Rockford Morning Star Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Rockford Morning Star Building
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Location | 127 N. Wyman St., Rockford, Illinois |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1928 |
| Built by | Security Building Co. |
| Architect | Clausen, Kruse & Klein |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival, Art Deco |
| Part of | West Downtown Rockford Historic District (ID07000899) |
| NRHP reference No. | 99000972 |
| Added to NRHP | August 12, 1999 |
The Rockford Morning Star Building is an important old building in Rockford, Illinois. It is located at 127 N. Wyman Street. This building was first used by a newspaper called the Rockford Morning Star.
Contents
Building Style and Design
This building was built between 1927 and 1928. It was designed by a company called Clausen, Kruse & Klein. They were architects from Davenport, Iowa.
Classical Revival Look
The building's style is called Classical Revival. This style uses ideas from old Greek and Roman buildings. It often includes grand columns and balanced designs.
Cool Art Deco Details
The outside of the building is made of a special clay material called terra cotta. It has tall, flat columns called pilasters. These pilasters have fancy tops, known as capitals.
Near the entrance, you can see cool designs. These designs mix Art Deco and Egyptian styles. You might spot rows of V-shapes, called chevrons. There are also patterns of lotus buds, which are a type of flower.
History of the Building
The first newspapers in Rockford, Illinois started in 1840. They were called The Rock River Express and the Rockford Star. Both of these papers only lasted for one year.
Early Rockford Newspapers
Another paper, The Winnebago Forum, started in 1842. It later changed its name to The Republican in 1845. This paper was published for a long time, until 1862.
The Rockford Morning Star newspaper began in 1888. It later joined with another paper, the Rockford Daily Register-Gazette, in 1928.
Newspaper Changes and Owners
A woman named Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms bought the newspaper two years later. She decided to split the two papers again. The Morning Star then became a newspaper published every morning.
In 1967, the Gannett Company bought the paper. They combined the last two newspapers in Rockford in 1979. This created the Rockford Register Star that we know today.
The Building's Life After the Newspaper
The Rockford Morning Star Building was built when the newspapers were talking about joining together. But the newspaper only used this building for two years. After Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms bought the paper, a new building was built. It was on the other side of the Rock River.
The Simms family still owned the building. They rented it out to a company called George Rogers Clark Mutual Company. This company later became part of Pioneer Life Insurance Company. Pioneer Life Insurance Company bought the building from the Simms family in 1946.
In 1993, Pioneer Life Insurance Company moved to Schaumburg. After that, they only used the Rockford building for storage and mailing. The company then joined with Conseco, Inc. in 1996.
Historic Recognition
The building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1999. This means it is a special place that is important to history. In 2007, it was also listed as a key part of the West Downtown Rockford Historic District.
