320 N. SPRING STREET
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
Marshall Booth is listed in the Elgin City Directory in 1875 as residing on the southwest corner of Spring and Ann Streets. The 1878-79 directory lists the address as 52 N. Spring; the 1884-85 directory lists the address as 206 N. Spring, and finally, in the 1894-95 directory, after the 4th and final time the City of Elgin re-structured their address numbering system, Booth’s address is 320 N. Spring.
Marshall Booth’s listed occupation was a druggist. His obituary describes him as a well-respected businessman who had been instrumental in attracting other businesses to the city, and had been a president of the Elgin Wind Power and Pump Company. Booth had come from New York and owned a store in Volo, Illinois before making his way to Elgin. Upon his passing, Marshall Booth was returned to Volo for burial. He died November 14, 1906 at age 84.
The property passed to Booth’s widow, Flora, and then onto Booth’s son-in-law, Frank McDonald. From 1915 until 1950, Frank and his wife, Sarah, lived in the home.
In 1950, the McDonald’s sold the property to Frank McKay largely owned the home as a rental until the home was rehabilitated and restored as a single family home yet again in the 1990s.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
320 N. Spring is an excellent example of an Italianate. Features typifying of the style include: the low pitched roof; double brackets at the eave line and the roof line of the façade windows and porch; dentil decoration at the roof lines; decorative window hoods; and double post porch supports.
The 1891 Sanborn Map shows the house to be much the same as it is today except for an attached enclosure on the north side of the home.
TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS
Sources: 1997 Heritage Plaque Application; Audio: TextAloud