Carmi Chapter House
Why it's listed
This building at 604 W. Main Street in Carmi, Illinois, was built in 1910 as a chapter house of the American Woman's League. It is one of ten such houses erected in 1909-10 under a nationwide movement that promoted women's suffrage, literacy, domesticity, education and social interaction. The houses followed standardized plans known as Classes I through IV, and Carmi's is a Class II house. Over the years it has been altered. Changes include single-pane windows, central air-conditioning, a roof that overlaps the original roofline, white-painted trim, removal of the emblem, and many rear additions, including a second story at the back. Despite these changes, it is described as being in excellent repair and attractively renovated. It remains a private home. The League's chapter houses declined after 1928, when women's suffrage became law, and the Carmi house is included as part of the thematic group that documents this short-lived movement.
Significance in brief: The nomination is part of a thematic group of chapter houses built in 1909-10 for the American Woman's League. The houses were built in standardized classes that reflected the league's functions. The Carmi house is Class II. The document's summary notes are partly garbled and give no explicit significance statement for this house alone.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 80001416, listed November 28, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence low).
Key facts
| Address | 604 W. Main St., Carmi |
|---|---|
| County | White County |
| Listed | November 28, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80001416 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Class II American Woman's League Chapter House (standardized chapter house form) |
| Areas of significance | Education, Politics/Government, Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in excellent repair and attractively renovated, with many rear additions, a second story added at the rear, central air-conditioning, and the emblem removed. Listed as a private home. |
| Acreage | 1.1 |
| Coordinates | 38.08546, -88.16801 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 80001416.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q16852288
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.