{"nrhp_refnum":"96001475","name":"Odell Building","other_names":["Odell Public Library"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"202 E. Lincolnway Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Morrison","county":"Whiteside County","state":"IL","lat":41.80924932600004,"lon":-89.96445043599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-12-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick and wood frame building at 202 East Lincolnway Road in Morrison, Whiteside County, Illinois, built in 1864-1865 as the Congregational Church and later used as the Odell Public Library.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be locally significant under Criterion A for education. It housed the Morrison Literary and Scientific Association's museum and library from 1887 and later the Odell Public Library, providing reading material, lectures and natural history displays to the community.","narrative":"Built in 1864-1865 as the home of Morrison's Congregational Church, this one-story brick and wood frame building on Lincolnway Road took on a new life in 1887, when J. Danforth Odell gave the deed to the Morrison Literary and Scientific Association. The association, founded in 1877, kept a museum of geological, archeological, botanical and biological specimens and a growing library, and hosted concerts and lectures. In 1905 its collections became the Odell Public Library, a free library supported by the city. The church front was reduced and remodeled in 1945, and a rear addition was built in 1933-1934 through the Civil Works Administration. Inside, yellow pine paneling added in 1887 and a king post truss ceiling remain, along with the former sanctuary's balcony. The building is recognized for its role in the educational growth of Morrison between 1887 and 1946. It is now listed as vacant.","period_of_significance":"1887-1946","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.282139-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/97/8942/28894297/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/96001475.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001475/0701c678b5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001475/0701c678b5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Boscophotos","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Image_Odell_Building.jpeg\" 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:Image_Odell_Building.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894297","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odell_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25303555"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/whiteside-county/odell-building-96001475/"}