July 2025.
This post, continued from North State Street in Belvidere, covers the South State Street Historic District. As I said before, this area has a good quantity of well-preserved and restored historic commercial architecture. We’ll start at the very northern edge by the Kishwaukee River.
For reference, the NRHP listing on the historic district does not begin until State Street’s intersection with Pleasant Street and the railroad tracks. This is due to the loss of significant historic architecture in the blocks between there and the Kishwaukee River, such as the old National Sewing Machine Company factory. The entire east side is missing the vast majority of its original streetscape, and there are several holes on the west side. As such, everything north of that point (which is the first and last few buildings in this article) will be based on my own extrapolation and research.
Fire Station #1/Old City Hall
1940s photo of old City Hall, with few alterations at that time. (Belvidere Forward group on Facebook)
This building appears to have been built in 1917 as Belvidere’s second city hall. (It followed one that also took the form of a typical commercial building, and I’m not sure if that one was the first or not.) It is a Commercial style design with a mostly brick facade and limestone courses. It appears that the fire station was originally included inside, as was common with small towns at the time, but as Belvidere grew, a new city hall was needed. Their current city hall is located on Whitney Boulevard and seems to be a Modern design completed in the 1950s or 1960s.
It’s unusual that the fire department stayed in the old city hall, as usually they are the first to move, typically due to the advent of the automobile instead of horse-drawn engines. However, the department stayed and modified the building to suit their needs today. Alterations include wider garage door, new windows (with the obscuring of other openings), and removal of the roof parapet. Here is how the building looks today:
Tripp Building
Given this building’s age and its proximity to Chicago, I’d classify it as a Chicago School building rather than Commercial style. The brick materiality, arches, and oriel windows remind me of larger buildings downtown there. The datestone and brick cornice are intact on this one, but the base has been updated with modern doors, windows, and a stone veneer.
Leader Block
Like its neighbor, this one is intact on the second floor and above, but its first floor has been altered. The Leader Block is a Commercial style design completed in 1899, featuring stone courses and datestones and a metal cornice above. It seems to be in poor condition today, as many windows are boarded up and the cornice is rusting away. I like the vaulted windows on the first floor’s south side. Note how the parapet steps downward as the building extends west.
A closer look at the cornice and stonework:
315 South State Street
This building’s Beaux-Arts detailing makes it a later addition to this Victorian-era block by a couple decades or so. Its ornamentation is intact, but the windows have been boarded up (likely since the floors above are now storage) and a stone border has been applied to the base.
Yourt Building
I really love this smaller-scale Commercial style building. Its segmentally arched picture windows are great, and it has an unusually detailed and well-preserved metal cornice above. The angled bay’s brickwork transition is a common method on designs of this scale.
400-405 South State Street
At this point, we have crossed the railroad tracks and entered the boundaries of the historic district. This c. 1900 Commercial style design retains an unusually high degree of historic integrity on its two southern bays, which are almost completely original. Regrettably, the northern bay has been significantly altered.
The northern bay’s oriel window has been removed, and the opening has been bricked up with a shade of brick that does not match. Two small vinyl double-hung windows remain. The base has been obscured with wood planks and an asphalt shingle awning. However, its portion of the cornice seems to have been painted and is in better repair.
The southern two bays retain their original windows on the second floor, and the central bay has fancy muntins in the transoms. Note the piers that separate each bay, the corbelling above, and the subtle diamond pattern below the cornice, all achieved through brickwork. Remarkably, the two storefronts are also almost fully intact, featuring their original framing and windows, which is rare for a building of this age.
I’m sure there was once some mosaic tiling here, which has been paved over with concrete:
Stamped tin ceiling, detailed windows, and steel lintel:
It even looks like the original wood background to the display windows is intact, too.
405’s bay has its original mosaic tile floor, as well as the doors and transom windows, but the ceiling has begun to rust:
Commerce Building
Historic photo of the Commerce Building with its richly detailed cornice intact. (NRHP listing)
A c. 1895 Commercial style design, this building was designed by Lewis H. Sturges. It is characterized by its “Moorish” (in the language of the time) oriel windows, which have curved roofs and a concave appearance. The center bay simply has a double-hung window with a stone sill and lintel. The first floor has its iron framing intact, though it has been painted, and the windows below are replacements. The oriel windows and steel beam were repainted between 2012 and 2018, as they were rusted beforehand.
Kuppler Building
Mid-century look at the Kuppler Building (right). Some nearby buildings have been altered by this point, but others are intact. (NRHP listing)
This nicely restored building dates to c. 1895. The “AOUW” sign below the cornice stands for the Ancient Order of United Workmen, a fraternal organization founded after the Civil War that offered insurance. Its contrasting stone voussoirs that form the vaulted windows could indicate some Richardsonian Romanesque influence, and the base is either original or a period-correct reproduction.
Edelstein Block
The Edelstein Block’s original appearance. (NRHP listing)
An 1890 design, the Edelstein Block has been altered with the removal of a cornice, and oddly the borders between recessed panels, above the second-floor windows. The most prominent feature is the enameled metal sign in an Art Deco-esque font reading “THE JOURNAL.”
Harding Building
This c. 1895 building appears almost identical to the Tripp Building aside from its cornice and lighter brick materiality, indicating they were designed by the same architect or to the same plans. The first floor’s storefronts have been replaced and the walls clad in a brick veneer, but the original doors are intact, and the original bay windows and vaulting above remain as well. The cornice seems classically influenced, as its triglyphs, swags, and denticulation are common classical ornamental details. There was originally a more elaborate parapet to the cornice with pinnacles and gables, but it has been removed.
509-511 South State Street
Almost identical to its northern neighbor, this 1898 design features an extra bay in the middle. Its first floor has been altered through different means--a brick veneer on 509 and larger replacement windows on 511. The vaulted bay windows on the second floor are similar to the Harding and Tripp Buildings, with the addition of a semicircular vaulted window in the middle with the building’s construction date. A similar classical cornice crowns the building.
529-615 South State Street
At the intersection of State Street and Logan Street, several Chicago School and Commercial style buildings border two earlier Italianates.
Here’s a 1930s-1940s look at the buildings on the right:
Belvidere National Bank & Trust/Farmers’ State Bank
One of the larger buildings in downtown Belvidere, this one dates to c. 1895 like its surroundings but has apparently had a facadectomy in the 1920s to a Beaux-Arts interpretation. The first floor has vaulted windows with surrounding hood molds and a vaulted entrance, while the second has simpler rectangular windows. It seems like some neighbors were swallowed up, too, as they have the same expression but the window spacing and shade of stone are different.
522 South State Street
I believe this building is an earlier Commercial style design, possibly dating to 1889, that had a Beaux-Arts facadectomy in 1909. I say this because other nearby buildings have the same bay window pattern, and they appear unusually recessed instead of projecting from the wall plane. The second floor appears intact to that 1909 alteration, including a cornice and detailed parapet, but the first has been altered with a contemporary stone veneer.
YMCA Building
A historic view of State Street. Several of these buildings remain but have been altered. The YMCA Building is the two modules immediately to the left of the right telephone pole in foreground. (NRHP listing)
This single seven-bay building is expressed as two distinct halves in the late Italianate style. The larger four-bay portion retains its original storefront, aside from the door. It has segmentally arched second-floor windows and recessed brick panels above, with a metal cornice painted in a period-correct scheme. The three-bay section has been updated more recently. Its storefront has modern black glass and a brick veneer, and the windows on the second floor have black frames. This area is recessed more, with piers separating each window. The cornice has been painted black on this half.
A mosaic tile floor on the northern half spells out a long-gone tenant:
Piel Building
This exuberant Chicago School building seems to have Beaux-Arts/Renaissance Revival influences, as seen in its parapet and doubled pilasters between windows. The facade has a great depth achieved through its various layers and patterns of brickwork. It is a much later design than its neighbors, dating to c. 1920. Its storefront and second-floor windows are modern replacements.
Murch Building
The NRHP listing says this one dates to 1857, which I’m having trouble buying unless the facade was altered in the 1880s or 1890s. Its facade is dominated by the central oriel window, which projects from the otherwise flat wall plane behind and supports a massive parapet above, which once held a roof gable that has since been removed. There is a great deal of ornamentation across the window and cornice, such as fleur-de-lis, recessed panels, and pinnacles. The building’s name is carved onto a panel on the parapet. Of note are the window frames--according to the NRHP, they are actually a contemporary addition of (typically interior) wooden trim pieces. The building’s storefront also appears original aside from the door.
Foote Block
The Foote Block dates to c. 1880, but its datestone reads 1906. As it stands today, it is an odd hybrid of Italianate and Chicago School characteristics. The cornice, recessed brick panels, and storefronts are similar to nearby Italianates from the same time. However, the original window openings have been altered more recently into smaller Chicago windows. The I-beam lintel and two central beams of the storefronts appear original, albeit painted black, but the remainder looks to be a contemporary recreation of their historic form.
Brannen Block
A more orthodox and highly intact Italianate, the Brannen Block seems to have been built in 1887. Its original storefronts are completely intact--framing, doors, windows and all. The second floor has carved hood molds common on Italianates elsewhere but less so in Belvidere. An elaborate metal cornice above features the building’s name and date of construction (I think 1862 is the founding date of some business that used to be inside), along with elaborate corbels, rosettes, and pinnacles.
The northern facade is more regular, lacking the hood molds and more decorative cornice features:
The mural depicts an early tenant of the building:
105 Buchanan Street
This 1887 building seems to be in the process of renovation. Its original storefronts remain, complete with ornate columns and the lintel above. The cornice is also highly detailed, though it is also painted black.
424 South State Street
Heavily altered and less ornate than its neighbors, this building seems to be a c. 1880 design (as seen in the south wall’s simple brick cornice and segmentally arched window) with a principal facade dating to the 1920s. The base and metal awning are unoriginal.
The north side has a mural of the county fair:
410 South State Street
A c. 1900 Commercial style design, this building’s shaft features simple stone courses and a corbelled brick section. The first floor’s iron framing remains intact, and the cornice equally so, though both are painted.
Ironically, on a party wall that once adjoined similar since-demolished buildings, a mural depicts the historic density of Belvidere:
Here is that same view today, around 515 S State (via Google Maps, since to me it was not architecturally significant):
The Beaux-Arts bank at left was demolished in favor of a later Art Moderne building, and the single-story building at right was replaced with a taller Commercial style building. The Rider Building at center stands, but it and its neighbors’ original features have been obscured and joined by a single brick storefront which manages to compromise the integrity of all three at once.
Odd Fellows’ Building
Historic view of the Odd Fellows’ Building (second from left) and its neighbors. (NRHP listing)
This 1885 Italianate reads “IOOF” on its cornice, indicating it was once the home of the Odd Fellows. Its base has been obscured with vertical wood planks and the storefronts are modern replacements. The windows on the second floor are unusually ornate, featuring art glass transoms and richly carved hood molds. The cornice is in poor repair, as it is rusting and one of the decorative corbels seems to have gone missing.
O’Brien & Dobbins
Though unremarkable architecturally, this mid-century building has a cool vintage sign atop the facade, whose tenant still operates inside. The south facade displays a mural of the Eldredge runabout car, manufactured by the National Sewing Machine Company:
Old Post Office
1953 view of the post office. (Facebook)
Belvidere’s old post office is individually listed on the NRHP, as it is an intact and historically significant Beaux-Arts design. It was completed in October 1911 under supervising architect of the Treasury James Knox Taylor, as it was common at the time for small communities to receive a post office designed and funded by the government. Prior to the post office’s construction, it was housed in various other buildings across the town and did not have its own purpose-built location.
Though it may seem disconnected from the denser downtown areas north and south today, its placement was deliberate, as the National Sewing Machine Company’s factory was just east of the post office. This resulted in a lot of traffic through the mail system.
Belvidere received a new Postmodern post office in the 1980s or 1990s, and this one was left vacant. In 2018, it was purchased by architect Paul Ollman, who moved his firm inside and restored the building. They still occupy the space today.
The cylindrical entrance module that breaks the orthogonality of the post office is very interesting. It is pretty restrained in its execution, mostly built of brick with simple Doric pilasters and a spare cornice with modillions as the only decorative feature. The windows are large and have a keystone above. However, the entrance has the most applied decoration:
The entrance is surrounded by a richly carved portal, featuring a panel with “U S POST OFFICE” engraved and a broken pediment above. The windows to either side have slight projecting courses with egg-and-dart molding beneath, and an oxeye window sits above. The parapet above the cornice features abstracted paterae and triglyphs.
Beautiful, intact classical ornament:
Lots of ground covered here! The final Belvidere post covers two of the city’s more important landmarks: its courthouse and the Pettit Memorial Chapel.
Sources:
https://www.boonecountyarts.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/BCAC_Mural-Tour2023.pdf
https://www.facebook.com/groups/4055918854537153/posts/7038568829605459/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/147045742131130/posts/2737777069724638/
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