{"nrhp_refnum":"94000435","name":"Pleasant Grove School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":".6 mi. W of Eden Rd., on Pleasant Grove Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Eden","county":"Peoria County","state":"IL","lat":40.67825833100005,"lon":-89.84546143499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-05-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-room limestone schoolhouse built in 1856 on a wooded knoll beside a church site and cemetery, west of Eden Road on Pleasant Grove Road near Eden, Peoria County, Illinois. It was built by stonemason Joel Lobaugh.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is an excellent example of a stone one-room schoolhouse, with stonework and craftsmanship as its most outstanding features. It shows early local use of native limestone and keeps a high degree of integrity. It is the last one-room school left in Logan Township, and one of only three known stone one-room schools in Peoria County.","narrative":"Pleasant Grove School is a small one-room schoolhouse of native limestone, built in 1856 near Eden in Peoria County, Illinois. Joel Lobaugh, a farmer and stonemason from nearby Smithville, built it with stone quarried south of the neighboring cemetery. The walls are about two feet thick, laid in random ashlar, with larger corner stones that resemble quoins and dressed limestone lintels and sills as the only ornament. A wood-frame vestibule was added before 1900. Children attended until 1946, when local school districts consolidated and classes moved to Eden. A cemetery association made up largely of descendants of the area's settlers bought the building at auction in 1947 and still uses it for meetings. It was listed for its architecture. It is the last one-room school in Logan Township, and only two other stone one-room schools are known in the county, both altered into residences. The building keeps a high degree of integrity despite changes to some window sash and the loss of shutters.","period_of_significance":"1856","architect_builder":"Lobaugh, Joel, Builder","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century; the form notes the building reflects no particular architectural style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Owned by a local cemetery association, which maintains the building and uses it for meetings once or twice a year. It served as a school from 1856 until 1946.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.808364-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/8938/28893831/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/94000435.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000435/5fd22012c6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000435/5fd22012c6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Boscophotos","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1856_Pleasant_Grove_School_Peoria_County_2015.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Boscophotos</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:1856_Pleasant_Grove_School_Peoria_County_2015.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893831","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Grove_School_(Eden,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23073867"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/peoria-county/pleasant-grove-school-94000435/"}