June 2025.
LaSalle Street is interesting in that it was built as an “auto row,” a then-new typology of commercial buildings built as car dealerships. It serves as a better-preserved microcosm of the larger Aurora downtown. Many of these works of architecture date from the early 1900s to the 1930s. I’ll start on the south end like usual, at Benton Street, and proceed north.
Hipp Building
As the Commercial style Hipp Building shows, the Auto Row used to extend farther south. However, many of that area’s buildings are now gone, and what remains is both architecturally insignificant and heavily altered.
83 South LaSalle Street
One of the older buildings on the block, this late Victorian building sports Queen Anne characteristics such as a turret and bay window. It was built c. 1890. The storefront was previously obscured but has since been restored.
Finch & McCullouch Block
This building is actually two (as indicated by the double pier between the northern and middle bays), though they are harmonious stylistically. A simple Commercial style design that incorporates metal pediments along the cornice, it was built in 1907 by Finch & McCullouch, a printing firm.
79-81 South LaSalle Street
I’m getting New Orleans vibes from this one. Maybe it’s the balcony? It was built c. 1907 as a grocery store by Conrad Bjorseth, who was Aurora’s mayor from 1931-1936. The right storefront was restored, as its windows were boarded up, but the unoriginal bricks in the left storefront remain.
An old clothier’s sign still clings to the transom:
Theiss Building
As indicated by the original garage door, this building was built as a dealership and garage. It retains many original features both inside and out. The Theiss Building dates to 1912.
75-77 South LaSalle Street
A similarly intact Commercial style design, 75-77 South LaSalle Street was built in 1915. Previously boarded up, the storefront was restored, and its special Luxfer Prism Company glass in the bulkheads was revealed. The mosaic tile was also restored.
It’s very rare to see storefronts from this era so intact. Mosaic tile was often removed or covered, doors were replaced, and window framing was altered.
73 South LaSalle Street
Though built contemporaneously to the surrounding buildings (1905 here), this building is more ornamented than its neighbors. A bay window projects from the flat facade, and the cast-iron columns are engraved with decoration.
65-67 South LaSalle Street
In poorer shape than its restored neighbors, 65-67 nonetheless retains Beaux-Arts details such as the cornice, pilasters between the second floor windows, and tympanums.
Odd Fellows Building
This building was constructed for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1912. The base is largely original, but the windows and French doors on the floors above have been removed.
A plaque on the wall notes the tenants:
61-63 South LaSalle Street
Instead of stone, 61-63 South LaSalle Street’s decoration is executed in terra-cotta. Some of the designs are Sullivanesque in style. Its storefront was restored, but the doors are out of character.
57-59 South LaSalle Street
These two Victorian buildings were built together c. 1890, but each differs slightly in its detailing. 57 has paired columns supporting a large architrave above, which has been painted with bright colors and patterns. 59 has more Romanesque-inspired detailing with floral motifs. The storefronts have recently been restored.
Coats Garage
This 1907 garage building was the first auto-related design to be built on LaSalle Street. Originally a sales and service building, the garage space inside was able to hold 30 modern cars (probably more in the past, since antique cars were much smaller). It retained its original first- and third-floor windows until 2017, when the building was converted to commercial space for use by an advertising agency.
29-37 South LaSalle Street
This one is technically outside the boundaries of the district, and it has been altered, but I thought it was interesting. 29-37 is an Italianate design that telescopes both in plan and section to accommodate the curve of the BNSF tracks immediately west.
Downer Place Lofts
Previously a factory or warehouse, this industrial building has been converted into loft apartments.
Up next in Aurora are the east-west streets. We’ll start with Galena Boulevard, the city’s old Main Street.
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131203044651/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/201007.pdf
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