{"nrhp_refnum":"87002055","name":"Spring Valley House-Sulfur Springs Hotel","other_names":["Half-Way House"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Dee Bennett Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Utica","county":"LaSalle County","state":"IL","lat":41.32320873800006,"lon":-88.96318826399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-11-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story limestone hotel building and its natural springs on Dee Bennett Road near Utica, LaSalle County, Illinois, on the north bank of the Illinois River. It was built around 1849 by an unknown builder and is now a private residence known as the \"Half-Way House.\"","why_significant":"The hotel reflects the mid-19th-century commerce and transportation of the upper Illinois River valley, standing between the river and the main stage coach road. It also embodies early vernacular limestone construction of the region, with Greek Revival and classical features. Its large scale resulted from serving both stage travelers and resort guests who came for the spring waters and traveling entertainers.","narrative":"Dee Bennett Road, just outside Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois, runs past a four-story limestone hotel built around 1849 between the Illinois River and the old stage coach road. Known as the Spring Valley House or Sulphur Springs Hotel, and later as the \"Half-Way House,\" it measures about 63 by 42 feet and has a hip roof, coursed rubble walls and a central ashlar pavilion on the north front. Inside are guest rooms, a fourth-floor ballroom and small \"sarsaparilla rooms\" for drinks. Natural springs on the site fed a spring house that still supplies water. The hotel served stage travelers and also operated as a resort, drawing visitors for the sulphur waters and for entertainers, including violinist Ole Bull. Railroads and the canal reduced stage traffic, and the hotel fell out of use around 1862. It is considered important for its place in regional commerce and transportation and as an example of early limestone construction with classical features. It is now a private home.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1849-1862","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Vernacular limestone construction with Greek Revival and Georgian-influenced classical elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Now a private residence, with the owner's apartment on the ground floor and a tenant unit on the main level. The third and fourth floors appear to have been unused since the hotel closed.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.480381-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/9/8934/28893409/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/87002055.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002055/daa1c56412-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002055/daa1c56412-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Ammodramus","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Kaskaskia_Village_from_W.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ammodramus</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Kaskaskia_Village_from_W.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893409","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Valley_House%E2%80%93Sulfur_Springs_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q48790724"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/lasalle-county/spring-valley-house-sulfur-springs-hotel-87002055/"}