{"nrhp_refnum":"78001181","name":"Charter Oak Schoolhouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of Schuline","address_restricted":false,"city":"Schuline","county":"Randolph County","state":"IL","lat":38.089133967000066,"lon":-89.79389462399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-10-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An octagonal, one-room brick schoolhouse near Schuline, Randolph County, Illinois, built in 1873 and now operated as a museum of one-room school education.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it has national and state-wide significance as one of only nine surviving octagonal schoolhouses in the United States, out of 53 known to have existed. It is also the only octagonal schoolhouse known to have existed in Illinois.","narrative":"Charter Oak Schoolhouse near Schuline, Illinois, is an eight-sided, one-room brick school built in 1873 by William Holcomb for $1,000. It was the third tax-supported schoolhouse on its site. Teacher Daniel Ling urged the octagonal plan, arguing that eight walls, each with a window, would admit more light and resist the area's windstorms and tornadoes better than a four-walled building. The school has a limestone foundation, brick walls laid in common bond, corbelled brick cornice, a low pitched roof and a clapboard belfry. It served as a school for 80 years until 1953 and also hosted community gatherings such as farm meetings, Sunday school, spelling bees and political rallies. The Randolph County Historical Society bought it in 1960, restored it and runs it as a museum. Of 53 octagonal schoolhouses known in the United States, nine remain, and this is the only one known to have existed in Illinois.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"William M. Holcomb (the history section gives William H. Holcomb)","architectural_style":"Octagonal schoolhouse","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition; restored by the Randolph County Historical Society and maintained as a museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.848291-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/39/8939/28893939/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001181.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001181/dea6d7e2ff-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001181/dea6d7e2ff-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charter_Oak_Schoolhouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charter_Oak_Schoolhouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893939","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_Oak_Schoolhouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5086741"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/randolph-county/charter-oak-schoolhouse-78001181/"}