{"nrhp_refnum":"81000675","name":"Adams Memorial Library","other_names":["DuPage County Historical Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"9th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wheaton","county":"DuPage County","state":"IL","lat":41.87506259000003,"lon":-88.10656936799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-06-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story limestone library building at 102 East Wesley Street in Wheaton, DuPage County, Illinois, designed by Charles Sumner Frost. Groundbreaking was in 1890 and dedication in 1891. It now houses the DuPage County Historical Museum.","why_significant":"It was Wheaton's first public library, given by John Quincy Adams in memory of his wife, Marilla Phipps Adams. It is also an early, well-preserved example of Charles Sumner Frost's Romanesque-influenced work. The library was among the earliest in Illinois to use the Dewey decimal system.","narrative":"Adams Memorial Library is a two-story, rectangular building at the corner of Wesley and Main Streets in Wheaton, Illinois. Built of coursed, rock-face limestone with blue Bedford stone trim, it has a circular stair tower, tall gables with pinnacles, and carved acanthus leaf ornament. Construction began in 1890 and the building was dedicated in 1891. It was Wheaton's first public library, a gift from miller and grain merchant John Quincy Adams in memory of his wife, Marilla Phipps Adams. An endowment from Adams supported it alone until 1923. The library was among the earliest in Illinois to use the Dewey decimal system. Architect Charles Sumner Frost of Chicago designed it in a Romanesque manner typical of his early work. The interior is largely intact, with oak finishes, original bronze hardware and a second-floor auditorium. The library operated until 1965, and the building now serves as the DuPage County Historical Museum.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Charles Sumner Frost","architectural_style":"Romanesque (described in the dedication report as the Byzantine treatment of the Romanesque style)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the County of DuPage and in use as the DuPage County Historical Museum; condition listed as excellent and altered. The building served as a library until 1965.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.123344-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/78/8927/28892778/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/81000675.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000675/e84ba04eb4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000675/e84ba04eb4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08 at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AdamsMemorial.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08 at en.wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://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:AdamsMemorial.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892778","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPage_County_Historical_Museum","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5310000"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/dupage-county/adams-memorial-library-81000675/"}