{"nrhp_refnum":"06000449","name":"Downtown Momence Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly Washington St., from N. Locust to Pine and Dixie Hwy., from 2nd to River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Momence","county":"Kankakee County","state":"IL","lat":41.151659943000055,"lon":-87.66290308162361,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-05-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial historic district in downtown Momence, Kankakee County, Illinois, along Washington Street and Dixie Highway. It holds mostly two-story brick commercial buildings dating from about 1849 to 1956.","why_significant":"The district preserves the downtown business core that grew up with Momence's early settlement and the arrival of the railroads in the 1870s. Its buildings show a range of Victorian and early 20th-century commercial styles. Many use locally made Tiffany glazed brick, and they reflect the town's role as a regional freight and commercial hub.","narrative":"Downtown Momence is a compact commercial district in Kankakee County, Illinois, centered on Washington Street and Dixie Highway, the road that cuts through the middle of town. Most of its buildings are two-story brick storefronts built close to the sidewalk and sharing common walls, with a few three-story hotels and two early houses. The oldest known buildings date to 1849 and 1853. The district's growth followed the 1846 platting of the town and, above all, the railroads that arrived from 1871 onward, which made Momence a regional freight hub and brought building materials and tourists. Styles include Italianate, Queen Anne, Classical Revival and plain commercial forms, with details such as pressed metal cornices, cast iron storefronts and limestone trim. Many buildings use glazed brick made by the local Tiffany brick works. The district was recognized for preserving this concentrated commercial architecture from roughly 1849 to 1956.","period_of_significance":"circa 1849 to 1956","architect_builder":"Wm. J. Dixon, Wm. Parish Jr., William Graham and Harry Halpin are named as builders of individual buildings; no single architect is named.","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century, Late Victorian, Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements (including Commercial, Italianate, Classical Revival, Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque, Colonial Revival)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Mostly in continued commercial use, with a few vacant lots where buildings were demolished or burned; some storefronts have been altered or covered with modern materials.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.505136-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/8932/28893247/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/06000449.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000449/0429f77afe-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000449/0429f77afe-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Chris Light (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Momence_Illinois_downtown.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Light (talk)</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:Momence_Illinois_downtown.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893247","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Momence_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28126084"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kankakee-county/downtown-momence-historic-district-06000449/"}