{"nrhp_refnum":"82002528","name":"Griffiths, John W., Mansion","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3806 S. Michigan Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.82556281600006,"lon":-87.62380196099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story limestone mansion with a full basement at 3806 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, built in 1893-94 for contractor John W. Griffiths and designed by architect Solon Beman.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is one of the few surviving and salvageable residences of its era on Chicago's near south side, still largely in original form. It was built for John Griffiths, a prominent contractor. It later housed the Quincy Club, a private club for Black railroad workers, and was the first home of the DuSable Museum of African American History.","narrative":"Built in 1893-94 at 3806 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, this three-story limestone mansion was designed by architect Solon Beman for John W. Griffiths, a self-made contractor who had helped build major Chicago landmarks. Its design is mainly chateauesque, with a slate roof of intersecting hips, dormers and cross gables, an octagonal tower, and an elaborately carved entrance. Inside, oak wainscoting, sliding wood doors, large fireplaces, a leaded glass window and a grand staircase survive. The house went up just as Michigan Avenue's fashionable era peaked, and fewer than a dozen such houses remain. In 1938 it was bought by the Quincy Club, a private club for Black employees of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. In 1961 it became the first home of the DuSable Museum of African American History, described as the first Black history museum outside a college campus. The building remains largely in its original form.","period_of_significance":"1893-94","architect_builder":"Solon Beman","architectural_style":"Chateauesque, possibly reflecting English Gothic influence","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and used as a private residence; described as in good to excellent repair with much original structure and detail intact, though some alterations date from the Quincy Club era.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.834448-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/68/8923/28892368/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/82002528.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002528/25e61a88a4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002528/25e61a88a4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Andrew Jameson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_W_Griffiths_Mansion_Chicago_IL.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Andrew Jameson</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:John_W_Griffiths_Mansion_Chicago_IL.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"12000040","name":"Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/chicago-park-boulevard-system-historic-district-12000040/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892368","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Griffiths_Mansion","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85771771"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/griffiths-john-w-mansion-82002528/"}