{"nrhp_refnum":"83000336","name":"St. Nicholas Hotel","other_names":["The St. Nick"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"400 E. Jefferson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Sangamon County","state":"IL","lat":39.802660812000056,"lon":-89.65028820199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A hotel complex at 400 East Jefferson Street in Springfield, Illinois, on the site of the first St. Nicholas of 1855. It consists of a 1910 annex, a 1924 main section designed by H. L. Stevens & Co. of New York, and a 1931 lobby wing.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it was the state capital's largest and most important hotel and the only intact pre-motel hotel building left in Springfield. It sat beside the railroad station and served as a gathering place for legislators and political figures, including the 1970 Paul Powell shoebox episode. It is also presented as a typical large, first-class urban hotel of the last great period of hotel building.","narrative":"Rising eleven stories plus a penthouse near Springfield's old railroad station, the St. Nicholas Hotel is a complex built in stages: an annex in 1910, a main section in 1924 and a lobby wing in 1931. The main section, designed by the New York hotel specialists H. L. Stevens & Co., is a restrained Georgian Revival building with a Bedford stone base, red brick shaft, stone trim, scroll pediments and urns. The nomination describes it as the capital's largest and most important hotel and the only intact hotel from the era before motels. Its location made it the first building rail passengers saw on leaving the station, and it anchored a district of hotels, restaurants and nightlife. Legislators gathered there while the General Assembly met, and notable guests included several presidents. Declining downtown activity and competition from motels led to its closing in 1977. The exterior of the 1924 section and the annex remain largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1924","architect_builder":"H. L. Stevens & Co.","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival (1924 main section); neo-classical (1910 annex)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant and unoccupied, with work in progress; the hotel closed in 1977 and contract purchasers planned rehabilitation without harming the exterior. Condition is given as good and altered, with the 1924 and 1910 facades largely intact.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.445952-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/72/8940/28894072/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/83000336.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000336/bd3207ae29-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000336/bd3207ae29-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Nicholas_Hotel.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</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:St._Nicholas_Hotel.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894072","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Nicholas_Hotel_(Springfield,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16900616"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/sangamon-county/st-nicholas-hotel-83000336/"}