{"nrhp_refnum":"78001134","name":"West Jackson Boulevard District","other_names":["See Also:West Jackson Historic District (Boundary Increase)"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Laflin, Ashland, Adams, and Van Buren Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.877658664500046,"lon":-87.6654661843632,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-05-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district of about 42 buildings on a two-block area west of downtown Chicago, bounded by Laflin, Ashland, Adams and Van Buren, built between 1876 and 1890.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be an excellent example of late 19th century housing for the well-to-do, with a notable church, and a human-scale urban environment. Only architecture applies to the district as a whole. It also has historical links to commerce, philanthropy and the arts, including the subdivider Matthew Laflin and lumber merchant Benjamin F. Ferguson, whose bequest funds public sculpture.","narrative":"West Jackson Boulevard District is a compact residential neighborhood about a mile west of Chicago's central business district, covering most of a two-block area between Laflin, Ashland, Adams and Van Buren. All of its buildings date from 1876 to 1890, most from 1880 to 1886, and they are built of brick, limestone or rusticated granite with terra cotta ornament and metal cornices. Most are three stories plus a basement, and many interiors keep parquet floors, plaster ceilings, carved woodwork and stained glass. Although no houses were designed by recognized architects, the rows show the skill of contractors working in Italianate, Queen Anne, Second Empire and Richardsonian Romanesque styles. The district also contains the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, designed by Burling and Whitehouse. Historically, the blocks were subdivided by Matthew Laflin, and the house at 1501 W. Jackson was home to lumber merchant Benjamin F. Ferguson, whose bequest still pays for public sculpture in Chicago.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"John J. Curran (1501-09 W. Jackson); William H. Mortimer and George Tapper; Burling and Whitehouse (Church of the Epiphany)","architectural_style":"Italianate, Queen Anne, Second Empire and Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Land use is overwhelmingly residential, with most structures used as single-family residences; many interiors remain unspoiled. Two intrusions and one additional recent structure are noted.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.309004-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/8922/28892274/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001134.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001134/d6813a79e1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001134/d6813a79e1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Andrew Jameson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:West_Jackson_Boulevard_District_A_Chicago_IL.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Andrew Jameson</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:West_Jackson_Boulevard_District_A_Chicago_IL.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"12000040","name":"Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/chicago-park-boulevard-system-historic-district-12000040/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892274","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Boulevard_District_and_Extension","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6116964"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/west-jackson-boulevard-district-78001134/"}