{"nrhp_refnum":"75002060","name":"Fithian House","other_names":["Vermilion Co. Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"116 N. Gilbert St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Danville","county":"Vermilion County","state":"IL","lat":40.127428063000025,"lon":-87.63579355899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 14-room, two-story painted brick Italianate house at 116 North Gilbert Street in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois, built in 1855 for physician William Fithian. It now serves as the Vermillion County Museum.","why_significant":"The nomination bases significance on the house's association with Dr. William Fithian, a physician and Illinois legislator, and with Abraham Lincoln, who was his friend and guest. Lincoln spoke from the second-floor balcony on September 21, 1858, during his Senate campaign. The house also represents early Italianate architecture.","narrative":"Built in 1855 at 116 North Gilbert Street in Danville, this 14-room, two-story painted brick house on a cut sandstone foundation is an early example of Italianate architecture. It was the home of Dr. William Fithian, who came to Danville in 1830, practiced medicine in the town and rural Vermillion County, and served in the Illinois House, the state Senate, and as a presidential elector in 1848. The town of Fithian is named for his land donation. Abraham Lincoln, a friend from the state legislature, stayed in the house several times. During his 1858 U.S. Senate campaign he addressed a crowd from its second-floor balcony on September 21. Charles Feldcamp added a stone porch with Doric columns, a porte cochere, plumbing, electricity and oak woodwork in the late 19th century. Today the building houses the county museum, with period rooms honoring Lincoln, Fithian, Joseph Cannon and Captain Holloway, plus exhibits on local industry, agriculture and natural history.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1855)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is excellent; the building is occupied and used as a museum, with several rooms restored to the 19th century and others adapted to exhibits and offices.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.577998-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/8942/28894227/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/75002060.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002060/44b99d9bfb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002060/44b99d9bfb-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fithian_House_in_Danville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fithian_House_in_Danville.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894227","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fithian_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16837013"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/vermilion-county/fithian-house-75002060/"}