name":"Ursa Town Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"109 S. Warsaw St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ursa","county":"Adams County","state":"IL","lat":40.07549609500006,"lon":-91.36651310099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-03-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, wood-frame Colonial Revival hall at 109 South Warsaw Street in Ursa, Adams County, Illinois, built in 1895 as the Odd Fellows Hall and later used as the Ursa Town Hall.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building was the social, political and recreational center of Ursa from 1895 to 1951. It served as an I.O.O.F. lodge hall, township meeting place and official polling place. It also hosted school plays, church suppers, shows and community events.","narrative":"Built in 1895 for Marcelline Lodge No. 127 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, this two-story wood-frame hall at 109 South Warsaw Street in Ursa, Illinois, later became known as the Ursa Town Hall. It measures 70 by 32 feet and follows a Colonial Revival design, with white weatherboard siding, Doric pilasters, a metal hipped roof and a limestone foundation. A dormer displays the three links of the Odd Fellows emblem. Inside, a main hall and small side rooms occupy each floor, with pine wainscoting and an upstairs hall featuring a baldachino with Eastlake detailing. The hall mattered because Ursa had few other public gathering places. After a 1901 fire destroyed a smaller meeting hall, it became the center of local life. Township business, elections, lodge meetings, school programs, church dinners, medicine shows and 1930s movies all took place there. It remains the voting place for Ursa Township.","period_of_significance":"1895 - 1951","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still used as the polling place and for monthly Ursa Township meetings; use has been reduced because the hall has no indoor toilets as of 2001.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.7547-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/1/8917/28891701/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/02000095.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000095/3dc8ae669d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000095/3dc8ae669d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ursa_Town_Hall_from_northwest.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ursa_Town_Hall_from_northwest.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891701","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Town_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21197525"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/adams-county/ursa-town-hall-02000095/"}