{"nrhp_refnum":"02000849","name":"Woman's Christian Temperance Union Administration Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1730 Chicago Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Evanston","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":42.05104211300005,"lon":-87.67838279099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-08-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half-story brick office and library building at 1730 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, Illinois, serving as national headquarters of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The oldest section dates to 1910, with additions in 1922 and 1940.","why_significant":"The building is nominated under Criterion A for social history and politics/government, as the long-term national headquarters of the WCTU and its publishing operation. It sits behind the Frances Willard House, tying it to the Evanston base of the national temperance movement. The form treats it as nationally significant.","narrative":"Headquarters of the national Woman's Christian Temperance Union, this brick building at 1730 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, Illinois, grew in three stages. The original 1910 section, designed by Charles R. Ayars, housed the organization's publishing business as the Literature Building. Additions followed in 1922 and 1940, the latter containing the Willard Memorial Library. Georgian Revival details appear in the brickwork, the hipped roof, a wood cornice and a brick parapet. Inside, simple oak trim gives way to classical columns and a turned-spindle stair in the public spaces, and a small memorial to Frances Willard includes a Tiffany window portrait. The building stands behind the 1865 Frances Willard House, where Willard ran the organization during her presidency from 1879 until her death in 1898. Its significance lies in its long role as the base for the WCTU's national officers, publications and temperance advocacy, including its part in Evanston's alcohol-control debates. Offices, printing and library functions continue there.","period_of_significance":"1910 - 1952","architect_builder":"Ayars, Charles R. (architect); Reed, Earl H. (architect)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival; Georgian Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still used by the WCTU for offices, publishing and the Willard Memorial Library; the front porch brackets are missing due to deterioration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.634648-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/67/8926/28892667/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/02000849.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000849/7df76052c0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000849/7df76052c0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Thshriver","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woman%27s_Christian_Temperance_Union_Administration_Building_1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Thshriver</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:Woman%27s_Christian_Temperance_Union_Administration_Building_1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892667","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Christian_Temperance_Union_Administration_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16903634"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/womans-christian-temperance-union-administration-building-02000849/"}