{"nrhp_refnum":"94000434","name":"Parlin Library","other_names":["Canton City Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"210 E. Chestnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Canton","county":"Fulton County","state":"IL","lat":40.556710948000045,"lon":-90.03155682999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-05-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Parlin Library is a 2 1/2-story red brick and stone Richardsonian Romanesque building at 210 East Chestnut Street in Canton, Fulton County, Illinois, built in 1893-1894 and now used as Canton City Hall.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion A for education and social history as Canton's public library, funded largely by the Parlin family. It supplied books, periodicals and art to residents and students, and hosted groups such as the Women's Club and Illinois History Club. It is considered locally significant as a center of culture and learning.","narrative":"Parlin Library, at 210 East Chestnut Street in Canton, Illinois, is a 2 1/2-story red brick and stone building designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by the Peoria firm of Richardson and Salter. Built in 1893-1894, it has a three-story entrance tower, decorative chimneys and an oak-finished interior with reading rooms, fireplaces and stained glass. A brick stack room was added in 1915 and a fireproof vault in 1960. The library came about through a bequest from William Parlin, Sr., founder of the Parlin and Orendorff farm equipment company, with city tax funds and further gifts from the Parlin family covering a $24,000 cost. It opened in 1894 with one thousand volumes. For decades it served students and residents with books, periodicals and art, and hosted the Women's Club and Illinois History Club. Today it houses Canton's city offices, and its condition remains very good.","period_of_significance":"1894-1944","architect_builder":"Richardson and Salter, Architects (Edward D. Richardson and Richard H. Salter of Peoria, Illinois)","architectural_style":"Romanesque (Richardsonian Romanesque)","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Used as Canton City Hall; described as in remarkable condition with virtually no major deterioration, and most changes cosmetic and reversible.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.678526-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/8928/28892884/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/94000434.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000434/7be2f18145-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000434/7be2f18145-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Stolehome","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parlin_Library,_Canton,_Illinois.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Stolehome</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:Parlin_Library,_Canton,_Illinois.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892884","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlin_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14688008"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/fulton-county/parlin-library-94000434/"}