{"nrhp_refnum":"94000015","name":"Ruebel Hotel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"207--215 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Grafton","county":"Jersey County","state":"IL","lat":38.96945389700005,"lon":-90.43228633099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick hotel at 207-215 East Main Street in Grafton, Jersey County, Illinois, built in 1913 to replace an earlier hotel that burned in a December 1912 fire. The architect and builder are unknown.","why_significant":"The hotel is argued to be significant for Commerce because it supplied lodging, storefronts, a restaurant and a saloon to the community, and it was known as the finest hotel in Jersey County. It is also significant for Architecture as a well-preserved Commercial Style building with intact interior spaces. It is the only remaining hotel building in Grafton.","narrative":"Ruebel Hotel, at 207-215 East Main Street in Grafton, Illinois, is a two-story brick building completed in 1913 after a December 1912 fire destroyed the hotel that had operated on the site since 1879. Michael Ruebel, a Bavarian immigrant, started the original hotel and saloon. The rebuilt hotel has mottled brown brick on its main facade, a corbelled cornice, raised brick panels, and a central entry pavilion projecting over the sidewalk. Ground-floor storefronts once held a saloon, a lobby and shops, and a limestone basement holds a ballroom, cellars and a kitchen. Upstairs are thirteen sleeping rooms and a meeting hall with remnants of painted murals. The original carved mahogany bar survives. Local accounts called it the finest hotel in Jersey County, and it is the last hotel building left in Grafton. It was listed for its role in local commerce and as a good example of Commercial Style design. The building has been vacant since the 1993 flood.","period_of_significance":"1913 - 1943","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant following the Great Flood of 1993.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.446183-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/96/8911/28891196/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/94000015.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000015/009b4e980b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000015/009b4e980b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruebel_Hotel.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruebel_Hotel.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891196","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruebel_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18157589"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/jersey-county/ruebel-hotel-94000015/"}