{"nrhp_refnum":"99001381","name":"Peoples National Bank Building-Fries Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1729-1731 and 1723-1727 2nd Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rock Island","county":"Rock Island County","state":"IL","lat":41.51101633900004,"lon":-90.57520818799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-11-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick commercial building at 1723-1731 Second Avenue in downtown Rock Island, Illinois, made up of two formerly separate buildings, the Peoples National Bank Building (built around 1876) and the Fries Building (1897), now joined as one.","why_significant":"The Fries Building is nominated under Criterion A for Commerce, tied to the Young and McCombs Department Store, which operated there from 1897 to 1909. Peter Fries, a prominent Rock Island businessman and developer, built it, and the local firm Drack and Kerns designed it. The bank building is part of the same downtown commercial story, with its c.1904 and 1911 remodellings by local architects.","narrative":"Two downtown Rock Island commercial buildings, joined on their lower three stories, now count as a single historic property at the corner of Second Avenue and Eighteenth Street. The Peoples National Bank Building dates to about 1876 and was reworked around 1904 with a fourth story and a new Second Avenue facade. It mixes Commercial Style and Classical Revival details, including a sheet metal cornice and a frieze with swags. Rock Island architects Drack & Kerns and George P. Stauduhar later altered it, and the bank expanded into the adjoining storefront in 1911. Remnants of the bank survive, including a brick vault and decorative ceiling moldings. Next door, the 1897 Fries Building was built by businessman Peter Fries for the Young and McCombs Department Store, which occupied it until 1909. Drack and Kerns designed it. The property was listed for its connection to local retail commerce in the city's historic downtown, where banks, stores and offices once clustered near the Mississippi River.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Peoples National Bank Building: original builder unknown; alterations by Drack & Kerns (1900 and possibly 1904) and George P. Stauduhar (1910-1911). Fries Building: built for Peter Fries, designed by Drack and Kerns.","architectural_style":"Commercial Style; Classical Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Ground-floor spaces are in use as a restaurant and two shops. The elevator is described as currently dysfunctional, and the function list includes vacant commercial space.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.815922-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/67/8939/28893967/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/99001381.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001381/3041c25880-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001381/3041c25880-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peoples_Nat_Bank_RI_IL.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peoples_Nat_Bank_RI_IL.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100004433","name":"Downtown Rock Island Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/downtown-rock-island-historic-district-100004433/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893967","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoples_National_Bank_Building%E2%80%93Fries_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7166068"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/rock-island-county/peoples-national-bank-building-fries-building-99001381/"}