{"nrhp_refnum":"78003109","name":"Benjamin, Ruben M., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"510 E. Grove St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bloomington","county":"McLean County","state":"IL","lat":40.47803908100008,"lon":-88.98789000999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-08-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood-frame house at 510 E. Grove Street in Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, built in 1856 by carpenter John L. Routt and used as a private residence.","why_significant":"It was the home of Ruben M. Benjamin, the lawyer largely responsible for developing the Granger Cases in Illinois, including Chicago and Alton Railroad vs. the People and Munn vs. Illinois. His arguments for state regulation of railroad and warehouse rates were later accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The house is also the only Bloomington home known for certain to have been built by Routt, later the first governor of the state of Colorado.","narrative":"Built in 1856, this white-painted wood house at 510 E. Grove Street in Bloomington is a two-story, gable-fronted residence with shallow brackets supporting the roof, a bay window on the west side and a small circular window high on the street facade. Its builder was John L. Routt, then a local carpenter, who later served as Sheriff of McLean County, U.S. Marshal and the first elected governor of Colorado. The house is best known as the home of lawyer Ruben M. Benjamin, who moved in during 1856 and lived there for the rest of his life. A leader at the 1869 Illinois constitutional convention, he argued for legislative power to regulate railroad and warehouse rates. He then helped prosecute the Chicago and Alton Railroad case and Munn vs. Illinois. He later served as county judge and as first dean of the Illinois Wesleyan law school.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"John L. Routt (carpenter/builder)","architectural_style":"Simple classic revival house","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition and in use as a private residence; interior room arrangements somewhat altered since the nineteenth century.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.2211-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/1/8937/28893701/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78003109.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78003109/cdf2e7cb71-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78003109/cdf2e7cb71-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"See above.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloomington_Il_Benjamin_House2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">See above.</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:Bloomington_Il_Benjamin_House2.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"86003176","name":"East Grove Street District-Bloomington","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/east-grove-street-district-bloomington-86003176/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893701","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_M._Benjamin_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7375982"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mclean-county/benjamin-ruben-m-house-78003109/"}