{"nrhp_refnum":"04000069","name":"Downey Building","other_names":["Palm Grill Cafe"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"110-112 Southwest Arch St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Atlanta","county":"Logan County","state":"IL","lat":40.260279765000064,"lon":-89.23147127099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-02-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Italianate brick commercial building at 110-112 Southwest Arch Street in Atlanta, Logan County, Illinois, built in 1867 by Alexander Downey and designed to hold two separate street-level businesses.","why_significant":"The building is locally significant under Criterion A for Commerce in Atlanta's downtown development between 1867 and 1953. It housed the town's primary early bank (Exchange Bank, later Atlanta National Bank) and the Palms Grill Cafe, a social gathering place and stop for travelers on US Route 66. Its changing storefronts reflect how downtown buildings adapted to shifting business needs.","narrative":"Built in 1867 on Arch Street in Atlanta, Illinois, this two-story brick building was designed for two separate businesses at street level, divided by a central arched doorway leading to shared upstairs rooms. Alexander Downey, a local merchant and carpenter, built it after a series of fires pushed the town's merchants to rebuild downtown in brick. The south side first housed the Exchange Bank of Atlanta, later succeeded by a national bank, and later served as a law office. The north side held a millinery shop, a hardware store, and a grocery before the Palms Grill opened in 1934. The grill served meals to travelers on US Route 66, hosted dancing and club parties, and acted as a Greyhound bus stop. Ground-floor arches were replaced with rectangular storefronts between about 1907 and the 1930s, while the upper facade keeps its corbelled arches and brick cornice. The south side was donated to the city in 1981 as a library museum annex.","period_of_significance":"1867-1953","architect_builder":"Downey, Alexander, Builder","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The south side is used as a museum annex of the Atlanta Public Library and Museum; the form lists current function as museum and vacant/not in use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.116916-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/87/8934/28893487/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/04000069.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000069/5561b53cdb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000069/5561b53cdb-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downey_Building,_Atlanta.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downey_Building,_Atlanta.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893487","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downey_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14687484"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/logan-county/downey-building-04000069/"}