{"nrhp_refnum":"80001406","name":"Larchmound","other_names":["Ridgway,Robert,House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1030 S. Morgan St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Olney","county":"Richland County","state":"IL","lat":38.71975112900003,"lon":-88.08129639299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-01-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Science"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Larchmound, also called the Robert Ridgway Home, is a one-and-a-half-story brick residence at 1030 S. Morgan Street in Olney, Richland County, Illinois, completed in 1866 and set on about one acre of thickly planted grounds.","why_significant":"It is the only remaining structure in Illinois associated with the productive years of Robert Ridgway, an authority in botanical and ornithological research, who lived there from 1913 until his death in 1929. The remaining acre is also nominated for the extent of Ridgway's surviving plantings and the many bird species they continue to support.","narrative":"Larchmound is a brick house at 1030 S. Morgan Street in Olney, Illinois, completed in 1866. It is one and a half stories tall, with four steep gables arranged in a cross shape, an iron-railed porch on the north side and two three-sided bays. Its style recalls Gothic Revival but resists easy classification. Two additions were made to the south end by members of the Rowland family, who lived there from 1866 to 1909. Robert Ridgway, a noted botanical and ornithological researcher, author and artist, bought the house and about 8.69 acres in 1913 and lived there until his death in 1929. Three volumes of his major work, The Birds of North and Middle America, were written during his years at the house. He also kept records of roughly 500 plantings at Larchmound and directed research at his nearby Bird Haven property. About one acre of the original grounds remains, with many of his plantings still providing nesting sites for birds.","period_of_significance":"1913-1929","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Suggestive of Gothic Revival, but described as defying stylistic typing","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and privately owned; altered with two southern additions and some interior changes, described as mostly reversible.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.963135-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/51/8939/28893951/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/80001406.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001406/21fb355273-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001406/21fb355273-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Larchmound_driveway.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Larchmound_driveway.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893951","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larchmound","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15241712"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/richland-county/larchmound-80001406/"}