{"nrhp_refnum":"11000851","name":"Peacock Brewery","other_names":["Rockford Brewing Company, Rock River Brewing Company"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"200 Prairie & 500 N. Madison Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rockford","county":"Winnebago County","state":"IL","lat":42.27519025300006,"lon":-89.08718877899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-11-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brewery complex of two buildings on about 2.25 acres on the east bank of the Rock River in the Prairie Hill neighborhood of Rockford, Illinois. It includes a 76,000 square foot red brick brewery that grew from an 1857 icehouse and a c. 1845 limestone Brewmaster's House.","why_significant":"The complex is associated with Jonathan Peacock, a British immigrant who started brewing in Rockford in 1849 and built the city's brewing business. Its buildings show more than 150 years of brewery expansion, rebuilding after an 1894 fire, and later reuse as a warehouse after Prohibition. The 1899 Brew House, with its tower and arched windows, is the most distinguished part of the complex.","narrative":"Overlooking the Rock River in Rockford's Prairie Hill neighborhood, this brewery complex grew over more than 150 years from a home-based operation into a large industrial site. Jonathan Peacock, a British immigrant, began brewing in 1849 at a limestone house on Madison Street, built around 1845 in the Greek Revival style. In 1857 he built an icehouse, the first brewery structure, and later additions included a stock house, a malt house and a bottling house. A major fire in 1894 destroyed roofs and timbers, though the masonry walls survived. After Peacock's death, John V. Petritz bought the business and in 1899 commissioned St. Louis architects to design a new brew house. Its six-story tower and large arched windows are the dominant Romanesque Revival features. After Prohibition the buildings were converted to warehouse use, with further changes in 1919. Later the riverfront became a marina. The original structural systems and materials remain clearly visible.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Widmann, Walsh & Boisselier (St. Louis) designed the 1899 Brew House; Cook & Winchester were the local contractor; D.S. Schureman oversaw the project","architectural_style":"Brewery: Late Victorian-Romanesque; Brewmaster House: Mid 19th Century-Greek Revival; Office addition: Mid 19th Century-Neoclassical","criteria":[],"status_note":"The form lists current uses including marina and banquet facility, and also lists the brewery as vacant / not in use; the complex is described as structurally sound and retaining its integrity.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.415667-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/8944/28894423/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/11000851.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000851/b0d47f26ff-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000851/b0d47f26ff-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peacock_Brewery.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</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:Peacock_Brewery.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894423","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock_Brewery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16896508"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/winnebago-county/peacock-brewery-11000851/"}