{"nrhp_refnum":"78001112","name":"Pettit Memorial Chapel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1100 N. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Belvidere","county":"Boone County","state":"IL","lat":42.269363088000034,"lon":-88.84741391699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A T-shaped wood-frame memorial chapel at 1100 North Main Street in Belvidere Cemetery, Belvidere, Boone County, Illinois, designed and built in 1906 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is Wright's only cemetery memorial structure, making it the one work directly comparable to Louis Sullivan's cemetery tombs. It was designed in 1906 during Wright's \"First Golden Age\" and embodies his prairie ideal through its hip roof with overhanging eaves, geometric art glass, raised floor and stucco with wood trim. Its cemetery setting also protects it from demolition.","narrative":"Set within Belvidere Cemetery in northern Illinois, this small T-shaped chapel was designed and built in 1906 by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was commissioned as a memorial to Dr. William H. Pettit, a widely respected physician who died in 1899, and Mrs. Pettit was introduced to Wright by her brother, for whom he had designed a house in 1905. The balloon-frame building has a hip roof with overhanging eaves, a fireplace room, an open porch and a basement. Its original geometric art glass windows and doors have been replaced with plastic and covered with plywood. The nomination presents it as the only cemetery memorial Wright ever built, a work that can be compared with Louis Sullivan's cemetery tombs, and as a clear expression of his prairie ideals. The cemetery setting is seen as a safeguard against demolition and a fitting backdrop for his ideas about architecture and nature.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date: designed and built 1906)","architect_builder":"Arch: Frank Lloyd Wright","architectural_style":"Prairie school style (as noted in the reviewer comments)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Unoccupied and deteriorated but structurally sound; electricity and water disconnected, furnace removed, windows covered with plywood to prevent vandalism. Reviewer notes say the chapel is no longer used.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.877654-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/8917/28891724/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001112.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001112/5d364af9e8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001112/5d364af9e8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belvidere_IL_Pettit_Chapel17.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">IvoShandor</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belvidere_IL_Pettit_Chapel17.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891724","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pettit_Memorial_Chapel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2081276"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/boone-county/pettit-memorial-chapel-78001112/"}