844 BROOK STREET
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
844 Brook Street is one of the homes located in the small D. C. Cook subdivision that was platted in 1901. The two-block area included the new publishing plant for D. C. Cook Company, which published Sunday School materials that were distributed nationwide. Most of the homes in the subdivision were initially occupied by D. C. Cook employees. The double driveways on the east and west sides of the block were fittingly called “Publishers Row”.
The home was built in 1908 for Horace James and his wife, Isadora for $2,300. Horace James was a farmer and teamster who passed away at Sherman Hospital on April 19, 1920. A month before his death, he sold the property to Edward and Harriet Conrad for $3,600.
Edward B. Conrad trained as an automobile mechanic and worked in the machine department at the Elgin National Watch Factory. In 1925, the Conrads sold 844 Brook Street to Frank and Mary Vanston. The Vanston family owned the property for 30 years.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
844 Brook Street is a one and a half story vernacular gable front structure and is typical of industrial housing built from 1900-1915. Several significant details include the Colonial Revival Style round porch columns, the half-moon window in the front gable and the art glass window in the vestibule that lend an air of elegance to this otherwise simple vernacular structure. Uniquely, there is a mirror image of this house located at 919 Cedar Avenue in Elgin, which was constructed in 1913 for Charles Winchester, and his wife Augusta.
The home undergone extensive rehabilitation in 2016 by the current owners including restoration of the siding and foundation and rehabilitation of the front porch to match an existing historic photograph.
TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS
Sources: 2016 Heritage Plaque Application; Audio: TextAloud