{"nrhp_refnum":"79000847","name":"City Building","other_names":["Old City Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15 N. 1st Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"St. Charles","county":"Kane County","state":"IL","lat":41.91414051400005,"lon":-88.31271782199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-03-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story rectangular red brick municipal building at 15 N. 1st Ave. in St. Charles, Kane County, Illinois, built in 1892 beside the Fox River by local builder F. W. Alexander. It is also known as Old City Hall.","why_significant":"The building is cited for its eclectic Victorian architecture, including a bell tower with a Byzantine-type roof, eyelid clerestory windows and a stilted arched entrance. It was also the first building the City designed specifically for government and public meetings, used for that purpose from 1892 to 1941.","narrative":"Built in 1892 beside the Fox River in St. Charles, Illinois, this two-story red brick building served as the city's first purpose-designed home for government and public meetings. Local builder F. W. Alexander won the contract at $5,496 after the City Council voted to accept his bid in March 1892, and the lot had been bought the year before for $1,500. Its design mixes Victorian and eclectic elements: a hip roof with eyelid-shaped clerestory windows, a bell tower topped with a Byzantine-type roof, decorated wood brackets, and a stilted arched entrance framed by brick rowlock courses. City government used it until 1941, and it later housed law enforcement, the city's only fire house until 1962, and the 16th Judicial Circuit Court in the 1950s and 1960s. Alterations include a substation room with glass-block windows. Roof and masonry deterioration led the City to commit to preserving it. It was listed for its architecture and its role in politics and government.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1892)","architect_builder":"F. W. Alexander","architectural_style":"Eclecticism incorporated in a Victorian style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a city facility housing electrical and water monitoring systems, the meter department and building maintenance; described as in ill repair with some exterior portions declared structurally unsound, and the City intends to preserve it.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.603803-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/8931/28893182/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/79000847.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000847/1457565275-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000847/1457565275-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"G LeTourneau","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:City_Building_(St._Charles,_IL)_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">G LeTourneau</a>, <a href=\"http://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:City_Building_(St._Charles,_IL)_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893182","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Building_(Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5123053"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kane-county/city-building-79000847/"}