Fisher-Chapman Farmstead

Just north of Jerseyville, Illinois, this 17.80-acre farmstead centers on a large brick Italianate house with a belvedere, built on land first settled by Cornelius B. Fisher. The bricks were made on the property, and no original architect is recorded, though carpenter William Embley, who designed similar houses in the area, is linked to the work. The house has a symmetrical front, low hipped roofs with wide overhangs, hooded two-over-two windows and a front porch with slender columnettes. The Chapman family added a porte cochere around 1910 and later updated interiors. Behind the house stand tenant houses that sheltered farm workers and their families. Once a large working general farm, mixing livestock, orchards and grain, it reflects the typical agriculture of Jersey County. It is listed as a district of fourteen contributing resources, preserving both the residence and the layout of the working farm.