{"nrhp_refnum":"96001294","name":"Mershon, Joab, House","other_names":["Wyne, Walter, House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"507 W. 5th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Vermont","county":"Fulton County","state":"IL","lat":40.29340577000005,"lon":-90.43307424199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-11-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Italianate house built in 1859 at 507 West Fifth Street in the village of Vermont, Fulton County, Illinois, for merchant and pork packer Joab Mershon. The architect and builder are unknown.","why_significant":"The house is locally significant under Criterion C as a good example of a cubic, four-over-four Italianate house with Greek Revival detailing, reflecting the transition between the two styles. It is also significant under Criterion B for Joab Mershon, a leading pork packer, merchant and banker who helped develop Vermont from the 1840s until his death in 1888.","narrative":"Built in 1859 for Joab Mershon, this two-story brick house at 507 West Fifth Street in Vermont, Illinois, combines Italianate and Greek Revival features. It has a low hipped roof with a belvedere, paired cornice brackets, a segmental arched entry and four-over-four windows with cast iron hoods and sills. Greek Revival touches include dentils, anthemion-decorated lintels and flared interior door and window casings. A rear brick wing was added by the early 1860s, and later additions and porch changes have come and gone. The plan is a central hall with rooms on each side. The house is considered a good local example of the shift between the two styles. It is also tied to Mershon, who arrived in Vermont in 1839 as a cobbler and became a leading merchant, pork packer and banker. He helped develop the village until his death in 1888.","period_of_significance":"1859 (Criterion C); 1859-1888 (Criterion B)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate, Greek Revival, Other: Four-over-Four","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a single dwelling. The cornice, brackets and windows were being repainted in a historic color scheme at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.766561-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/8911/28891126/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/96001294.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001294/12ba6bc13c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001294/12ba6bc13c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Boscophotos","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mersin_HouseImage.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:Mersin_HouseImage.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891126","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joab_Mershon_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23073990"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/fulton-county/mershon-joab-house-96001294/"}