{"nrhp_refnum":"06000447","name":"Kewanee Public Library","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"102 S Tremont","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kewanee","county":"Henry County","state":"IL","lat":41.245270067000035,"lon":-89.92611417299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-05-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Carnegie library building at 102 South Tremont Street in downtown Kewanee, Henry County, Illinois, designed by Patton and Miller of Chicago and built in 1906-1908.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion A for providing library services and education to Kewanee residents from 1908 through 1956. It is also significant under Criterion C as an elaborate Classical Revival design and a representative example of an Illinois Carnegie library. Construction was funded by a $25,000 gift from Andrew Carnegie.","narrative":"Kewanee Public Library is a two-story Carnegie library at the corner of Tremont and First Streets in downtown Kewanee, Illinois. Chicago architects Patton and Miller designed it, and it was built in 1906-1908 with mason work by Nels Granquist and carpentry by Peter Swanson. Andrew Carnegie's $25,000 gift paid for construction. The Classical Revival building is about 85 feet square, with dark paving brick walls, a Bedford limestone foundation and cornice, and a main entrance reached by stone steps beneath a portico with four massive stone columns. Inside, a marble-lined vestibule leads to a barrel-vaulted lobby with art glass windows and a skylight. The library grew out of a township library association formed in 1875 and was among the early libraries founded under the Illinois Library Law. Its significance rests on its educational service to the community from 1908 to 1956 and on its architectural quality. An elevator was added in 1974, and an east addition came with the 2000-2001 renovation, which preserved the original character.","period_of_significance":"1908-1956","architect_builder":"Patton and Miller/Granquist, Nels; Swanson, Peter","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a library and community meeting space; renovated in 2000-2001 and found to meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.208143-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/8911/28891164/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/06000447.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000447/06dd417c93-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000447/06dd417c93-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Kepper66","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kewanee_Public_Library.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Kepper66</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:Kewanee_Public_Library.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891164","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kewanee_Public_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24061815"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/henry-county/kewanee-public-library-06000447/"}