July 2025.
While I was in the Plano area visiting the Farnsworth House, I also stopped downtown to briefly explore. Plano is a small town, even by my standards, and the traditional “downtown” fabric takes up literally three blocks. I wanted to stop at the Albert Sears House as well, but unfortunately the owner was home and outside when I had arrived, and I didn’t want to invade his privacy.
This quick “dump post” will cover what photos of Plano I do have. The downtown area is not a historic district, and I only have information from the various Sanborn maps and my knowledge of architectural history to help me.
11-13 East Main Street
These two Italianates date to before 1885, as they appear on that year’s Sanborn map. Given the similar fenestration and aligned pattern of brick corbels below the cornice, I’d say they were built in tandem. The two are a good example of Plano’s architectural fabric downtown--standing historic buildings that are heavily altered.
11 E Main (at left) is in poorer shape in terms of historical appearance, but it has been recently modernized with new windows, a partial coat of black paint, and a new storefront. The storefront appears to incorporate original portions of the framing, though most of it is modern in style. Its cornice has been removed, but I’d wager it appeared identical to its eastern neighbor.
13 E Main is almost completely intact from the second floor up. Its stone hood molds and sills are in better repair, and the windows appear to be original or antique wooden sashes. The cornice is a detailed brick design. The first floor has been painted gray and has modern doors, windows, and a wooden-shingle awning.
This Google Maps snapshot from 2019 shows 11 E Main’s older windows, which are definitely original to the building, and a mid-century storefront:
Union Block
The Sanborn map labels this building as the “Union Block,” which seems to have once been expressed as four separate bays. In 1885, the two western sections were grocery stores, while the one after was a drugstore and jeweler. Its cornice appears to have been removed, but the stone hood molds and some brickwork remains across the facade. The building has since been combined into two modules today.
The eastern section is home to the Freemasons:
Masonic Hall
The Sanborn map labels the western bay of this structure as the “Masonic Hall,” so I’ll call the building that. It seems to be another simple, heavily altered Italianate. The second floor windows are all replacements, though the eastern half’s are more appropriate while the western portion has much of the opening filled in with wood panels. The first floor is mostly obscured by vertical wood planks painted blue, along with a wood shingle awning.
18-20 West Main Street
This similar Italianate has more of its cornice and probably appeared identical to the Masonic Hall. Its storefronts have been altered, probably around the 1950s or 1960s due to the brick bond on 18 W Main.
First State Bank
A very small-scale Beaux-Arts bank, this building was probably the crown jewel of Main Street besides the train station. Much of the facade, including the pilasters, is built of a rectangular ashlar, possibly concrete block. The entrance is surrounded by two Ionic columns, which support a simple entablature with a denticulated cornice above. Much of the parapet has been obscured by sheet metal, aside from the building’s datestone, indicating its date of construction as 1917.
For reference, this is the kind of typology that bankers wanted Louis Sullivan to design for their small-town banks (if a little more pared-down), but he instead churned out architectural masterpieces instead of these B- classical designs.
The bank seemed to have been founded in 1837, as indicated by this acroterion above the doorway:
Looking at the cornice and parapet above:
Plano Hotel
The Plano Hotel is the only building on this block listed on the National Register, aside from the train station. It was built in 1868 by John K. Smith in the Italianate style, having 25 hotel rooms. Plano was experiencing growth at the time due to its location next to the railroad, and the hotel is the only one existing from that period and one of the oldest buildings downtown today.
The hotel was converted into apartments in the 1940s, though it seems to be vacant today. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. It was recently repainted and had its lower porch replaced.
Here’s a look down Main Street from where we came:
Plano Station/CB&Q Railroad Depot
Plano’s stop on the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad was built in 1913 in the Beaux-Arts style. It is largely brick, with a clay tile roof, stone pilaster capitals, and metal pediments.
I like the polychromy of the dark brick, light stone, and reddish windows and pediments.
This is not Plano’s town hall. The signage is a reference to the Man of Steel movie, which was filmed in Plano, and the station was used as Smallville’s town hall:
Pediment above:
I thought this clock outside was cool, too:
Cook Block
This Italianate has a bit more decor than the other buildings on the block. It retains its storefront framing and decoration, as well as a corbelled cornice above. The mural on the side is another relic of the Man of Steel filming occurring in Plano.
It seems like the central windows on each bay have been obscured for some reason:
Of all the nonsensical “modernizations” I’ve seen on historic buildings, this is a new one…painting over GLASS?
I know this was a short one, but stay tuned for my coverage of Kendall County’s courthouse in Yorkville.
Sources:
https://digital.library.illinois.edu/collections/6ff64b00-072d-0130-c5bb-0019b9e633c5-2
No comments:
Post a Comment