{"nrhp_refnum":"79000836","name":"Blanchard Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Wheaton College campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wheaton","county":"DuPage County","state":"IL","lat":41.868644817000074,"lon":-88.09959011799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-11-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Blanchard Hall is the main building of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Du Page County, Illinois, built of rough-faced Joliet limestone. The original section was built in 1858 by the Illinois Institute and was expanded in stages through 1927.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the hall exemplifies midwestern college architecture of the later nineteenth century, and is unusual for its long, carefully unified construction and its Italianate and Romanesque details. It is also significant as the nucleus of Wheaton College, which became a national center of American evangelicalism.","narrative":"Blanchard Hall is the main building of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Built of rough-faced Joliet limestone, it looks like a single construction but was raised in five stages between 1858 and 1927. A two-story core built by the Illinois Institute was joined by a tower in 1871, a west wing in 1873, an east wing section in 1890 and the final east end in 1927. First president Jonathan Blanchard imagined a large stone building with battlements and castellated cornices, and that vision guided every addition. The result shows Italianate details and Romanesque arches, reflecting the growing eclecticism of nineteenth-century architecture. The hall is also tied to the college's identity. Blanchard saw its completion as essential to the school's survival in the 1870s, and Wheaton later grew into a national center of American evangelicalism. The building remains the administrative heart of the college, houses its administrative offices, and is in excellent condition with no major alterations since 1927.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vaguely Classical original design with Italianate and Romanesque characteristics","criteria":[],"status_note":"In excellent condition and used for the college's administration, public relations and fund-raising offices; no major alterations since 1927.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.964239-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/8927/28892776/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79000836.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000836/30530dc3de-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000836/30530dc3de-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Neatpete86 at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WheatonCollege.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Neatpete86 at English Wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WheatonCollege.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892776","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanchard_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4924800"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/dupage-county/blanchard-hall-79000836/"}