{"nrhp_refnum":"80001404","name":"Pittsfield Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Washington Ct., Sycamore, Morrison and Griggsville Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsfield","county":"Pike County","state":"IL","lat":39.60845500600004,"lon":-90.80414087399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of about 214 acres covering much of the central part of Pittsfield, the Pike County seat in west-central Illinois, with an eastward extension along Washington Street. It contains 442 structures, mostly pre-World War I residences and commercial buildings around the courthouse square.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Pittsfield is a very good example of a 19th-century rural county seat and a major historic resource, though not the finest in Illinois. Its strengths are the courthouse and surrounding business houses, strong public buildings, and residential neighborhoods with a largely 19th-century appearance. It warns that recent intrusions and alterations threaten the connections between these elements.","narrative":"Pittsfield's historic district takes in much of the central city in Pike County, Illinois, about 214 acres arranged on a rectangular grid around the courthouse square, with an extension east along Washington Street. Of 442 structures, most are two-story white frame single-family houses, while the commercial buildings are mainly two-story masonry. The oldest dated building is the 1836 William Ross House in Greek Revival style, but Italianate is the most common style, followed by Queen Anne. The town was founded in 1833 as the new Pike County seat, and government and agriculture have underpinned its economy, with courthouses built in 1838-9 and 1894-5. The district was listed because it remains a good example of a 19th-century county seat, with an intact courthouse and business ensemble, strong churches, schools and civic buildings, and residential clusters northwest of the square and on East Washington, Piper Lane and North Monroe. Strip commercial development and remodeling have weakened some areas.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Predominantly Italianate and Queen Anne, with Greek Revival, Federal and Gothic influences","criteria":[],"status_note":"Largely intact historic fabric, but affected by recent commercial intrusions, remodelings and siding; the district is in active use as a living town.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.132103-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/8938/28893899/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/80001404.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001404/8a66ecf32f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001404/8a66ecf32f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"John Morton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pittsfield_Historic_District.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Morton</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:Pittsfield_Historic_District.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893899","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsfield_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7199484"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/pike-county/pittsfield-historic-district-80001404/"}