150 S. STATE STREET
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
150 S. State was built in 1884 for David B. and Philura (Lula) Trowbridge Sherwood. David was born in Algonquin, Illinois in 1849 with his parents being natives of New York. David moved to Texas for a short while setting up a law practice there. He returned back to the Fox River Valley around 1880 settling in Elgin with his wife, Lula and their son, Granville Hudson Sherwood and daughter, Martha Stanley Sherwood. David soon became a prominent attorney in Elgin working up the ranks to County Judge, President of the Elgin Window Power and Pump Company and a Director of the Elgin City Railway Company.
Lula passed away in 1897, leaving David the estate. David remarried in 1900 to Jessie Eugenia Robinson of Wisconsin, her parents also being natives of New York. David passed away at age 59 in 1908 leaving the home to Jessie until she passed away in 1924.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
150 S. State Street is an excellent example of the Stick Style which was popular between 1860 and 1890. This building is a towered subtype of the style displaying a steeply pitched roof with clapboard siding interrupted by horizontal, and vertical banding, also referred to as stickwork, emphasizing depth and variation on the façade. The home has ornate brackets placed at the roof lines as an extension of the vertical banding. Vertical strips are also found at the windows, corner boards and the walls as well as its most prominent feature, the 45-degree angle tower with a squared bay window.
TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS
Sources: Steve Stroud: There Used to Be; Audio: TextAloud