{"nrhp_refnum":"78001169","name":"Sentinel Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"232 E. Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Centralia","county":"Marion County","state":"IL","lat":38.52760343500006,"lon":-89.13287972899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-04-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial newspaper office and printing building at 232 East Broadway in Centralia, Marion County, Illinois, built in 1881 and remodeled in Egyptian Revival style in 1922 and 1929.","why_significant":"The building is significant for its architecture. Its Egyptian Revival remodelings reflect the newspaper's slogan, \"Egypt's Greatest Daily,\" and the southern Illinois area known as Egypt, rather than a stylistic trend. The terra cotta details were made to order by the Winkler Terra Cotta Company of St. Louis and are exclusive to this building. It is described as a unique and outstanding Egyptian Revival building in Illinois.","narrative":"Built in 1881 on Broadway in Centralia, Illinois, this newspaper building was remodeled in 1922 and 1929 into one of the state's few examples of Egyptian Revival design. The 1922 work enlarged it and refaced it in brown wire-cut brick with white terra cotta trim, Pharaoh head plaques and lotus bud borders. The 1929 work added a polychromatic entrance with a winged sun disk, twin cobras and bronzed grills, plus stained glass windows with sphinx heads. Inside, the main-floor office has tiled walls, a marble-topped counter with painted lotus columns, a terrazzo floor, a reproduction temple panel and colored terra cotta reliefs of scarabs, vultures and a queen. The theme reflects the paper's slogan, \"Egypt's Greatest Daily,\" and the local nickname for southern Illinois, Egypt, which dates to an 1831 crop failure. The terra cotta panels were made to order by the Winkler Terra Cotta Company of St. Louis. The detailing remains intact in excellent condition.","period_of_significance":"1922-29","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Egyptian Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition with all Egyptian detailing intact as original; the only visible alteration is suspended fluorescent lighting. Listed as occupied and in commercial use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.915678-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/92/8935/28893592/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001169.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001169/e9b25b1615-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001169/e9b25b1615-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centralia_Sentinel_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centralia_Sentinel_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893592","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinel_Building_(Centralia,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7451311"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/marion-county/sentinel-building-78001169/"}