Downtown Quincy Historic District

Downtown Quincy, on the Mississippi River bluffs in western Illinois, is a commercial district of contiguous two- and three-story buildings, with taller landmarks mixed in. Roughly bounded by Hampshire, Jersey, 4th and 8th Streets, it grew from an 1825 settlement of wooden structures into a business center rebuilt between 1850 and 1930. Italianate and Commercial buildings dominate, alongside Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, Art Deco, Byzantine and other styles. Notable examples include the nine-story Lincoln-Douglas Hotel of 1930, the 1876 Ricker Bank, the 1924 Washington Theatre, the ten-story WCU Building of 1925 and the 1859 St. John's Episcopal Church. Many buildings retain cast-iron and plate glass storefronts and original upper stories. The district was listed because of its architectural variety and integrity, and because it reflects the work of German builders and artisans and the commercial and political life of a river city tied to the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the anti-slavery movement.