{"nrhp_refnum":"91001687","name":"Delavan Commercial Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"307, 309--324, 400, 401, 404--410, 412 and 414 Locust St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Delavan","county":"Tazewell County","state":"IL","lat":40.37239321200005,"lon":-89.54724382336927,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-11-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-block commercial historic district along Locust Street in Delavan, Tazewell County, Illinois, made up of 26 mostly one- and two-story brick and metal-fronted storefronts dating from about 1860 to 1911.","why_significant":"The district shows how Delavan's downtown developed, from simple brick bearing-wall stores of about 1860 through Italianate and Queen Anne buildings to a 1911 stone-faced concrete block building. It is notable for its pressed metal fronts and varied cast iron storefronts, with almost no repeated designs. The commercial center also reflects the town's role as a grain and farm trade hub.","narrative":"Locust Street forms the spine of Delavan's historic downtown in Tazewell County, Illinois, where 26 buildings stand in a two-block area, 20 of them contributing. Nearly all date from before 1900 or shortly after. The oldest, at 404 and 406 Locust, are Italianate brick stores from about 1860. Later buildings add more ornate Italianate cornices and window hoods, and the Masonic Hall at 401 Locust carries a Queen Anne turret. The street's most striking feature is its pressed metal upper fronts and its cast iron storefront columns and pilasters, which rarely repeat a design. A fire in 1888 destroyed five wooden buildings on the west side, and masonry replacements followed. A 1911 stone-faced concrete block lodge building marks the later end of the range. The district is significant as a record of commercial architecture in a farm and grain-shipping town that grew with railroads and surrounding agriculture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"W. A. Corwine, Lincoln, IL (architect of the Masonic Hall, 401 Locust)","architectural_style":"Commercial; Italianate; Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Mixed use: several storefronts are occupied by shops and offices, others (such as 313, 315, 317, 406 and 408 Locust) are described as vacant or used only for storage.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.762516-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/90/8941/28894190/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/91001687.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001687/f1e608c0ae-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001687/f1e608c0ae-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Ammodramus","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Delavan,_Illinois_401_Locust_St_from_NE.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:Delavan,_Illinois_401_Locust_St_from_NE.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894190","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delavan_Commercial_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22033940"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/tazewell-county/delavan-commercial-historic-district-91001687/"}