Sentinel Building (Centralia, Illinois) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Sentinel Building
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Front and eastern side
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Location | 232 E. Broadway Centralia, Illinois |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1881 |
| Architectural style | Egyptian Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 78001169 |
| Added to NRHP | April 15, 1978 |
The Sentinel Building is a special historic building in Centralia, Illinois. It's located at 232 East Broadway. This building was once the main office and printing place for the Centralia Sentinel newspaper. What makes it really stand out is its unique design, which looks like something from ancient Egypt!
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What is the Sentinel Building?
The Sentinel Building was built way back in 1881. It was made to be the home of the Centralia Sentinel, which was Centralia's daily newspaper. Imagine all the news stories being written and printed right here!
A Building with an Egyptian Look
The building didn't always look like it does today. In 1922 and 1929, it was updated to look like the Egyptian Revival style. This means it was designed to look like ancient Egyptian buildings.
Why Egyptian Style?
This Egyptian style was chosen because of the newspaper's slogan: "Egypt's Greatest Daily." This slogan came from the fact that the newspaper served a part of Southern Illinois called "Little Egypt." So, the building's look matched the newspaper's name!
Cool Egyptian Details
The Sentinel Building has many cool features that make it look Egyptian:
- The entrance has yellow "reed molding," which looks like tall grass.
- You can see pharaoh heads on both sides of the entrance. Pharaohs were the kings of ancient Egypt.
- Above the entrance, there's a special curved top part called a "cavetto cornice."
- The upper part of the building has "terra cotta" plaques. Terra cotta is a type of baked clay. These plaques have Egyptian pictures on them.
- The very top edge of the building, called the "parapet," has terra cotta trim shaped like lotus flowers. Lotus flowers were important symbols in ancient Egypt.
- Inside the lobby, there's a huge panel, about 11 feet tall. It shows a scene from the Temple of Edfu, a famous temple in Egypt. The lobby also has other Egyptian-inspired decorations.
A Recognized Historic Place
Because of its unique history and design, the Sentinel Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 15, 1978. This means it's officially recognized as an important historical site in the United States.
