{"nrhp_refnum":"80001389","name":"Mount Lookout","other_names":["McPike House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2018 Alby St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alton","county":"Madison County","state":"IL","lat":38.90596443700008,"lon":-90.18367373699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Agriculture","Politics/Government","Architecture","Invention"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Mount Lookout, also called the McPike House, is a three-story, mansard-roofed red brick mansion at 2018 Alby Street in Alton, Madison County, Illinois. It was built from 1868 to 1871 for Henry Guest McPike and designed by architect Lucas Pfeiffenberger.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a fine example of the Second Empire Italianate style and one of the best works of architect Lucas Pfeiffenberger. It is also tied to Henry Guest McPike, an Alton industrialist, horticulturist, mayor and Civil War provost marshal who knew Abraham Lincoln.","narrative":"Mount Lookout, known as the McPike House, is a sixteen-room red brick mansion on a hilltop in Alton, Illinois. Completed in 1871 after three years of construction, it was designed by regional architect Lucas Pfeiffenberger for Henry Guest McPike. The house combines a concave mansard roof, round-headed windows, a Palladian center dormer, decorative eave brackets and a vaulted limestone wine cellar. It once stood on a 15-acre estate of vineyards, orchards and rare shrubs; 4.4 acres remain. McPike was prominent in Alton's business, political and cultural life. He served as mayor, developed a corrugated paper machine that grew into a large box factory, bred the McPike grape, and was a friend and associate of Abraham Lincoln. Pfeiffenberger headed an Alton firm whose work spread across the Midwest, and this house is counted among his finest designs. The McPike family lived here until 1936. A business college and later a multi-family dwelling followed, and the house has stood empty since the 1950s, with mantels and staircase lost to thieves and vandals.","period_of_significance":"1871","architect_builder":"Lucas Pfeiffenberger (architect)","architectural_style":"Second Empire Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Unoccupied since the 1950s; vandalized and in fair condition, but described as structurally sound though endangered.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.399983-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/8935/28893527/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/80001389.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001389/c3d6b03728-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001389/c3d6b03728-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Aaron &amp; Mariona","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McPike_Mansion3.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Aaron &amp;amp; Mariona</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McPike_Mansion3.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893527","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McPike_Mansion","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6802616"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/madison-county/mount-lookout-80001389/"}