{"nrhp_refnum":"90001199","name":"Scales Mound Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by village corporate limits","address_restricted":false,"city":"Scales Mound","county":"Jo Daviess County","state":"IL","lat":42.48203982350006,"lon":-90.25357583240117,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-09-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district covering the entire corporate limits of the village of Scales Mound in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, laid out in 1853-54 along the Illinois Central Railroad. It includes 184 contributing buildings and one contributing structure.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is significant under Criterion C for its many well-maintained late 19th and early 20th century vernacular houses and commercial buildings. Under Criterion A, it shows the agricultural, commercial and social history of northern Illinois. Its spacious yards and many frame outbuildings convey the feel of a small, active farm community.","narrative":"Scales Mound is a small agricultural village in rural Jo Daviess County, Illinois, in the Driftless Area about ten miles east of Galena. It was laid out in 1853 along the new Illinois Central Railroad, and the tracks shaped its growth, with commercial buildings, warehouses and a depot clustered on either side. Most of the district's houses are modest 1 1/2 to 2-story frame buildings erected between 1880 and 1925, mixing scaled-down Queen Anne, Eastlake and Shingle Style details. Many frame garages, stables, privies and barns survive behind them, and open yards, closed alleys and grassed-over street sections give the village a spacious feel. The district covers the whole village and counts 184 contributing buildings and one steel fire siren. It was listed for its collection of vernacular architecture and for what the buildings show about the agricultural, commercial and social life of a northern Illinois farm community between about 1855 and 1930.","period_of_significance":"c.1855-1930","architect_builder":"Rittweger, Adam","architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Stick/Eastlake","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Most houses are described as well maintained, with common alterations such as aluminum or asbestos siding, enclosed porches and rear additions. The district retains its basic integrity.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.449236-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/8930/28893074/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/90001199.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001199/4651b1040b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001199/4651b1040b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scales_Mound_IL_Scales_Mound_Historic_District_William_Allan_Store1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">IvoShandor</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:Scales_Mound_IL_Scales_Mound_Historic_District_William_Allan_Store1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893074","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scales_Mound_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7429761"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/jo-daviess-county/scales-mound-historic-district-90001199/"}