{"nrhp_refnum":"77000486","name":"Warsaw Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by the Mississippi River, Marion and 11th Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Warsaw","county":"Hancock County","state":"IL","lat":40.361195423000055,"lon":-91.43199648435899,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-12-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district covering most of the built-up inner city of Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois, on bluffs above the Mississippi River. It contains 381 major structures, mostly masonry buildings from the 1830s to the 1870s, across roughly 265 acres.","why_significant":"The nomination presents Warsaw as a prosperous 19th-century river city whose growth stopped around 1870, leaving its factories, businesses and homes largely intact. The age and quality of its buildings are well above the Illinois average, with notable Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate and Prairie School examples. It also played a part in the events leading to the Mormons' departure from Nauvoo.","narrative":"Warsaw sits on 80-to-100-foot bluffs above the Mississippi River, opposite the mouth of the Des Moines River, and is the westernmost incorporated place in Illinois. The historic district takes in most of the city's built-up core, about 265 acres with 381 major structures. Main Street forms a nearly continuous masonry front, while detached houses, mostly masonry, fill the residential blocks. The earliest dated buildings are from 1835 and are in a simplified Federal style, followed by Greek Revival and Italianate work. Three early twentieth-century houses by architect Ernest M. Wood reflect Prairie School influence. Warsaw grew rapidly as a river port and manufacturing town, but its growth ended around 1870 as river traffic declined and no major railroad arrived. That stalled growth left many nineteenth-century buildings standing. The city also figured in the conflict with the Mormons at Nauvoo, since the Warsaw Signal led attacks that preceded the Mormons' move to Utah.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Ernest M. Wood (architect of three early 20th-century residences); Bernard Barthel (architect of the Warsaw Brewing Co.)","architectural_style":"Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, with some Gothic, Stick, Queen Anne and Prairie School","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated good; the district has about 40 recent buildings and intrusions (roughly 10%), and many industrial buildings are vacant or converted to other uses.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.518635-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/43/8929/28892943/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/77000486.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000486/a5c4715131-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000486/a5c4715131-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hill-Dodge_Banking_Company,_Warsaw.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hill-Dodge_Banking_Company,_Warsaw.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892943","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Historic_District_(Warsaw,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21197526"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/hancock-county/warsaw-historic-district-77000486/"}