{"nrhp_refnum":"73000708","name":"Washburne, Elihu Benjamin, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"908 3rd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Galena","county":"Jo Daviess County","state":"IL","lat":42.41395851900006,"lon":-90.43181303999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-07-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Greek Revival house at 908 Third Street in Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, built in 1844-1845 for Elihu B. Washburne and enlarged in 1859. It is now a state memorial owned by the Illinois Department of Conservation.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Elihu Benjamin Washburne, a Galena lawyer who became a U.S. Congressman, briefly Secretary of State under President Grant, and later Minister to France. It is also considered a late example of Greek Revival architecture that forms part of Galena's architectural heritage.","narrative":"This brick house at 908 Third Street in Galena was built in 1844-1845 by lawyer Elihu Benjamin Washburne. It began as a one-and-a-half story Greek Revival temple-form house with a four-column portico. A remodeling in 1859 added a second story, a two-story portico with four fluted Doric columns, side porches, a two-story bay window and a rear wing. The original section uses soft native Galena brick, while the addition uses larger, harder glazed red brick. Washburne lived here until 1882. He served in Congress from 1852, supported fellow Galenian U.S. Grant, briefly served as Secretary of State in 1869, and then spent eight years as Minister to France. A telegraph was installed in his library in 1868 so Grant and friends could receive election results. The house is a later example of Greek Revival design and is a state memorial near the Grant Home. Masonry faults and deferred repairs were noted at the time of listing.","period_of_significance":"1844-1882 (Washburne occupancy)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and unaltered on its original site. Faults in the south masonry wall are attributed to heavy truck traffic and the added second story. Needed work includes the roof, exterior woodwork, masonry and tuck pointing.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.031538-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/8930/28893084/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/73000708.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000708/dbc7be8624-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000708/dbc7be8624-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galena_IL_Elihu_B._Washburne_House1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">IvoShandor</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:Galena_IL_Elihu_B._Washburne_House1.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"69000056","name":"Galena Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/galena-historic-district-69000056/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893084","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elihu_Benjamin_Washburne_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5360845"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/jo-daviess-county/washburne-elihu-benjamin-house-73000708/"}