List of National Historic Landmarks in Illinois facts for kids
This list of National Historic Landmarks in Illinois, has 89 entries including Eads Bridge, which spans into Missouri and which the National Park Service credits to Missouri's National Historic Landmark list. Also added are two sites that were once National Historic Landmarks before having their designations removed. All National Historic Landmarks of the United States are also listed on the more general, National Register of Historic Places.
The National Historic Landmark Program is administered by the National Park Service, a branch of the Department of the Interior. The National Park Service determines which properties meet NHL criteria and makes nomination recommendations after an owner notification process. The Secretary of the Interior reviews nominations and, based on a set of predetermined criteria, makes a decision on NHL designation or a determination of eligibility for designation. Both public and privately owned properties can be designated as NHLs. This designation provides indirect, partial protection of the historic integrity of the properties via tax incentives, grants, monitoring of threats, and other means. Owners may object to the nomination of the property as an NHL. When this is the case the Secretary of the Interior can only designate a site as eligible for designation.
Current NHLs in Illinois
 |
National Historic Landmark |
|---|---|
 |
National Historic Landmark District |
| * | Delisted Landmark |
- Numbers represent an ordering by significant words. Different colors, defined here, differentiate the National Historic Landmark Districts from other NHL buildings, structures, sites or objects.
| Landmark name | Image | Date designated | Location | County | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert S. Abbott House |
 |
(#76000686) |
Chicago 41°48′29″N 87°36′58″W / 41.808068°N 87.616135°W |
Cook | A home of Robert S. Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender newspaper. |
| 2 | Adler Planetarium |
 |
(#87000819) |
Chicago 41°51′59″N 87°36′27″W / 41.866454°N 87.607416°W |
Cook | First and oldest planetarium in the western hemisphere. |
| 3 | Auditorium Building |
 |
(#70000230) |
Chicago 41°52′33″N 87°37′28″W / 41.875756°N 87.624370°W |
Cook | Building designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan. |
| 4 | Bishop Hill Colony |
.jpg) |
(#70000244) |
Bishop Hill 41°12′01″N 90°07′08″W / 41.2003°N 90.1189°W |
Henry | Historic district of Swedish dissident commune founded in 1846. |
| 5 | Cahokia Mounds |
 |
(#66000899) |
Collinsville 38°39′14″N 90°03′52″W / 38.653889°N 90.064444°W |
Madison and St. Clair | Largest archaeological site related to Mississippian culture, and largest pre-Columbian earthworks in North America north of Mexico. Also a UNESCO World Heritage Site |
| 6 | Carson, Pirie, Scott, and Company Store |
 |
(#70000231) |
Chicago 41°52′55″N 87°37′40″W / 41.881894°N 87.627780°W |
Cook | Architect Louis Sullivan-designed building. |
| 7 | James Charnley House |
 |
(#70000232) |
Chicago 41°54′26″N 87°37′39″W / 41.907264°N 87.627597°W |
Cook | One of the few surviving residential works of Louis Sullivan and features major contributions by Frank Lloyd Wright. |
| 8 | Chicago Board of Trade Building |
 |
(#78003181) |
Chicago 41°52′41″N 87°37′56″W / 41.878123°N 87.632131°W |
Cook | Skyscraper designed by Holabird & Root, housed the world's largest trading floor when built in 1930. |
| 9 | Church of the Holy Family |
 |
(#70000851) |
Cahokia 38°34′13″N 90°11′18″W / 38.57035°N 90.18844°W |
St. Clair | A church dating from 1799. |
| 10 | Columbus Park |
 |
(#91000567) |
Chicago 41°52′26″N 87°46′11″W / 41.873889°N 87.769722°W |
Cook | Magnum opus of landscape architect Jens Jensen. |
| 11 | Arthur H. Compton House |
 |
(#76000687) |
Chicago 41°47′33″N 87°35′47″W / 41.792435°N 87.596263°W |
Cook | Home of Nobel Prize–winning physicist who proved light has both wave and particle aspects, the Compton Effect. |
| 12 | Avery Coonley House |
.jpg) |
(#70000243) |
Riverside 41°49′07″N 87°49′43″W / 41.818629°N 87.828618°W |
Cook | Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home, in Riverside Historic District |
| 13 | Crow Island School |
 |
(#89001730) |
Winnetka 42°06′04″N 87°44′46″W / 42.101111°N 87.746113°W |
Cook | An elementary school designed by Perkins + Will and Eliel & Eero Saarinen. Model for the now-widespread Winnetka Plan school design. |
| 14 | Susan Lawrence Dana House |
 |
(#74000774) |
Springfield 39°47′38″N 89°39′07″W / 39.793930°N 89.652075°W |
Sangamon | A Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house. |
| 15 | David Davis House |
 |
(#72001479) |
Bloomington 40°28′54″N 88°58′50″W / 40.481624°N 88.980419°W |
McLean | Home of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Abraham Lincoln campaign manager David Davis. |
| 16 | Charles G. Dawes House |
 |
(#76000706) |
Evanston 42°02′33″N 87°40′23″W / 42.042526°N 87.673084°W |
Cook | Home of Charles Gates Dawes, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and Vice President to Calvin Coolidge. |
| 17 | John Deere Home and Shop |
 |
(#66000327) |
Grand Detour 41°53′48″N 89°24′53″W / 41.896618°N 89.414648°W |
Ogle | Site of the invention of the first steel plow by John Deere. |
| 18 | Oscar Stanton DePriest House |
 |
(#75000646) |
Chicago 41°48′35″N 87°37′05″W / 41.809769°N 87.617957°W |
Cook | Home of the first post-Reconstruction African-American US congressman. |
| 19 | Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite |
 |
(#76000690) |
Chicago 41°53′16″N 87°37′24″W / 41.887739°N 87.623409°W |
Cook | Home of a Chicago's first settler, an African-American. |
| 20 | Eads Bridge |
 |
(#66000946) |
East St. Louis 38°37′39″N 90°11′08″W / 38.627417°N 90.185585°W |
St. Clair | A combined road and railway bridge which was, when completed in 1874, the longest arch bridge in the world. Extends into St. Louis, Missouri. |
| 21 | Farm Creek Section |
 |
(#91002039) |
East Peoria 40°40′32″N 89°29′23″W / 40.6755°N 89.4898°W |
Tazewell | Site of exposed geological strata. |
| 22 | Farnsworth House |
 |
(#04000867) |
Plano 41°38′06″N 88°32′09″W / 41.634989°N 88.535722°W |
Kendall | A one-room home designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. |
| 23 | John Farson House |
 |
(#72000454) |
Oak Park 41°53′07″N 87°48′02″W / 41.885278°N 87.800556°W |
Cook | The most famous work of George Washington Maher. |
| 24 | Sam and Ruth Van Sickle Ford House |
 |
(#100009821) |
404 S. Edgelawn Dr. 41°45′12″N 88°21′33″W / 41.7534°N 88.3591°W |
Kane | Prominent work of organic architect Bruce Goff. |
| 25 | Fort De Chartres |
 |
(#66000329) |
Prairie du Rocher 38°05′05″N 90°09′29″W / 38.084652°N 90.157968°W |
Randolph | French fort built in 1720. Its powder magazine is believed to be oldest standing building in Illinois. |
| 26 | Fort Sheridan Historic District |
 |
(#80001379) |
Fort Sheridan 42°12′45″N 87°48′38″W / 42.2125°N 87.810556°W |
Lake | An area originally established as a United States Army Post. The campus was designed by Holabird & Roche. |
| 27 | Henry Gerber House |
 |
(#15000584) |
Chicago 41°54′47″N 87°38′10″W / 41.91308°N 87.63600°W |
Cook | Gerber established the Society for Human Rights, the first American gay rights organization, here in the 1920s. |
| 28 | John J. Glessner House |
 |
(#70000233) |
Chicago 41°51′28″N 87°37′15″W / 41.857886°N 87.620784°W |
Cook | A 19th century house designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. |
| 29 | Ulysses S. Grant Home |
 |
(#66000322) |
Galena 42°24′36″N 90°25′23″W / 42.410104°N 90.422924°W |
Jo Daviess | A house given to General of the Army Ulysses S. Grant following the Civil War. Grant was elected President of the United States while residing here. |
| 30 | Grosse Point Lighthouse |
 |
(#76000707) |
Evanston 42°03′50″N 87°40′34″W / 42.063889°N 87.676111°W |
Cook | A lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan, built in 1873 the wake of several shipping disasters. |
| 31 | Haymarket Martyrs' Monument |
 |
(#97000343) |
Forest Park 41°52′11″N 87°49′11″W / 41.869793°N 87.819778°W |
Cook | A monument in Waldheim Cemetery commemorating the Haymarket Riot. |
| 32 | Hegeler-Carus Mansion |
.jpg) |
(#95000989) |
LaSalle 41°20′09″N 89°05′13″W / 41.335836°N 89.087053°W |
LaSalle | Designed by Chicago architect William W. Boyington for Edward C. Hegeler, a partner in a nearby zinc company. It was later the home of his son-in-law, publisher and philosopher Paul Carus. |
| 33 | Isidore H. Heller House |
_and_North_elevations_-_HABS_ILL,16-CHIG,48-1.jpg) |
(#72000450) |
Chicago 41°48′05″N 87°35′50″W / 41.801333°N 87.597089°W |
Cook | A Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house. |
| 34 | Arthur Heurtley House |
 |
(#00000258) |
Oak Park 41°53′34″N 87°47′59″W / 41.892722°N 87.799822°W |
Cook | Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house. |
| 35 | Hull House |
 |
(#66000315) |
Chicago 41°52′17″N 87°38′50″W / 41.871399°N 87.647133°W |
Cook | One of the first settlement houses in the U.S., founded by Jane Addams. |
| 36 | Illinois and Michigan Canal Locks And Towpath |
 |
(#66000332) |
Joliet 41°34′11″N 88°04′11″W / 41.569722°N 88.069722°W |
Will | A canal that helped establish transportation from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. It established Chicago as a major center of commerce. |
| 37 | Nicholas Jarrot Mansion |
.jpg) |
(#74002197) |
Cahokia 38°34′12″N 90°11′14″W / 38.57011°N 90.18711°W |
St. Clair | A mansion built in 1799 for a fur trader. |
| 38 | Kennicott Grove |
.jpg) |
(#73000698) |
Glenview 42°05′13″N 87°52′12″W / 42.086865°N 87.870023°W |
Cook | The home of Robert Kennicott, an American naturalist. |
| 39 | Kincaid Site |
 |
(#66000326) |
Brookport 37°04′50″N 88°29′30″W / 37.080575°N 88.491783°W |
Massac and Pope | Archaeological site of one of the largest prehistoric Mississippian culture settlements. |
| 40 | Leiter II Building |
 |
(#76000695) |
Chicago 41°52′28″N 87°37′39″W / 41.874477°N 87.627377°W |
Cook | Longtime flagship store of Sears, Roebuck & Co., designed by William Le Baron Jenney. |
| 41 | Frank R. Lillie House |
.jpg) |
(#76000696) |
Chicago 41°47′22″N 87°35′35″W / 41.789545°N 87.593114°W |
Cook | Former home of embryologist Frank Rattray Lillie. |
| 42 | Abraham Lincoln Home |
 |
(#71000076) |
Springfield 39°47′43″N 89°38′41″W / 39.795352°N 89.644724°W |
Sangamon | The only house ever owned by America's 16th president. |
| 43 | Lincoln Park Lily Pool |
 |
(#06000235) |
Chicago 41°55′31″N 87°38′03″W / 41.9253°N 87.6341°W |
Cook | An example of Prairie School landscape architecture designed by Alfred Caldwell. |
| 44 | Lincoln Tomb |
 |
(#66000330) |
Springfield 39°49′24″N 89°39′21″W / 39.823333°N 89.655833°W |
Sangamon | The tomb of America's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. |
| 45 | Vachel Lindsay House |
 |
(#71000297) |
Springfield 39°47′45″N 89°38′58″W / 39.795926°N 89.649441°W |
Sangamon | Home of poet Vachel Lindsay. |
| 46 | Owen Lovejoy House |
 |
(#73000690) |
Princeton 41°22′18″N 89°26′55″W / 41.371664°N 89.448702°W |
Bureau | Home of prominent abolitionist Owen Lovejoy. |
| 47 | Marquette Building |
 |
(#73000697) |
Chicago 41°52′49″N 87°37′46″W / 41.880193°N 87.629371°W |
Cook | Skyscraper designed by Holabird & Roche. |
| 48 | Marshall Field Company Store |
.JPG) |
(#78001123) |
Chicago 41°53′01″N 87°37′40″W / 41.883532°N 87.627850°W |
Cook | Designed by Daniel Burnham, it was the longtime flagship store of Marshall Field's. |
| 49 | Mazon Creek Fossil Beds |
 |
(#97001272) |
Morris 41°19′16″N 88°20′46″W / 41.321°N 88.346°W |
Grundy | Lagerstätte of fossils, best known as one of the only sites where Tully Monsters were found. |
| 50 | Pierre Menard House |
.jpg) |
(#70000245) |
Ellis Grove 37°57′53″N 89°54′36″W / 37.9647°N 89.9099°W |
Randolph | House of fur trader Pierre Menard, the first lieutenant governor of Illinois. |
| 51 | Robert A. Millikan House |
 |
(#76000699) |
Chicago 41°47′35″N 87°35′47″W / 41.792918°N 87.596283°W |
Cook | Home of Robert A. Millikan, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. |
| 52 | Modoc Rock Shelter |
 |
(#66000328) |
Modoc 38°03′46″N 90°03′49″W / 38.062778°N 90.063611°W |
Randolph | An archaeological site, a rock overhang used as shelter during the Archaic period in North America. |
| 53 | Montgomery Ward Company Complex |
 |
(#78001125) |
Chicago 41°53′47″N 87°38′36″W / 41.896450°N 87.643396°W |
Cook | The former warehouse and offices of the national headquarters of one of the nation's first mail order companies, Montgomery Ward. |
| 54 | Morrow Plots, University of Illinois |
 |
(#68000024) |
Urbana 40°06′17″N 88°13′34″W / 40.104643°N 88.226136°W |
Champaign | World's oldest experimental corn field, and oldest experimental field in Western Hemisphere. |
| 55 | Nauvoo Historic District |
.jpg) |
(#66000321) |
Nauvoo 40°32′53″N 91°22′55″W / 40.548°N 91.382°W |
Hancock | A historic district based around a 19th-century Mormon settlement; beginning of the Mormon Trail. |
| 56 | New Philadelphia Townsite |
 |
(#05000869) |
Barry 39°41′45″N 90°57′35″W / 39.695833°N 90.959722°W |
Pike | Site of first U.S. settlement founded by an African-American. |
| 57 | Old Kaskaskia Village |
 |
(#66000324) |
Ottawa 41°19′19″N 88°57′36″W / 41.32194°N 88.96000°W |
LaSalle | The best-documented Native American village in the Illinois River Valley. |
| 58 | Old Main, Knox College |
 |
(#66000323) |
Galesburg 40°56′29″N 90°22′14″W / 40.941423°N 90.370568°W |
Knox | Best-preserved site of one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. |
| 59 | Old State Capitol |
 |
(#66000331) |
Springfield 39°47′57″N 89°38′53″W / 39.799238°N 89.648143°W |
Sangamon | The fifth capitol building of Illinois. Site of Lincoln's House Divided Speech. |
| 60 | Old Stone Gate, Chicago Union Stockyards |
 |
(#72000451) |
Chicago 41°49′00″N 87°38′54″W / 41.816627°N 87.648364°W |
Cook | Entrance to the famous Union Stock Yards, designed by John Wellboorn Root. |
| 61 | Orchestra Hall |
 |
(#78001127) |
Chicago 41°52′45″N 87°37′28″W / 41.879200°N 87.624429°W |
Cook | A symphony hall designed by Daniel Burnham. |
| 62 | Principia College Historic District |
.jpg) |
(#93001605) |
Elsah 38°56′56″N 90°20′51″W / 38.94890°N 90.34753°W |
Jersey | One of the last major works by Bernard Maybeck. |
| 63 | Pullman Historic District |
.jpg) |
(#69000054) |
Chicago 41°41′50″N 87°36′34″W / 41.697222°N 87.609444°W |
Cook | Another historic district of the Pullman Company, including the Hotel Florence. |
| 64 | Reliance Building |
.jpg) |
(#70000237) |
Chicago 41°52′57″N 87°37′40″W / 41.882382°N 87.627844°W |
Cook | A building designed by Burnham & Root. |
| 65 | Riverside Historic District |
|
(#69000055) |
Riverside 41°49′54″N 87°48′49″W / 41.8318°N 87.8135°W |
Cook | Planned community designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. |
| 66 | Frederick C. Robie House |
 |
(#66000316) |
Chicago 41°47′25″N 87°35′46″W / 41.790332°N 87.596214°W |
Cook | A Prairie style home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1908. |
| 67 | Rock Island Arsenal |
.jpg) |
(#69000057) |
Rock Island 41°31′01″N 90°32′31″W / 41.516944°N 90.541944°W |
Rock Island | An arsenal and site of a large Union prison camp. |
| 68 | Rookery Building |
 |
(#70000238) |
Chicago 41°52′45″N 87°37′56″W / 41.879284°N 87.632273°W |
Cook | An office building designed by Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root. |
| 69 | Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory |
.jpg) |
(#67000005) |
Chicago 41°47′24″N 87°36′04″W / 41.790074°N 87.601018°W |
Cook | The laboratory that first isolated plutonium and determined its atomic mass. |
| 70 | Sears, Roebuck and Company |
 |
(#78001129) |
Chicago 41°52′07″N 87°42′38″W / 41.868541°N 87.710573°W |
Cook | The headquarters of Sears, Roebuck and Company for almost seven decades. |
| 71 | Second Presbyterian Church |
 |
(#74000754) |
Chicago 41°51′21″N 87°37′28″W / 41.8558°N 87.6244°W |
Cook | This church is a masterpiece of the Arts and Crafts movement with an interior by Howard Van Doren Shaw. |
| 72 | Shedd Aquarium |
 |
(#87000820) |
Chicago 41°52′02″N 87°37′09″W / 41.867182°N 87.619236°W |
Cook | Formerly the largest indoor aquarium in the world. |
| 73 | Site of the First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Reaction |
 |
(#66000314) |
Chicago 41°47′26″N 87°36′04″W / 41.790494°N 87.601043°W |
Cook | Site of the First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Reaction. |
| 74 | South Dearborn Street-Printing House Row North Historic District |
 |
(#76000705) |
Chicago 41°52′36″N 87°37′41″W / 41.876545°N 87.62812°W |
Cook | Encompasses four architecturally significant skyscrapers. |
| 75 | S.R. Crown Hall |
 |
(#01001049) |
Chicago 41°50′01″N 87°37′38″W / 41.833611°N 87.627222°W |
Cook | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed architecture school building at Illinois Institute of Technology |
| 76 | Starved Rock |
 |
(#66000325) |
Ottawa 41°19′17″N 88°59′25″W / 41.321389°N 88.990278°W |
LaSalle | A Sandstone butte overlooking the Illinois River, purportedly the site of a massacre of the Illinois Confederation. |
| 77 | Adlai E. Stevenson II Farm |
 |
(#03000918) |
Mettawa 42°13′44″N 87°55′50″W / 42.228811°N 87.930538°W |
Lake | Home of several-time candidate for United States President Adlai E. Stevenson II. |
| 78 | Lorado Taft Midway Studios |
.JPG) |
(#66000317) |
Chicago 41°47′07″N 87°36′10″W / 41.785402°N 87.602750°W |
Cook | Studios of sculptor Lorado Taft, designed by Pond & Pond. |
| 79 | F.F. Tomek House |
 |
(#99000632) |
Riverside 41°49′56″N 87°49′02″W / 41.832153°N 87.8171°W |
Cook | A Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Riverside Historic District |
| 80 | Lyman Trumbull House |
 |
(#75000667) |
Alton 38°53′51″N 90°10′35″W / 38.897389°N 90.176415°W |
Madison | House of US Senator Lyman Trumbull. He co-authored the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. |
| 81 | U-505 (German Submarine) |
 |
(#89001231) |
Chicago 41°51′52″N 87°36′57″W / 41.864543°N 87.615713°W |
Cook | German U-boat at Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago |
| 82 | Unity Temple |
.jpg) |
(#70000240) |
Oak Park 41°53′19″N 87°47′48″W / 41.888613°N 87.796798°W |
Cook | A temple designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. |
| 83 | University Of Illinois Observatory |
 |
(#86003155) |
Urbana 40°06′15″N 88°13′33″W / 40.104081°N 88.225712°W |
Champaign | Site of pioneering research into photoelectric photometry, and the development of the photoelectric cell. |
| 84 | The Wayside |
 |
(#66000320) |
Winnetka 42°06′51″N 87°43′57″W / 42.114222°N 87.732475°W |
Cook | Home of Henry Demarest Lloyd. |
| 85 | Ida B. Wells-Barnett House |
.JPG) |
(#74000757) |
Chicago 41°49′40″N 87°37′03″W / 41.827794°N 87.617504°W |
Cook | Former home of civil rights advocate Ida B. Wells. |
| 86 | Frances Willard House |
 |
(#66000318) |
Evanston 42°02′54″N 87°40′43″W / 42.048287°N 87.678481°W |
Cook | Former home of temperance reformer Frances Willard, and longtime headquarters of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. |
| 87 | Daniel Hale Williams House |
 |
(#75000655) |
Chicago 41°49′06″N 87°36′55″W / 41.818425°N 87.615284°W |
Cook | The former home of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, one of the first major African American surgeons. |
| 88 | Frank Lloyd Wright Home And Studio |
 |
(#72000456) |
Oak Park 41°53′36″N 87°48′01″W / 41.893387°N 87.800182°W |
Cook | Former home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright. |
| 89 | Wrigley Field |
 |
(#100005739) |
Chicago 41°56′50″N 87°39′23″W / 41.947351°N 87.656408°W |
Cook | Second-oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball and only remaining Federal League ballpark, home of the Chicago Cubs. |
Former NHLs in Illinois
| Landmark name | Image | Date designated | Date withdrawn | Locality | County | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soldier Field (Grant Park Stadium) |  |
February 2, 1987 | February 17, 2006 | Chicago | Cook | Was declared an NHL on February 27, 1987. The designation was withdrawn on February 17, 2006. |
| 2 | President (Steamboat) |  |
December 20, 1989 | July 13, 2011 | St. Elmo (formerly) | Fayette (formerly) | A steamboat, out of service, broken down into pieces, and for sale. |
See also
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List of National Historic Landmarks in Illinois Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.