{"nrhp_refnum":"06001021","name":"Lake Bluff Uptown Commercial Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"20, 31-113 E. Scranton, 26-40 (even) E. Center Ave., and 550 N. Sheridan","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lake Bluff","county":"Lake County","state":"IL","lat":42.27949728800007,"lon":-87.84457252599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-11-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Transportation","Entertainment/Recreation","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small commercial historic district in the village center of Lake Bluff, Lake County, Illinois, with eight buildings, a park, objects and structures along E. Scranton and E. Center Avenues and the train depot on N. Sheridan Road. The buildings date from 1900 to 1927.","why_significant":"The district preserves the village's early twentieth-century business center, built after the first frame commercial buildings were replaced with masonry ones. It is tied to the area's railroad history, notably the 1904 Chicago & North Western depot designed by Frost and Granger, and to the village's growth as a commuter community. The nomination also notes the buildings' Revival-style architecture and excellent integrity.","narrative":"Lake Bluff's Uptown Commercial district is the village's historic downtown, centered on E. Scranton and E. Center Avenues just east of the commuter rail tracks. It holds eight buildings, a park, and several objects and structures, with the buildings dating from 1900 to 1927. Most are two-story brick, wood and concrete buildings, mixing Colonial and Tudor Revival designs, two eclectic buildings drawing on Prairie and medieval models, and some vernacular examples. The Village Market of about 1900 is the oldest. The Sankey Building, or Merchant Block, is a Tudor Revival commercial block wrapping a corner. The red brick train depot of 1904, designed by Frost and Granger for the Chicago & North Western Railway, combines Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts elements. Lake Bluff began as a Methodist camp meeting resort in the 1870s, and its early frame stores were largely replaced by masonry buildings in the teens and 1920s. Rail service shaped the village's growth into a commuter community, and the district's integrity is described as excellent.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Charles Frost and Alfred Granger (Chicago & North Western Railway depot, 1904)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Prairie School, Late Victorian, Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals","criteria":[],"status_note":"Integrity described as excellent; buildings in mixed commercial, office and residential use; the depot is still a train station; the Village Market was undergoing renovation in 2006.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.668347-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/8933/28893364/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/06001021.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001021/d3e5d66117-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001021/d3e5d66117-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08 (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Bluff_Uptown.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08 (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:Lake_Bluff_Uptown.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893364","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Bluff_Uptown_Commercial_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16893916"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/lake-county/lake-bluff-uptown-commercial-historic-district-06001021/"}