{"nrhp_refnum":"87001305","name":"France Hotel","other_names":["France Motor Inn"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"118 E. Court St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Paris","county":"Edgar County","state":"IL","lat":39.61108976400004,"lon":-87.69348818099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-08-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story neo-classical hotel at 118 East Court Street in downtown Paris, Edgar County, Illinois, built in 1924 and designed by Ewing Miller, Sr. of the Terre Haute firm Johnson, Miller, and Miller.","why_significant":"It is presented as a well-preserved 1920s hotel in East Central Illinois and a reminder of community spirit and social centers in small Illinois towns. Paris, with fewer than 8,000 residents, funded a 100-room, architect-designed luxury hotel entirely by popular subscription after a fire destroyed the old Paris Hotel. It also stands out against the few comparable hotels that survive in the region, which have been altered.","narrative":"Built in 1924 on East Court Street, half a block from the courthouse square in Paris, Illinois, the France Hotel is a four-story neo-classical building of red brick trimmed with Bedford limestone. Its flat roof carries an ornate parapet and stone urns, and the walls are reinforced concrete faced with brick and stone. The building has changed little since construction. Its story begins with a 1918 fire that destroyed a downtown block, including the old Paris Hotel. The Chamber of Commerce then led a seven-year campaign to build a modern, fireproof replacement, financed entirely by popular subscription and reaching about $191,000. Ewing Miller of the Terre Haute firm Johnson, Miller, and Miller designed it. For a town of under 8,000 people, a 100-room luxury hotel was remarkable. It served travelers, salesmen and local residents, with a banquet hall, coffee shop and bar. Few comparable regional hotels survive unaltered, which adds to its importance.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Ewing Miller, Sr.","architectural_style":"Neo-classical","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The form lists the building as vacant, with work in progress, and describes it as substantially unaltered since 1924 and in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.977475-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/8928/28892819/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/87001305.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001305/0424715aed-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001305/0424715aed-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Dclark","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:118_E._Court_St.,_Paris,_IL.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Dclark</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:118_E._Court_St.,_Paris,_IL.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892819","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5478285"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/edgar-county/france-hotel-87001305/"}