{"nrhp_refnum":"82000396","name":"East Dubuque School","other_names":["Esther Hillman House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Montgomery Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"East Dubuque","county":"Jo Daviess County","state":"IL","lat":42.49383741300005,"lon":-90.64148334299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick former public school on a bluff overlooking East Dubuque, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, completed in 1893 with an east wing added in 1914, plus a 1952 gymnasium and a small frame superintendent's house.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is an outstanding Illinois example of late Romanesque Revival school architecture and the work of Dubuque architect Thomas Carkeek. It was also the dominant educational institution in East Dubuque for 85 years and a landmark in the town's skyline. It is the only major historic public building in the town.","narrative":"Perched on a bluff above East Dubuque, Illinois, this dark brick school was completed in 1893 to a design by Dubuque architect Thomas T. Carkeek. The original two-story building has a square three-story bell tower, round-arched windows, corbelled cornices and a carved stone panel reading \"Public School Erected 1893.\" A sympathetic east wing followed in 1914, and a gymnasium was added in 1952. For 85 years it served as the town's grammar and high school, and it also took in students from small rural districts nearby. Enrollment grew to about 350 high school students before the school closed in 1978. Its Romanesque Revival design and its role in public education led to its listing under criteria A and C. The exterior remains largely intact, though the interior has been damaged and the building has sat vacant. A plan to convert it into housing for the elderly has been proposed.","period_of_significance":"1893-1914 (completed 1893; east wing 1914; checked periods 1800-1899 and 1900-)","architect_builder":"Thomas T. Carkeek (original building)","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival (late Romanesque Revival)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant and unoccupied since the school closed in 1978; interior seriously damaged by heavy use and vandalism, exterior substantially intact; proposed conversion to housing for the elderly.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.744353-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/8930/28893076/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/82000396.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82000396/614655ea28-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82000396/614655ea28-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Dubuque_IL_E_Dubuque_School1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">IvoShandor</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:East_Dubuque_IL_E_Dubuque_School1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893076","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Dubuque_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5328254"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/jo-daviess-county/east-dubuque-school-82000396/"}