Fall 2015 Special Points of Interest: National Register of Historic Places  National Register of Historic Places Do You Know Which His- 6

KANKAKEE COUNTY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION The Preservationist

Volume 1, Issue 1I Fall 2015 Special points of interest: National Register of Historic Places  National Register of Historic Places Do you know which his- 6. Illinois Central Rail- You may have been  Weatherization Tips toric places in your com- road Depot, 199 S. aware that these spots & Strategies munity are listed on the East Ave., Kankakee. are historical places, but National Register? In 7. Kankakee County there are actually many  Discover Historic Kankakee County there Courthouse, 450 E. more places in Kankakee Momence are 13 properties includ- Court St., Kankakee. County that are also eligi-  Preservaton Plan- ed on the National Regis- 8. Kankakee State Hos- ble for listing on the Reg- ning Starts by Estab- ter: pital Historic District, ister. lishing Historic Con- 1. B. Harley Bradley 100 E. Jeffery St., In Kankakee County text House and Stable, 701 Kankakee. there are three proper- S. Harrision Ave., 9. Lemuel Milk Carriage ties listed on the local  Kankakee County Kankakee. House, 165 N. Indiana register: Preservation Plan— 2. Downtown Momence Ave., Kankakee. 1. Kankakee County Update Historic District, Mo- 10. Point School, 6976 N. Courthouse. mence. Vincennes Trail, 2. George R. Letour- 3. Durham-Perry Farm- Grant Park. neau House, 659 stead, 459 N. Kenne- 11. Riverview Historic Stratford Dr. East dy Dr. Kankakee. District, Kankakee. Bourbonnais. 4. Warren Hickox 12. Charles E. Swannell 3. Durham-Perry Farm- House, 687 S. Harri- House, 901 S. Chica- stead, 459 N. Kenne- Kankakee County son Ave., Kankakee. go Ave., Kankakee. dy Drive, Bourbonnais Historic Preservation 5. Hunter-Hattenburg 13. Windrose Site, Bour- What makes an historic Commissioners House, 687 S. Harri- bonnais. property eligible for listing son Ave., Kankakee. on a Historic Register? Mardene Hinton, chair Continued on page 3)

John Adams, vice chair

Dr. James Paul, secretary Weatherization Tips & Strategies Taken from www.preservation nation.org Jane Johnson

Terry Johnston Keeping original windows in 1. Old Windows are Built a house is more than just a with High Quality Mate- “Any historic building with its Daron Kinzinger “going green” issue. Win- rials. original sashes and glazing there-

fore retains a higher degree of Neeley Provost-Regas dows are character defining 2. Old Windows “Fit” features of any home. The Their Openings. architectural integrity than a Ron Shank size, placement, proportional 3. Old Windows Can Be comparable structure in which the sashes have been replaced. Pat Wagner relationship to wall space, Repaired Where original sashes survive, style, and materials of win- 4. Old Windows Perform their preservation should be a Staff: dows contribute to how a Well and are Energy paramount concern of the build- Michelle Sadler building looks and feels. Efficient. ing’s owner.” Historian and author James Garvin Page 2 The Preservationist

Discover Historic Momence

Two places you might he Graham Historic ration of the house, said, want to visit in Histor- T House and Museum in “the interior is always a ic Momence, Illinois: Momence is located at 117 work in progress.” The Little Red School- N. Dixie Highway. To pre- But wait till you see it. The house and The Mo- vent demolition, the Mo- house has been beautifully mence Graham Historic mence Women’s Club again decorated and takes you House and Museum.

n 1983, the Wom- I an’s Club of Mo- mence chose to take on the restoration of the

Little Red Schoolhouse. This one-room brick school served the chil- The school was moved dren of Ganeer Town- to Momence School ship from 1853-1921. District property, the It was once located in community came to- Mt. Airy Cemetery and gether to raise funds, was often used for and contractors were memorial services. hired. The Little Red Schoolhouse Museum was dedicated on June 16, 1984. In the fall, a new roof was went into action approach- back to a simpler place and installed to protect the ing the Mayor and City time. You will want to sit interior. If you would like Council with a proposal to and absorb the atmosphere preserve the house. The of this house...if only the to donate toward this house built in 1869, was walls could talk. preservation effort or for purchased by the City of The house museum also a tour of this one-room Momence in 1973. The has war memorabilia exhibits school, please contact: grand opening of the house honoring Col. James Kasler Marlene Bedell at museum occurred in 1974 and Sergeant Rex Rowe. 815.932.5794 after original renovations There is always something were completed. special happening at the Gra- However, new renova- ham Historic House and tions of this beautiful Italian- Museum. You will want to ate style house began again learn more about their Holi- in 2013. The exterior re- day Doll Raffle, the “Tree in ceived repairs and fresh a Teacup” contest, and the paint. In the interior of the holiday gathering to be held house, the ceilings and walls on Saturday, December 5th. were re-plastered, the If you would like to volun- floors were refinished and teer, donate Momence fresh paint was added in memorabilia or antiques, or historical colors. A re- obtain additional historical opening of the museum was information on these places, held in December of 2014. please visit: momencehistori- Nancy Porter, who plays a calhouse.com. significant role in the resto- Volume 1, Issue 1I Page 3

National Register of Historic Places (cont. from page 1) A house doesn’t have archaeologically signifi- their others like it in to settle on. The early to be elegant or one cant. To be eligible for the community. immigrants used the designed by a famous the National Register, a  How does it relate to timber and local lime- architect. property must qualify the history of the stone to build their Ordinary places re- under one of the follow- community? Is it part first home, but as they mind us of the county’s ing: of a theme or trend? became more produc- historic past and are  Is associated with (example: French- tive and more materi- important to remember events that have Canadian settle- als were available to and protect: farm- made a significant ments, houses built them, construction steads, barns, creamer- contribution to the for the Bradley Man- methods improved ies, silos, abandoned history of the area. ufacturing employees, and styles changed. railroad stations, grain  Is associated with the early ethnic farm- Depending on wheth- elevators, bridges, lives of persons sig- steads, Illinois Cen- er they were Europe- schools and churches. nificant in our past. tral Railroad towns). an immigrants or from Many people have  Embodies the distinc- the Eastern U.S. their either owned or ad- tive characteristics of Throughout this year and houses quite often mired a property that a type, period, or most of 2016, the Kanka- reflected the styles of they would like to see method of construc- kee County Preservation where they came protected. You may be tion, represents the Commission will be from. Pattern books worried about what work of a master, working on a Preserva- were available in later might happen to your and possess high ar- tion Plan for Kankakee years from which to property once you are tistic value. County. The Commission choose a design or not the owner.  Yields or is likely to wants to know: the owners hired ar- Historic houses in- yield, information  What is important to chitects. cluded as part of a his- important in prehis- you? Most houses, barns toric district become tory or history.  Do you want to be or commercial build- places of importance to notified about village ings are dateable by a city (for example: the When considering a meetings that will be style and material. Riverview Historic Dis- property for the National scheduled for 2016? Collecting information trict in Kankakee). Register or as a local  Can you help to on city properties can These houses are nor- landmark, it is important identify historic prop- be less challenging mally well cared for by to know: erties and sites? than others as city their proud owners, are  If the property physi-  Do you own a farm properties tend to sought after by buyers, cally presents an ac- or know of one that appear in more rec- and become tourist curate sense of its should be listed as an ords. attractions for the city past. Has it retained historic site? Our next newslet- or county. Groups of its original material,  Do you just have ter will offer sugges- commercial properties or has it been re- questions you want tions on how to re- with a related history placed, covered, re- to ask? search your property. and location can be moved, or altered. If you have an interest listed (example- Has the property As we study the early in the history of your Downtown Momence). been moved to a new settlers of Kankakee community, please Criteria exist which location or have ad- County, we learn that contact us for more guides the assessment ditions been made. timber, water and good information. of a property as histori-  What is the architec- farm land were factors (See page 4 for contact info) cally, architecturally or tural style, and are when selecting property The Preservationist Page 4 KANKAKEE COUNTY Preservation Planning Starts by Establishing Historic Context HISTORIC PRESERVATION In order to better understand something in history, we must look at its context. COMMISSION Historic context organizes information based on a theme, geographic limits and chronological period. A single historic context describes one or more aspects of the historic development of an area, for example, Coal Mining in Essex Township between the 1860s—1974. What are the significant broad patterns of development in the area you live and what specific historic properties represent those patterns?

189 E. Court Street Once the historic context is developed there is a foundation for decisions about Room 201 identification, evaluation, registration and treatment of historic properties. Public Kankakee, IL 60901 participation is important to the final preservation plan. The Kankakee County Preser- Phone: 815.937.2940 vation Commission will be holding village meetings starting in January to acquire new Ext. 5555 E-mail: [email protected] information that sometimes only the residents of a particular township know. The www.k3countyhistoricpreservation meetings will provide an open forum for discussion of preservation issues. .com Mapping: http://webfiles.k3gis.com/ historic_sites/index.html Goals are then established along with priorities for those goals. This then pro- vides an outline for the preservation work that the community desires. The goals may change with time as new information is added. Kankakee Counties Preservation Plan … Update

Many of us are familiar for Kankakee County. The within the county. www.k3countyhistoricpreservation.com with the National Register commission is presently The Commission wants to of Historic Places. In fact, pulling together research know what matters to you there are several Kanka- material and writing the in regards to historical kee County structures and “historic context” of each properties. Many people in or sites that are honored township. This summary the county have places to be on the list. will help define which his- that are important to Arguably, the most sig- toric properties are signifi- them. Help identify, evalu- nificant preservation activi- cant to each historic con- ate, register and decide ty takes place at the local text. how you want such prop- level. The activity may be This information will erties protected that are in the form of individual include when each town- historically or architectur- citizens preserving and ship was developed, who ally significant. rehabilitating historic build- the first settlers were and Contact the KCHPC ings, historical societies what events were signifi- and tell us what properties collecting and preserving cant in its development. matter to you. You will be historically significant arti- The commission is ask- notified of the time and facts and photos, genealog- ing the help of all interest- location of scheduled ical societies preserving ed individuals, organiza- meetings. lineage data or a County tions and municipalities E-mail: [email protected]

If you prefer not to receive Preservation Commission KCHPC newsletters notify us identifying, preserving and at: protecting important his- [email protected] toric resources. Any of these types of activities support historic preservation. The Kankakee County Historic Preservation Commission has undertak- en a year long project Kankakee County’s original townships in1853. which will ultimately pro- (Reproduced from “Of the People” by Houde & Klasey) duce a preservation plan