725 N. SPRING STREET

HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE

In December 1902 the Elgin Daily News posted an article about the $830,000 worth of permits issued in that year. Listed among them was the address of 725 N. Spring Street where a C. H. Reid is listed as building a frame house for $3,000 and a barn for $350. Charles Hobrough Reid and his wife, Carrie Mae Hammond were married in the same year they built their house, both growing up attending Elgin Academy.

Charles was the owner of Charles H. Reid, Company, which advertised in a 1913 City Directory for "coal, coke and wood."  Prior to operating his own business, Charles worked for his father's flour and feed store. 

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

725 N. Spring Street is an example of the Shingle style. Popular in the late 1800s until the 1910s, many Shingle homes differentiated themselves from their other Victorian contemporaries by deviating from elaborate ornamentation around windows, doors and porches. The main distinguishing feature of this Shingle home is the use of continuous wood shingles even up through the cross gables. Other character defining features include the asymmetry; the steeply pitched roof line with intersecting gables; and the shingles walls with no interruption at the corners. Here, we also see the lower porch decorated with dentils and simply decorated square porch supports.

 

TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS

 

Sources: 2006 Heritage Plaque Application; Audio: TextAloud