{"nrhp_refnum":"83003584","name":"Benjaminville Friends Meetinghouse and Burial Ground","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Holder","address_restricted":false,"city":"Holder","county":"McLean County","state":"IL","lat":40.47652098100008,"lon":-88.80594150399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-12-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rectangular frame Quaker meetinghouse built in 1874 on a two-acre site with an adjoining burial ground, north of Holder in McLean County, Illinois.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an excellent, well-preserved example of traditional Quaker meetinghouse architecture, with a plain exterior, separate doors, an interior partition and an adjoining burial ground. It also served as the social, political and religious center of the Benjaminville Quaker settlement and is the only surviving structure of that hamlet.","narrative":"Built in 1874 north of Holder, Illinois, this balloon-framed, gable-roofed meetinghouse measures 42 by 32 feet and sits on two acres of prairie surrounded by cropland. Weatherboard siding, plain white trim, two doors on the long south wall and a waist-high interior partition reflect traditional Quaker design. Hand graining on the pews, partition and woodwork is the main decoration. A small privy and storage shed was added around 1910, and the porch received a concrete floor. The adjoining burial ground is divided into Quaker, non-Quaker and mixed sections. The site matters for both architecture and local history. Three Quaker families settled the treeless prairie in 1856, and a first meetinghouse was built in 1859. The present building served as the social, political and religious center of the community. The railroad bypassed the hamlet of Benjaminville, and the meetinghouse and burial ground are now the only visible reminders of that Quaker settlement.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Traditional Quaker meetinghouse architecture","criteria":[],"status_note":"Good condition and largely original; the building is no longer owned by a religious organization, and occasional services are still held there.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.175417-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/8936/28893685/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/83003584.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003584/351b843d2c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003584/351b843d2c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"See above.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holder_Il_Bentown6.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">See above.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holder_Il_Bentown6.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893685","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjaminville_Friends_Meeting_House_and_Burial_Ground","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4889466"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mclean-county/benjaminville-friends-meetinghouse-and-burial-ground-83003584/"}