320 NORTH STREET

HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE

The Blakemore Flats, located at 320 North Street, was built in 1904 for Margaret Eleanor Blakemore as a rental property for $5,000. She is a widow of William C. Blakemore (d. 1899) and purchased part of Lot 5 in the B. W. Raymond’s Addition subdivision for $1,200 in 1901. Mrs. Blakemore never lived on the property and eventually her daughter, Hazel, inherited the property and continued ownership until her death in 1969. When she passed, Elgin Academy, whose campus is just a block north of the Blakemore Flats, acquired the property and owned it until 1974.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

The Blakemore Flats is considered a Chicago-style brick two-flat which were primarily built between 1900 through 1920. Brick flats typically feature face brick on the front elevation and common brick on side and rear elevations, bay windows, a projecting porch, flat roof and a decorative cornice. Although this style two-flat is widespread in Chicago, it is a rarity in Elgin. On the Blakemore Flats, the frieze just beneath the cornice features repeating plaster relief of a festoon - a botanical swag motif often seen in Greek and Roman architecture.

TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS