{"nrhp_refnum":"80001375","name":"Gifford-Davidson House","other_names":["Stone Cottage"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"363--365 Prairie St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elgin","county":"Kane County","state":"IL","lat":42.03414416500004,"lon":-88.27749591399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A cobblestone residence known as the Stone Cottage at 363-365 Prairie Street in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, built in 1849-50 for the family of Elgin founder James T. Gifford.","why_significant":"Its significance lies chiefly in its cobblestone construction, a technique that originated in New York state and was carried west by early Elgin settlers. The mansard roof added about 1870 reflects changing architectural fashions. It is also tied to Gifford, the founder of Elgin, and to the social life of nineteenth-century Elgin.","narrative":"Built in 1849-50 for the family of James T. Gifford, founder of Elgin, the Stone Cottage at 363-365 Prairie Street is a cobblestone house with walls one story high beneath a frame mansard roof. The mason was Edwin F. Reeves, identified from entries in Gifford's ledger. Cobblestone building began in New York state after the Erie Canal was completed, and settlers from upstate New York brought their admiration for it to Illinois. The Elgin area is noted as a Midwest concentration of the technique. Gifford's son-in-law, banker Orlando Davidson, later added a wing and the mansard roof, completed before 1871. The house once stood on an entire city block, and its lawn and rooms hosted parties, church gatherings and teas remembered in Elgin's social life. Remodeled for rental use in 1903, it is now divided into five units. Only minor exterior changes have occurred in a century: removal of the cast iron cresting and enclosure of part of the portico.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Edwin F. Reeves (mason)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence, divided into five units; condition listed as excellent and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.393839-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/8931/28893164/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/80001375.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001375/c6ee420c1d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001375/c6ee420c1d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gifford-Davidson_House_(8483822865).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gifford-Davidson_House_(8483822865).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83000318","name":"Elgin Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/elgin-historic-district-83000318/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893164","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifford%E2%80%93Davidson_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5559908"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kane-county/gifford-davidson-house-80001375/"}