{"nrhp_refnum":"94000980","name":"Coleman Hardware Company Building","other_names":["Sherwood School Furniture","Ohio Butt Company"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"100 Nettle St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Morris","county":"Grundy County","state":"IL","lat":41.35683854900003,"lon":-88.42924112799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-08-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A U-shaped complex of one-story brick factory and warehouse wings at 100 Nettle Street in Morris, Grundy County, Illinois, beside the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The wings date from 1874, 1876 and between 1894 and 1900.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the complex is the only surviving building group showing that Morris was a small factory town in the 1870s and 1880s. The company was the largest employer in Morris at its peak and made household hardware, locks, hinges and toys. The building also retains good integrity despite deterioration and has a Victorian design and a canal and rail location.","narrative":"Three brick wings, a 60-foot smokestack and fragments of other buildings surround a gravel courtyard at 100 Nettle Street in Morris, Illinois, just north of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The oldest wing dates from 1874, when the firm was the Sherwood School Furniture Company. A south wing followed in 1876, and a west wing was added between 1894 and 1900. Later known as the Coleman Hardware Company, the business made grey iron household hardware such as sash, locks and hinges, and added small iron toys around 1900. An 1888 local newspaper called it the city's most extensive manufacturing establishment. The company ran into financial trouble in 1935 and the property later passed through a paper mill and a fertilizer company before being left vacant. Much of the original factory complex has been demolished, but the surviving wings keep their walls, framing and window openings. They are the best remaining evidence of Morris as an industrial town, which supported the listing for industry and transportation.","period_of_significance":"1874-1935","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Vacant and deteriorating, with many windows boarded up, some walls partly collapsed, and many rear buildings demolished; a fire occurred in 1970.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.094623-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/8929/28892931/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/94000980.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000980/5ae5e1f93a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000980/5ae5e1f93a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coleman_Hardware_Company_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</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:Coleman_Hardware_Company_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892931","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_Hardware_Company_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5143001"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/grundy-county/coleman-hardware-company-building-94000980/"}