{"nrhp_refnum":"75002078","name":"Mermaid House Hotel","other_names":["Mermaid Inn"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"114 E. St. Louis St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lebanon","county":"St. Clair County","state":"IL","lat":38.60366292700007,"lon":-89.80662120499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-12-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Literature","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame hotel, also called the Mermaid Inn, at 114 East St. Louis Street in Lebanon, St. Clair County, Illinois, built in 1830.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the earliest surviving buildings in Lebanon. Its greatest claim is that Charles Dickens stayed there in 1842 and praised its cleanliness and comfort in American Notes. It is also tied to the area's heritage, including Looking Glass Prairie and McKendree College.","narrative":"Built in 1830, the Mermaid House Hotel is a two-story frame building with clapboard siding and a tin roof on East St. Louis Street in Lebanon, Illinois. It is one of the town's oldest standing buildings. Its fame rests on a visit by Charles Dickens during his 1842 American trip. He spent a night at the inn after an excursion to Looking Glass Prairie and wrote in American Notes that its cleanliness and comfort would suffer by no comparison with a village alehouse in England. At the time of listing, the Lebanon Historical Society was restoring the building. New beams had been placed under it, later asphalt shingles removed, weatherboarding and window sashes rebuilt, and the exterior painted pale yellow with white trim. Heating, wiring and plumbing were installed, while interior floors and walls remained to be finished. Plans called for opening it to the public during the Bicentennial year.","period_of_significance":"1830 (19th century)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Under restoration by the Lebanon Historical Society; structural work largely complete, interior unfinished, with public opening anticipated for the Bicentennial year. Listed condition is fair.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.903319-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/38/8941/28894138/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/75002078.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002078/c5af0aea32-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002078/c5af0aea32-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.5","author":"Robert Lawton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mermaid_House_Hotel.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert Lawton</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mermaid_House_Hotel.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"78003113","name":"Lebanon Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/lebanon-historic-district-78003113/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894138","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid_House_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14687875"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/st-clair-county/mermaid-house-hotel-75002078/"}