{"nrhp_refnum":"93001239","name":"Plano Hotel","other_names":["Plano House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"120 W. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Plano","county":"Kendall County","state":"IL","lat":41.66238159200003,"lon":-88.53927694799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Italianate hotel with a full basement at 120 W. Main Street in downtown Plano, Kendall County, Illinois, built in 1868 by John W. Smith on the northeast corner of Main and West Streets.","why_significant":"The hotel is significant under Criterion A for commerce, for providing lodging and dining to travelers, salesmen, businessmen and townspeople from 1868 to 1943. It was built during a period of growth after the railroad arrived in 1853 and is the only surviving hotel in Plano. It sat across from the C. B. & Q. depot and served as a social center, including the founding of the Meramech Club in 1900.","narrative":"Built in 1868 by John W. Smith, this two-story brick hotel with a stone foundation and full basement stands at the corner of Main and West Streets in downtown Plano, Illinois. Its Italianate character shows in arched windows, brick hood moldings, a mahogany staircase and decorative metal ceilings, and its twenty-five rooms open off a central hall. The hotel opened as the railroad had made Plano a manufacturing center, and it sat across from the railroad depot. It housed travelers, salesmen and actors, offered a well-regarded dining room, and hosted parties and a social club founded there in 1900. Later it took permanent residents, and in the 1940s it was converted to include apartments. It is the only surviving hotel in Plano and was listed for its role in local commerce between 1868 and 1943. The property is now vacant, with its original windows boarded over for protection.","period_of_significance":"1868-1943","architect_builder":"John W. Smith (builder); architect listed as Unknown","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Current function listed as vacant/not in use; windows covered with plywood to protect against vandalism, and a recent fire caused limited damage near the main staircase.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.04457-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/8932/28893264/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/93001239.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93001239/f83cc33a43-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93001239/f83cc33a43-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plano_Il_Plano_Hotel1.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:Plano_Il_Plano_Hotel1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893264","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plano_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7201410"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kendall-county/plano-hotel-93001239/"}