Fulton Commercial Historic District

Fulton's commercial core runs along 4th Street from 9th to 12th Avenues, close to the Mississippi River in northwest Illinois. The district covers about 6.4 acres and holds 33 contributing resources, including attached brick commercial blocks, a 1930s post office, a 1956 fire station, a 1927 war memorial and a World War II carriage gun. The earliest buildings date from 1856, and the Utz Block of 1870 is among the older examples. Most pre-1900 buildings are Italianate, built of locally made brick, with later Commercial Style and Classical Revival buildings mixed in. The district grew from the traffic of ferries, railroads, the 1891 Lyons-Fulton High Bridge and later the Lincoln Highway, which ran down 4th Street until the 1970s. Storefronts housed groceries, department stores and restaurants, supported by local manufacturing and freight handling. The district was listed for its role as the town's commercial and social center and for its architecture, which retains original massing and many character-defining features despite altered storefronts.