{"nrhp_refnum":"86003716","name":"Williams, James Robert, House","other_names":["Castle,The"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"310 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Carmi","county":"White County","state":"IL","lat":38.09078400300007,"lon":-88.15817314399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-01-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick Romanesque Revival mansion in Carmi, White County, Illinois, built in 1896 across from the White County Courthouse for Congressman James Robert Williams. It was designed by George F. Barber and Company of Knoxville and built by David Getaz.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a unique, customized design by the prolific pattern-book architect George F. Barber, with no other example of its design in Barber literature. It is also tied to James Robert Williams, a White County attorney and judge who became a U.S. Congressman and a Free Silver leader and campaigner with William Jennings Bryan.","narrative":"Built in 1896 across from the White County Courthouse in Carmi, Illinois, this brick mansion was commissioned by James Robert Williams, a local attorney and judge who went on to serve in Congress. It was designed by George F. Barber of Knoxville, a prolific architect known for mail-order house plans, and built by David Getaz. Barber's historian describes it as a customized project, and its turrets and central arches appear in no other Barber design. The house combines towers, a slate roof, carved oak and maple paneling, a large parlor, and a third-floor ballroom. Williams was a leader in the Free Silver movement, campaigned with William Jennings Bryan, and received votes for Vice President at the 1904 Democratic convention. His wife came from two prominent Carmi families. After decades of decline and several failed sale attempts, the city acquired the property in 1985 intending to demolish it, though the structure remained sound and its woodwork largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1896-1905","architect_builder":"George F. Barber, Knoxville, Tenn.; built by David Getaz, Contractors and Builders","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival, with Queen Anne tower elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"The house is empty of furniture, with some windows boarded, and some woodwork around the parlor fireplace dismantled. The city owns it and had planned to raze it for a new library. The structure is described as still square and level, with slight roof and lintel deterioration.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.765689-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/8942/28894276/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/86003716.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003716/f5bca28046-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003716/f5bca28046-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Robert_Williams_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Robert_Williams_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894276","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Robert_Williams_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17029744"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/white-county/williams-james-robert-house-86003716/"}