{"nrhp_refnum":"91000086","name":"Streibich Blacksmith Shop","other_names":["Tucker Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 N. Howard St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newman","county":"Douglas County","state":"IL","lat":39.79813395300005,"lon":-87.97114175399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-02-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story vernacular brick blacksmith shop at 1 North Howard Street in Newman, Douglas County, Illinois, built in the 1870s by Ignatius Streibich, with a one-story brick addition and a metal-covered frame shed.","why_significant":"The shop was essential to the commercial life of Newman and the surrounding farm area, housing a blacksmith shop and later a machine shop. In 1891 Streibich installed Douglas County's first electric power plant in the building, which laid the groundwork for the permanent town system built around 1895. The shop also keeps its original forges, tool racks and many tools.","narrative":"This two-story brick blacksmith shop in Newman, Illinois, stands near the northeast corner of the town square. Ignatius Streibich, a German-born smith, bought the lots in 1869 and had the plain brick building erected in the early 1870s. Its design reflects the trade: two brick forges along the south wall, a windowless north wall for judging the color of hot iron, hitching rings for shoeing horses, a dirt floor, and a line shaft that once drove shop machinery. Streibich and later his son Fred repaired wagons, plows and farm machinery, and made hardware that was not available locally. A machine shop followed from 1938 to 1969. In 1891 Streibich installed a steam-driven generator in the shop, giving Newman the first electric lighting in Douglas County. The plant lasted about a year but prepared the way for the town's later system. The original structure remains largely unaltered and the shop is still in use.","period_of_significance":"1870-1932 and 1938-1940","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Commercial Vernacular","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The main part of the building is still used as a blacksmith shop, with one of the two brick forges in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.055324-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/8927/28892734/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/91000086.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000086/3289d2bee8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000086/3289d2bee8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Esvobod2","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Streibich_Blacksmith_Shop_Front_View.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Esvobod2</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:Streibich_Blacksmith_Shop_Front_View.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892734","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streibich_Blacksmith_Shop","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7623178"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/douglas-county/streibich-blacksmith-shop-91000086/"}