{"nrhp_refnum":"83000298","name":"Downtown Quincy Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Hampshire, Jersey, 4th and 8th Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Quincy","county":"Adams County","state":"IL","lat":39.93274079950007,"lon":-91.40802258264199,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-04-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A downtown commercial historic district in Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, roughly bounded by Hampshire, Jersey, 4th and 8th Streets, made up of contiguous two- to three-story and taller commercial buildings, mostly built between 1850 and 1930.","why_significant":"The district preserves a second-generation building boom of 1850 to 1930 that replaced the original wooden structures of the 1820s. It shows a wide range of architectural styles, led by Italianate and Commercial, and keeps a high degree of physical integrity. The text also ties the architecture to Quincy's German builders and artisans, and to the city's commercial, political and anti-slavery history, including the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debate.","narrative":"Downtown Quincy, on the Mississippi River bluffs in western Illinois, is a commercial district of contiguous two- and three-story buildings, with taller landmarks mixed in. Roughly bounded by Hampshire, Jersey, 4th and 8th Streets, it grew from an 1825 settlement of wooden structures into a business center rebuilt between 1850 and 1930. Italianate and Commercial buildings dominate, alongside Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, Art Deco, Byzantine and other styles. Notable examples include the nine-story Lincoln-Douglas Hotel of 1930, the 1876 Ricker Bank, the 1924 Washington Theatre, the ten-story WCU Building of 1925 and the 1859 St. John's Episcopal Church. Many buildings retain cast-iron and plate glass storefronts and original upper stories. The district was listed because of its architectural variety and integrity, and because it reflects the work of German builders and artisans and the commercial and political life of a river city tied to the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the anti-slavery movement.","period_of_significance":"1850-1930","architect_builder":"Various, including C.W. Nichol, J.S. McKean, Reuben Levin, Ernest Wood, I.S. Taylor, Patton and Fischer, Martin Geise, George Behrensmeyer, William Raley, John Batschy and Charles Howland","architectural_style":"Predominantly Italianate and Commercial, with Renaissance Revival, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, Second Empire, Art Deco, Byzantine, Sullivanesque and many others","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked excellent, fair and deteriorated, and the buildings are both occupied and unoccupied. Some buildings, such as the Halbach-Schroeder Building and the Doerr Opera House, are described as vacant.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.345217-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/8916/28891677/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/83000298.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000298/52d1d7680d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000298/52d1d7680d-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"Smallbones, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quincy_SLnT.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891677","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Quincy_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14687485"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/adams-county/downtown-quincy-historic-district-83000298/"}