{"nrhp_refnum":"96000854","name":"Lincoln Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"44 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Champaign","county":"Champaign County","state":"IL","lat":40.117467489000035,"lon":-88.24159043699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-08-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story commercial office and retail building at 44 East Main Street in downtown Champaign, Illinois, completed in 1916 and designed by architect H.R. Temple with the English Brothers as contractors.","why_significant":"The nomination points to the building's design as a Commercial Style structure with minimal Classical Revival detailing and its height as one of the tallest historic commercial buildings in Champaign-Urbana. It is also tied to architect Harry Roberts Temple, for whom it was among his first independent designs, and to the English Brothers, builders of many University of Illinois buildings. The interior retains much of its original character.","narrative":"Rising five stories at the southwest corner of East Main and Market streets in downtown Champaign, the Lincoln Building was completed in 1916 as an office and retail block. Architect H.R. Temple designed it for Joseph and Isaac Kuhn, and the English Brothers, known for many University of Illinois campus buildings, built it. Its steel frame is clad in mottled brown brick with brown terra cotta trim and a copper-faced cornice, arranged in a base, shaft and capital pattern with restrained Classical Revival detail. Inside, marble walls, terrazzo floors, wood-framed office doors with operable transoms, original brass hardware and walk-in safes survive, along with a mail chute and open staircase. Some storefront and upper-floor changes have occurred over time. The building is notable as one of the tallest historic commercial buildings in Champaign-Urbana, as an early independent design by Temple, and as an example of the early twentieth century building phase in downtown Champaign.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"H.R. (Harry Roberts) Temple, architect; English Brothers, contractors","architectural_style":"Commercial Style; Classical Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Historic and current functions are both commerce/trade (business, professional); the building retains original public spaces on the first floor, though storefronts and some interior spaces have been altered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.682635-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/8917/28891788/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/96000854.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000854/fb026fe96f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000854/fb026fe96f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0 us","author":"Dori","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lincoln_Building_Champaign_Illinois_4183.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dori</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0 us</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lincoln_Building_Champaign_Illinois_4183.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891788","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Building_(Champaign,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6550506"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/champaign-county/lincoln-building-96000854/"}