{"nrhp_refnum":"77000471","name":"Morgan-Wells House","other_names":["Quincy YMCA Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"421 Jersey St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Quincy","county":"Adams County","state":"IL","lat":39.931037598000046,"lon":-91.40904014799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-11-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Italianate-style house at 421 Jersey Street in Quincy, Illinois, built in the mid-nineteenth century (local tradition dates the original part to 1857), with a gymnasium building added about 1901 to form a U-shaped complex.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is architecturally significant as a typical large, elegant Italianate house of mid-nineteenth-century Quincy. It is historically significant as the home of Edward Wells and Gen. James D. Morgan, two prominent businessmen and leaders, and for its long social and humanitarian use as the Cheerful Home settlement house and the Quincy YWCA.","narrative":"Brick and limestone make up this Italianate house on Jersey Street in Quincy, Illinois, a large two-story residence with an attic, a hip roof and a full-width front porch. Local tradition places the oldest section in 1857, with the main front block added around 1860. Inside, a central hall holds an oval open-well stair, and the library was remodeled about 1875 with carved woodwork. Edward Wells, a pork packer who influenced the legislation for a Mississippi railroad bridge at Quincy, lived here with his family and that of James D. Morgan, a Civil War general who served under Sherman and later took part in the city's civic affairs. In 1901 the property became the Cheerful Home settlement house, and a gymnasium was built behind it. The Quincy YWCA bought it in 1933 and still uses it. A 1945 tornado removed the cupola, and a roughly 1950 addition enclosed the interior courtyard.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Unknown; the partnership of Eaton Littlefield and George Baughman may have designed and built it (amended statement)","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition; used by the Quincy YWCA since 1933, with alterations including a circa 1950 addition and a 1901 gymnasium.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.899812-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/8916/28891685/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/77000471.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000471/ba8d9240a7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000471/ba8d9240a7-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quincy_Morgan_Wells.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quincy_Morgan_Wells.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83000298","name":"Downtown Quincy Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/downtown-quincy-historic-district-83000298/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891685","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan-Wells_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6911556"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/adams-county/morgan-wells-house-77000471/"}