{"nrhp_refnum":"05000846","name":"Prairie Dell Meetinghouse","other_names":["Prairie Dell Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of 2550 East and 2150 North Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Iroquois","county":"Iroquois County","state":"IL","lat":40.82838212500005,"lon":-87.64539191769299,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-08-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A vernacular frame meetinghouse built in 1870 near Iroquois, in Concord Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, with an associated cemetery and two privies on a 9.05-acre site.","why_significant":"The meetinghouse is argued to be a good local example of a vernacular rural meetinghouse combining Greek Revival and Italianate details, and it is the oldest known church in the area. Similar nearby churches have lost integrity through alterations. It was built by local farmers and kept as a community church, with Quaker influence evident in its design and furnishings.","narrative":"Prairie Dell Meetinghouse is a one-story frame church built in 1870 at a rural crossroads west of Iroquois, Illinois. Local farmers constructed it, using glacial boulders for the foundation and black walnut sawn nearby for the pews and window trim. The clapboard building has a front-gabled form, a belfry on the ridge, and a recessed porch with Doric columns and pedimented doors, details drawn from the Greek Revival style. Tall, narrow paired windows with hoods reflect Italianate influence. Inside are pressed-metal walls and ceiling, cast-iron stoves, and pews seating about 150. Behind the church are a cemetery with roughly 2,000 markers and two privies. Founded in part by Quakers, the church was kept as a community property and used in turn by several denominations, never owned by any of them. It is considered the oldest known church in the area, and its original character remains largely intact, which is why it was recognized for its architecture.","period_of_significance":"1870","architect_builder":"Unknown; built by local farmers","architectural_style":"Other: Meetinghouse (vernacular with Greek Revival and Italianate details)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a religious facility, and the cemetery is still in use; it has had little alteration since 1870, apart from a new roof in 2002.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.036758-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/96/8929/28892996/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/05000846.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000846/2638a3ecc1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000846/2638a3ecc1-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prairie_Dell_Meetinghouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prairie_Dell_Meetinghouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892996","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_Dell_Meetinghouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20709606"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/iroquois-county/prairie-dell-meetinghouse-05000846/"}