{"nrhp_refnum":"72000462","name":"Hossack, John, House","other_names":["Residence of Phillip H. Godfrey"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"210 W. Prospect St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ottawa","county":"LaSalle County","state":"IL","lat":41.34008499000004,"lon":-88.84131541199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Law","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival house at 210 West Prospect Street in Ottawa, La Salle County, Illinois, on the south bank of the Illinois River. It was designed by Sylvannus Grow of Chicago, built by Alonzo Edwards, and constructed 1854-1855.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the house as an outstanding Illinois landmark and a remarkable example of Greek Revival architecture, with full two-story front columns and a river setting. It is also tied to John Hossack, who sheltered fleeing slaves as an Underground Railroad station and was convicted in 1860 under the Fugitive Slave Act in the Jim Gray case.","narrative":"Overlooking the city from the south bank of the Illinois River, this Greek Revival house in Ottawa was built in 1854-1855 to designs by Chicago architect Sylvannus Grow, with Alonzo Edwards as builder. Full two-story columns dominate the front, rising against the horizontal lines of the gallery and roof, while the rear portico facing the river is arcaded with high square piers. A center hallway divides the interior, with a pair of major rooms on each side, and small wings once flanked the main block, one a kitchen and the other probably an office. The house was built by John Hossack, a Scottish-born contractor, lumber dealer and grain merchant who had worked on the Illinois & Michigan Canal and helped build the first Illinois River bridge. An opponent of slavery, Hossack hid as many as thirteen fugitives here as a station on the Underground Railroad. In 1860 he was convicted in federal court in Chicago in the Jim Gray fugitive slave case. Later residents included John Edwin Scott, an early partner in Carson, Pirie Scott & Company.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Architect, Sylvannus Grow, Chicago, Illinois; Builder, Alonzo Edwards","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, altered, on its original site, and occupied as a private residence at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.911279-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/8934/28893421/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/72000462.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000462/466d372c28-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000462/466d372c28-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ottawa_IL_John_Hossack_House1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">IvoShandor</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ottawa_IL_John_Hossack_House1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893421","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hossack_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6239955"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/lasalle-county/hossack-john-house-72000462/"}