{"nrhp_refnum":"79000840","name":"Old Second National Bank","other_names":["The Old Second National Bank of Aurora"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"37 S. River St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Aurora","county":"Kane County","state":"IL","lat":41.75789887500008,"lon":-88.31842550599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-05-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large downtown bank building at 37 South River Street in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, built in 1924 and designed by architect George Grant Elmslie in a derivation of the Prairie School style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the last structures in the Prairie School style by a principal architect of that school. It is a strong statement of Elmslie's work over three decades, carrying ornament he learned from Louis Sullivan. It is also a well-preserved Prairie School building that foreshadows later followers of the style.","narrative":"Completed in 1924 in downtown Aurora, this bank building was designed by George Grant Elmslie in a late version of the Prairie School style. The first floor and foundation are pink granite brought by barge from New Hampshire, while the upper walls are golden-brown Roman brick under a steeply pitched red tile roof. Ornament is restrained and uses figures of people and animals to symbolize bank customers and early Aurora history. Sculptor Emil Zettler carved the limestone capitals and the bas relief above the entrance, Kristian Schneider modeled the terra cotta cornice, and John W. Norton painted a lobby mural of Aurora around 1835. The nomination treats the building as one of the last Prairie School works by a principal architect of the movement, reflecting Elmslie's work with Louis Sullivan and William Gray Purcell. The exterior is largely original, though the interior banking area has been redesigned, and the building remains in excellent condition.","period_of_significance":"1924","architect_builder":"George Grant Elmslie","architectural_style":"Prairie School","criteria":[],"status_note":"Exterior unchanged apart from an added Prairie-styled chime clock; interior altered for modern banking; described as in excellent condition and occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.63843-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/8931/28893126/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79000840.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000840/3972991f6d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000840/3972991f6d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Kepper66","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Second_National_Bank_(Aurora,_Illinois).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Kepper66</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Second_National_Bank_(Aurora,_Illinois).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893126","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Second_National_Bank","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084948"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kane-county/old-second-national-bank-79000840/"}