{"nrhp_refnum":"86001487","name":"Stolp Island Historic District","other_names":["See Also:G. A. R. Memorial Building","Keystone Building","Aurora"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Stolp Island","address_restricted":false,"city":"Aurora","county":"Kane County","state":"IL","lat":41.75748307400005,"lon":-88.31569526520656,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district covering all of Stolp Island in the Fox River, in the heart of downtown Aurora, Illinois. It takes in about six blocks, 34 structures (33 in one count) and four bridges, mostly from the early 20th century, with the earliest dating to about 1858.","why_significant":"The island was the site of some of Aurora's earliest industrial buildings and later became a public and then commercial center. Its buildings show styles from Italianate to Mayan Revival and include the city's tallest structures. The boundaries cover the whole island because it forms a logical, cohesive collection of properties.","narrative":"Stolp Island sits in the Fox River in the middle of downtown Aurora, Illinois, and the historic district takes in the whole island, with about 34 structures and four bridges. It was not part of the original town plat, yet it held some of Aurora's earliest buildings, mainly mills and factories powered by a mill race later filled in. Public buildings followed, among them the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall of 1877, and commercial uses eventually became dominant. Most surviving buildings date from the early 20th century, are masonry, and run from Italianate to Mayan Revival in style. The island also holds the city's tallest structures, including the 22-story Leland Tower. Of the 34 structures, 15 were judged significant, 13 contributing and 6 intrusions. Landfill and damming made the island far less flood-prone. The district was drawn to include the entire island because its buildings form a cohesive group reflecting Aurora's industrial, civic and commercial growth.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Various, including A.H. Ellwood (Aurora Silver Plate building), Joseph Mulvey (G.A.R. Memorial Hall), James Wetmore (Post Office), Eugene Italiter (Sherer Building), E.D. Briggs (1889 Stolp Mill Store addition)","architectural_style":"Varied, from Italianate to Mayan Revival, including Gothic Revival and neo-classic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied. Commercial, office, public and museum uses; the north and south tips of the island are vacant and used for parking.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.726419-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/8931/28893146/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/86001487.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001487/3c37bb39d2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001487/3c37bb39d2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cbradshaw","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leland_Tower_from_Galena.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Cbradshaw</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:Leland_Tower_from_Galena.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893146","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolp_Island","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7618676"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kane-county/stolp-island-historic-district-86001487/"}