{"nrhp_refnum":"78001187","name":"Central Springfield Historic District","other_names":["See Also:Central Springfield Historic District (Boundary Inc"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by 14th, 7th, Jefferson, and Washington Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Sangamon County","state":"IL","lat":39.800372479500055,"lon":-89.64894408922488,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-08-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial historic district of about 12 acres in downtown Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, surrounding the Old State Capitol square. It holds 80 buildings, mostly late 19th and early 20th century commercial structures, in the city's commercial core since the 1830s.","why_significant":"The district holds an outstanding concentration of two- and three-story late 19th and early 20th century commercial buildings with largely intact upper facades, which the form calls unusual for a city of Springfield's size and unique in Illinois. It also reflects the town's growth around the square, including the 1837 move of the state capital and Abraham Lincoln's law offices. Thirty buildings are rated as especially significant and 34 more as supporting.","narrative":"Downtown Springfield's commercial core, clustered around the Old State Capitol square, forms this district of roughly 12 acres and 80 buildings. The area was laid out in 1822, and growth accelerated after the legislature moved the state capital to Springfield in 1837. Most surviving buildings date from the 1870s through the early 1900s, with a notable run from the 1880s and 1890s. Many have altered storefronts but largely intact upper floors. Thirty buildings are singled out for special significance, including the Old State Capitol designed by John F. Rague, the 1837 building that held Lincoln's law offices, the 1894 Romanesque Revival Piereck-Sommer Building, and the 1927 fifteen-story Art Deco Illinois Building. The concentration of two- and three-story commercial architecture is described as unusual for a city of this size and unique in Illinois. Several long-running local businesses still operate in the district, and some buildings have been restored or renovated.","period_of_significance":"1822 - Present","architect_builder":"John F. Rague (Old State Capitol); George B. Helmle; Helmle and Helmle; C.W. Shinn; Law, Law, and Potter","architectural_style":"Late 19th and early 20th century commercial, including Romanesque Revival, Neo-Classical Revival and Art Deco examples","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated fair and altered. Ground-floor commercial space is mostly rented, upper floors are often vacant, many storefronts have been modernized, and several buildings have been renovated.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.074139-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/8940/28894046/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001187.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001187/0cacb6bed2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001187/0cacb6bed2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jaknelaps","credit_html":"Jaknelaps, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Central_Springfield_Historic_district.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894046","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Springfield_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19460919"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/sangamon-county/central-springfield-historic-district-78001187/"}