{"nrhp_refnum":"88001228","name":"Allentown Union Hall","other_names":["Allentown Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2 mi. E of IL 121","address_restricted":false,"city":"Allentown","county":"Tazewell County","state":"IL","lat":40.55497393200005,"lon":-89.40895045499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-08-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story white wood frame community hall, 36 by 60 feet, on the west side of a township road in the unincorporated village of Allentown, Tazewell County, Illinois. It was built in 1892 and has two historic privies on the lot.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the hall is locally significant under Criterion A as a rural community gathering place of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It hosted education, entertainment, social, religious and civic activities that connected people across a wide area. It was built through the fundraising of a local women's group and community subscription.","narrative":"Allentown Union Hall is a one-story, white clapboard community building in the small, unincorporated village of Allentown in Tazewell County, Illinois. Completed and dedicated on October 12, 1892, it measures 36 by 60 feet, with a steep gabled roof, a brick foundation, and a raised stage at the rear. The building has no plumbing, and two small privies stand behind it. The hall grew from the efforts of a local women's group, the Helping Hand Circle, which raised $300 through socials and suppers, with the rest of the cost covered by subscription. For decades it served as a hub for Sunday school, church services, dances, plays, medicine shows, funerals and elections, drawing people from nearby towns when muddy roads limited travel. Its interior, especially the stage and wainscoting, remains largely unaltered. The nomination treats it as a locally significant example of rural social, educational and recreational life between 1892 and 1938, and it is still used for community events.","period_of_significance":"1892-1938","architect_builder":"White, Unk, John Will (OCR of the Architect/Builder entry is garbled; exact names unclear)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still in use for community events, including biennial homecomings begun in 1950; the form describes it as structurally sound with excellent integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.903757-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/8941/28894198/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/88001228.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88001228/be56706a02-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88001228/be56706a02-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Ammodramus","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allentown_Union_Hall_(Illinois)_from_SE_2.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:Allentown_Union_Hall_(Illinois)_from_SE_2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894198","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allentown_Union_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22033052"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/tazewell-county/allentown-union-hall-88001228/"}