{"nrhp_refnum":"96000092","name":"Sherrard Banking Company","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"314 Third St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sherrard","county":"Mercer County","state":"IL","lat":41.31895211400007,"lon":-90.50576457499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story red brick commercial building at 314 Third Street in Sherrard, Mercer County, Illinois, built in 1896 as a bank for the Sherrard Banking Company. A rear addition was built in 1948.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be a good, locally significant example of Late Victorian commercial architecture, meeting Criterion C. Its corner tower, hipped slate roof with finials and cresting, angled arched entry, and stone sills and lintels show picturesque effects with restrained 1890s ornament. It is also a two-part commercial block in a mining town that grew quickly in the 1890s.","narrative":"Built in 1896 at 314 Third Street in Sherrard, Illinois, this two-story red brick building was erected for the Sherrard Banking Company, organized by village founder David Sherrard. Sherrard was laid out in 1894 beside a new coal mine, and the bank was one of only two brick commercial buildings in town by 1903. Its corner tower with a steeply pitched slate roof, finials, roof cresting, angled arched entrance, and white stone sills and lintels give it a picturesque Late Victorian look, while the ornament is restrained compared with the 1870s and 1880s. Solid masonry walls and pilasters were meant to convey stability. The first floor held the banking room and vault, and the second floor held professional offices. The bank was a major financial business until 1924. Converted to apartments around 1945 and given a rear addition in 1948, the building now houses a restaurant, and it was listed for its architecture.","period_of_significance":"1896","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The first floor is used as a restaurant and the second floor has apartment use; the building was converted to apartments around 1945.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.414553-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/8937/28893727/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/96000092.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000092/86eba0249e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000092/86eba0249e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sherrard Bank owner","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Sherrard_Bank.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sherrard Bank owner</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:The_Sherrard_Bank.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893727","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherrard_Banking_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24061797"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mercer-county/sherrard-banking-company-96000092/"}