HomeMy Public PortalAbout1. Chapters 1 2 & 3 - Introduction Methodology and Previous SurveysArchiSearch Historic Pr eservation Consultan ts Plainfiel d’s Histor ic Urbanized Core: An Intensive-Level Survey 7 1. INTRODUCTION Plainfi eld’s Historic Urbanized Core: An Intensive-Lev el Survey is the vil lage’s first intensive-l evel survey of the urbanized core. It fo llows the creation of the Historic Preservation Commission and hist oric preservation ordinance in 2004, and was conducted simultaneo usl y with the Rural Structure s and Farmsteads Survey of historic resources outside the village boundaries.As state d in the P roject Ob jective s, the v illage , through t his proj ect, was seekin g:•To provide information on ev ery structure included within the survey area defined herein to identify and determine the el igibility of structures, in whole or p art thereof,for listin g in the Nationa l Register of Historic Place s and as locally de signated landmarks or histo ric distr ict;•To provide an inve ntory co nsistin g of all proper ties in the def ined su rvey ar ea to consist of an inventory form, black and white photograph, description, construction date, physic al chang es, hist orical informati on, and a National Register evaluation of the properties;•To provide information on lo cal Plainfield architect ure and on significant architectural styles, both commercial and domes tic, in the historic core;•To provide historical info rmation on the development of the area; and •To fulfill the survey and documentation standards and requirements of the Ce rtified Local G overnme nt progra m.All of these o bjective s were me t through t he requir ements o f the pr oject.More than ten years ago, in October 1994, the Reconnaissance Survey Report: Historic/Architectu ral Resources was comp leted. The rep ort examine d the arch itecture and hist ory of the community, and provided approaches to conducting an inten sive-level s urvey. Since that time, the only other survey to be conducte d was the Appendi x F: Histori c Urban Bui lding In ventory , April 2000 as part of the Design Man ual, Lockport Street B usiness Corridor . The village has no additional listings i n th e National Registe r of His toric Pl aces. I n fact, o ne Natio nal Regi ster li sted buil ding–Flander s House–has since been moved and is now eligible for removal from the National Registe r. Perhaps what is most astonis hing about the per iod of t ime since the Reconnaissance Survey was completed is the growt h and dev elopme nt in and around the villa ge. Betwe en 1990 and 2000 , the vi llage’s population increas ed by 186%, f rom 4,557 to 13,038. In the 2002 special census, the pop ulation had increased to 21,000, then with the latest specia l cens us dated O ctober 27, 2005, the population was 30,314.
ArchiSearch Historic Pr eservation Consultan ts Plainfiel d’s Histor ic Urbanized Core: An Intensive-Level Survey 8 During the time this pro ject was conducte d, the vi llage designa ted its f irst lo cal lan dmark–510 North Fox Rive r Street. Most recently, the vil lage passed a revise d Demolition Ordinance. Importantly,this newest Demolition Ordinance prov ides a review opportunity to the Historic P r eservation Commission before a demolit ion permit m ay be granted . This intensive-leve l survey pr ovides valuable informatio n to the village fo r making better informed decisions in this p rocess. Additionally,with the recommendations in this survey, the Historic Preservation Commiss ion and t he village can work toward achieving designa tion goa ls and ul timately preser vation of the v illage ’s unique history that is represented through its historic res ources. Important to note is that this survey is a process as much as a docu ment. While over 700 survey forms and this report have been prepared, the forms,recommendations, and determinations of significance are not all-inclusiv e. Additional relevant information will continue to surface, and will continu e to co ntribute to this base of documentation.2. METHO DOLOGY As an intensive-leve l historic resources survey, this project is a building by building survey of an area specif ied by the Vi llage of Plainfiel d, Plainfield Historic Preservation Commission. A survey form and photograph was prod uced for every histori c buildin g within t he defi ned area , with addi ti on al photogra phy of outbuildi ngs ass ociated with the main build ings on each pro perty. As established by the Plainfiel d Historic Preservation Commission, the boundaries of the survey area are general ly the Elgin, Joliet & Easte rn Railroad an d the DuPag e River (to the w est); northea sterly to Mill St reet, ea sterly to East ern Ave nue and th e Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad; southerly to Lake Renwick and the Plainfield Township Cemetery; and westerly al ong Fort Beggs Drive to the Elgin,Joliet & Eastern Railroad. The area was initial ly estim ated by the V illage of Plainfiel d to contain approximat ely 525 properties. This init ial fig ure was un deresti mated by a pproxim ately 249 properties, repres enting a forty-s even p ercent i ncrease . In an e ffort to reduce t he ove rage, the consu ltant and village planning s taff agreed that a general group form would be done for certain areas. These areas we re stric tly mode rn in deve lopmen t, and included no historic resources . They are Vintage Knoll Drive (twelve properties); V ista Lane (five prop erties); No rth Penn Road (nineteen properties); and Lakeside D rive (sixteen propertie s). This reduced the ov erage b y approximat ely fifty-two prop erties. Nevert heless , the fin al count of surv ey forms was 722, nearly 200 propert ies abov e the or iginal f igure, thus impactin g the ori ginal co mpletio n date of the pro ject.The survey area consists o f the original thirteen blocks of the Village of Plai nfield (1834), the V illage of East Plainfield (1835), Arnold’s Addition (1845), as well as subsequent additions and s ubdivision platted through the 1940s.At the August 25, 2005 meeting of the Plainfield Historic Preservatio n C omm ission, the goals for the project were further discussed with historic p reservation consultan t Alice Edwards Novak of ArchiSea rch Histo ric Prese rvation Consul tants. Th e discus sion in cluded:
ArchiSearch Historic Pr eservation Consultan ts Plainfiel d’s Histor ic Urbanized Core: An Intensive-Level Survey 9 •attaining a good understanding of the architectural co ntext of the village ;•determining what is t ruly his toric, wi th parti cular regar d to evaluation s for possible registration (National Register and local designations);•using the individual survey forms as a basis for discussion as to why a particular property is or is not historic (The surve y forms are not “end-all” documents, but rather may be added to as Historic Preservatio n Commissione rs and indivi dual propert y owners discove r additiona l history pertaining to any prope rty.); •understanding building terminology;•having the survey complete d before the next building cycle ; and •considering other p otentia l produc ts such a s touris m b r ochures, a buildin g watch l ist,publications, financial incentiv es, and other planning programs.At that time , the survey form was also discuss ed. Earlier in the summer during consultant interv iews,the Historic Preservation Commission had expressed an interest in a more detailed method of architectural descrip tion, as Ms . Novak pr esented on the Quincy, Ill inois form which she had develo ped. The narrative descriptions were to include number of stories, building shape o r plan,foundation and wall material s, roof shape a nd ma terial, p orch, windows, decorative features, and other feature s for e ach main bu ilding. Ms. No vak outli ned sugge sted cha nges to the for m. The category “Co ndition” was reco mmended f or remov al by Ms . Novak, as it is a highly subjecti v e determination and does not necessari ly effect a property’s s ignificance. The village requested that the Property Index Number, or PIN, be added to the f orm to as sist with villa ge reco rds. Addresses along Divisi on Stree t are bei ng change d to a fi ve digit system , but some proper ties st ill ha ve the former four digit addresses posted. Since this process is ongoin g, both addresses were requested on the surv ey forms for cl arity. The Historic Preservation Commission also requested that the date of fie ld surve y be included on the survey forms. As part of an e ffort to manage a large amo unt of da ta coll ected, a field log number or tag numbe r was added by the consulta nt as an extension to the field survey date. This number is of no p ermanent use on the form; rather, i t s erved as a means to check f ield fo rms with f orms which had been transcri bed on the compute r. If a co mputer fo rm neede d to be ch ecked, t he field forms were organized b y the fi eld lo g number, ra ther than by addres s. The f ield lo g numbers general ly ref lect the order in which pro perties were sur veyed.All properties within th e surve y area we re surve yed, reg ardless of est imated dat e of co nstructio n, with one excep tion. In an eff ort t o reduce t he overage of prope rties within the survey area, general or group forms were done for four modern developments; rather than indi vidual f orms on t he fift y-two properties in those four areas, a single summary form was done for eac h stre et or de velop ment.Properties which wer e less than fif ty year s old we re desc ribed in a shorter method, a s these would be non-contributing proper ties in any po tential histori c distric t. Outbuild ings were include d where releva nt, but were a lso doc umented i n a short er method . As a req uirement of the v illage , both main buildings and any outbuildi ngs were photogr aphed fo r the surv ey forms .
ArchiSearch Historic Pr eservation Consultan ts Plai nfiel d’s Histor ic Urbaniz ed Core: An Intensi ve-Level Survey 10 Fieldwor k was conducted by the surveyor walking each block, standing in the public right-of-way in front of each building, and taking notes on each property with a f iel d form and clipbo ard.Outbuildin gs were documented to the best extent possible given typ ical limited views from the public right-of-way. On rare occasions, the surve y was conducted from the car due to inclement weather conditions. Field wo rk was co nducted i n August 2005 through mid -January 2006. Photography was conducted in January and February, with field days devo ted solely to photo graphy. This was done not only for efficiency, b ut also due to foli age throug hout much of the fall , foll owed by holiday decorations. The winter photography allowed for the clearest view s possible of eac h prope rty. Bef ore the photogr aphy fi eld work was begun , two properties were demolished: the Herath-Quinn House at 14926 (formerl y 80 2) North Di vision Street/S tate Route 59 and 15211 (fo rmerly 403) North Divisi on Stree t/State Ro ute 59.The report w as compi led ov er much of the ext ent of t he proje ct time line, with sections submitted in December, March, and June. Oppo rtunities for Historic Preservation Co mmission and staff comments were provided after the submission o f each section, with comme nts inco rporated into the revised report i n June, a nd again a t the submi ssion o f the final r eport th e first week of Nove mber 2006.Research focuse d on mater ials av ailable through th e Plainf ield Hi storical Societ y Museum, the Illinois History Survey (at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), and on-lin e Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (available through the Unive rsity of Illinois). Sanborn Maps dating to 1893, 1898,1912, 1931, and 1944 wer e the ch ief so urce of building s pec ific in formatio n. Local and coun ty history publica tions we re the mai n source s for the histori c conte xt deve lopmen t.Overall, this intensive-lev el survey was more architec tural in content and anal ysis, wi th very limited building specif ic histo ric rese arch. Sig nifican ce was mo st alway s based on architectural valu e through field observation, rather than association with significant pe rsons or significant events in the v illage ’s history. Further archival research and oral historie s may result in additional prope rties being determined as significant for loc al landmark and historic district designations.A compan i on goal of this projec t was to ma ke opp ortunitie s for pu blic educ ation thr oughout th e survey proces s. On Tue sday, Se ptember 13, a pub lic mee ting was h eld at th e Mason ic Lodge to introduce the survey project. Repres entatives f rom the Masonic Lodge spoke about their historic headquarters. John Kersh, then a Planner for Vil lage of Plainfi eld, gav e the bac kground o n the project , and Ms. Novak from ArchiSe arch His toric Pre servati on Cons ultants spoke about how t he project was bein g conduct ed. The m eeting w a s publicize d through re gular vi llage p ostings , the Plainfield Historical Society, and local media, and was attended by a variety of Historic Preservation Commissioners, property owners, and o ther interested people.As part o f the ed ucation p rocess , a survey handout was devel oped by ArchiSea rch. The one-pa ge flyer used a questio n a nd answer for mat addr essing common questions and concerns from su rvey field work. Que stions included, “Why is this pers on staring at my house?,” “Why do we need this
ArchiSearch Historic Pr eservation Consultan ts Plai nfiel d’s Histor ic Urbaniz ed Core: An Intensi ve-Level Survey 11 survey?,” and “Wil l my tax es be af fected by the in formatio n gathere d on th e survey form?” The handout was give n to peo ple who inquired to the f ield sur veyors about the projec t. Th e ha ndout includ ed the Plan ner’s name and number at the Village Hall , to provide the opportunity f or additional questions and to legitimize the surveyors in the field. It is incl uded as an Appendix in this report.Another handout, “T his Old Bu ilding,” was developed to enc ourage property owners and other knowledgeab le peopl e to contribute building specific information about prope rties in the urbanized core. This handout was available at the Sep tember publ ic meeti ng and thro ugh local businesses, as distributed by John Kersh, w ho was a P lanner for the villag e at the time. I t is also included as an Appendi x in this report.As would be required with a Ce rtified L ocal Gover nment projec t, this proj ect included m onthly updates from t he con sultant to the v illage , focusi ng on fi eld work progres s, any p roblems with the project , and any emerging themes rel a ted to th e archite cture of the vil lage. I n the midd le of t he project , John Ke rsh, Plan ner, le ft empl oyment w ith the village and the proje ct was then overse en by Michael Garrigan , Villa ge Plann er, then Kelle y Chriss e, Plann er, as o f March 2006.3. PREVIOUS SURVEYS AND OTHER PREVIOUS DOCUMENTATION Likely the earl iest doc umentatio n of a bui lding in Plainfi eld was the Hist oric Ame rican Buil dings Survey (HABS) of the Den nison G reen Ho use, 222 Mai n Street . The HA BS program was begun in 1934 , providing ph otographs (m edium and large format , black and w hite, arch ivally stable photogra phs), measured drawings, and/or his tory doc umentatio n of se lect pr opertie s througho ut the country; the program is still active, but unfortunately in modern times, HABS documentation is usually conducted in anticipatio n of a building’s demolition. The mater ials pr oduced o n the Denniso n Green House we re compl eted in 1935, a very early date for document ation. T he photographs of the house show it in absolutely pristine co ndition with a high degree of integrity,prior to the app licatio n of asb estos s hingle siding.1 The two earl iest true survey s which i ncluded the Vil lage of Plainfi eld were compani on surve ys as p art of a statewide, county by county eff ort which was initiate d after t he pass age of t he National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The Act established state his toric preservation office s and the National Register of His toric Pl aces, an d the surv eys wer e part of the first state eff orts in historic preservation.Initially under the auspice s of the Illino is Depa rtment of Conse rvation , the sta te historic preservation office conducted initial surveys as the Illinois Historical Landmarks Survey (completed in 1974 for Will County) and the Illinois Historic Structures Survey (completed in 1972 for Wil l County ), both as part of the Division o f the Illinois Historic Sites Survey. The crews of field surveyors at that time varied grea tly in t erms of the number of peo ple sur veying and the t horoughne ss of t he surv ey .Gen erally, few pro perties were ide ntified in any o f these survey s. Additi onally , attitude s towa r d historic and archit ectural sign ificance have cha nged drast ically since that time period as w ell. A t best, the earl y state survey s are useful to conf irm particular significance for an e lite and very limited
ArchiSearch Historic Pr eservation Consultan ts Plai nfiel d’s Histor ic Urbaniz ed Core: An Intensi ve-Level Survey 12 group of prop erties. The inf ormation provide d in thes e surve ys is ty picall y no more than a pr operty name, address, an estimated date, and perhaps a fe w words on significance.The “Inventory of Historic Landmarks in Will County,” oriented more toward historic significance,included five Plainfiel d properties:Octagonal House , Illinois Route 26 and Van Dyke Road, ?date, “possi bly a replic a”[destroyed in the 1990 tornado];Plainfiel d House [Halfway House], 503 Main Street, 1834, “Stage inn on Chic ago-Ottawa Road. Also post office . Historical marker;”Huling H ouse , 33 Lockport Street, 1844, “Underground railroad station. Still has hiding closet intact;”United Methodist Ch urch , Chicago & Illi nois st reets , 186 6, “Large, early stone church;”and Plainfiel d Cemetery , Illinois Route 59, south side of town, est. 1840s, “Pioneer cemetery;has firs t ministe r in the r egion, a nd first settle r.The “Invent o ry of Historic Structures in Will County” was more architectural in emphasis. It included only one building in Plainfield , the Plymouth Congregational Church at the northeas t corner of Lockport and Ill inois streets.As part of a summer internship program in 1980 with the Village of Plai nfield , Michael A. Lambert ,then a studen t in Arch itecture at the U nivers it y of Il linois at Urbana -Champai gn, condu cted a survey. Mr. Lamber t perso nally distribute d survey forms to over tw o hun dre d property owners.Those survey forms sought information from pro pe rty owners a bout their buildings , in addit ion to seeking feedbac k on com munity in terest i n histor ic pres ervatio n. Impre ssivel y, 107 surve ys were retu rned as part of that project, and a good i nitial effort to begin an inv entory of building specific information was thus begun.In October 1994, the “Reconnaissance Survey Report, Historic/Architectural Res ources,” was completed and pres ented to the Villag e Board by The URBANA Group, a consulting firm based in Urbana, Illinois. The reco nnaissance survey, sometimes referred to as “windshield survey,” included a summary o f histor ic conte xts, a s ummary of arc hitect ural styles and vernacular building ty pes,recommendations for intensive-lev el survey, a discussion of pre servation programs, and recommendations for National Register and potential loca l designations. The forty -seve n page re port recommended various sections, somewhat based on vil lage plats and additions, for surve y, including p riorities. Also noted were areas of more modern construction which were reco mmended to b e eliminat ed fr om survey. Since that time, more than ten years ago, some of these propertie s have
ArchiSearch Historic Pr eservation Consultan ts Plai nfiel d’s Histor ic Urbaniz ed Core: An Intensi ve-Level Survey 13 s ince gained possible historic s ignificance, as generally historic preservation programs such as th e National Register of Historic Places consider properties w hich a re fifty years o ld or ol der to be potentially historic.In 2000, Arris Architects + Planners in Plainfield, created the Design Manual for the Lockport Stree t Business Corridor , April 2000, in conju nction w ith updating the Master Plan. Michael A. Lambert was the principal author. The Manual included Appendix F: Histo ric Urban Core Bui lding Inventory, a listi ng of buil dings in the corridor with building address, a brief statement of signi ficance,a numerical integrity evaluation, basic de scription details (number of stories , orig inal materials,additions, construction date), preservation v alue, and other recognitions of the buil dings such as the earlie r Reconn aissanc e Survey , the sta te surve ys, and t he Natio nal Regi ster. The Nati onal R egister of Historic Places nominations also provide excellent historic and architectural information about the village. Plainfield conti nues to have only three properties listed in the National Register of Historic Pl aces and one of these , the Flanders House, will be de-l isted due to an unapp roved mo ve. The two othe r listin gs are Plainfield Halfway Ho use, 503 West Main Street (listed September 29, 1980 for historic signific ance) an d the Stan dard Oil G asolin e Statio n, 600 West Lockport (listed November 13,1984 for his toric an d architec tural sig nifican ce). Fl anders House, original ly loc ated at 405 West Main Street (listed Nov ember 14, 1991 for architectural and historic signifi cance), was move d two blo cks wes t to 507 Main Stre et, but the move was not considered before the Illinoi s Historic Sit es Advisory Counc il, thereby mak ing the bui lding eligib le for de-l isting. 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE SURVEY AREA The survey area boundaries generall y included all potential ly historic construc tion with in the v illage boundaries; the area within th e vill age bounda ri es which was not included in the survey was excluded because it was modern in co nstruction. To the north, the survey boundary extended on Division to the n orth side of Plai nfield -Naperv ille Ro ad. The bound ary fol lowed th e DuPage River along the rear proper ty lines of bu ildings facing Main Stre et, west to Lock port Stre et/Route 126.Here the boundary extended west to incl ude the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company Freight Depot and Pass enger St ation, jus t west of the bridge over th e DuPage River. C ontinuin g west, th e survey area boundary follows the DuPage Rive r, along Electric Park, Vista La ne, and t he rear propert y lines of buildings facing James until construc tion en ds alon g the eas t river b ank, four lots south of the inter section of Ja mes Stre et with Fo rt Beggs D rive. Th e southe rn boundary of the survey area ex tends do wn the midd le of F ort Beggs Drive t o Divis ion/Route 59, where i t jogs north around the ceme tery, the n contin ues eas t along the ceme tery’s northern boundary. The boun dary continues southeasterly across Jol iet Road/U.S. Route 30, then follows the western boundary of Lake Renwick to the eastern ends of Ottawa, Chicago, and Lockport, where the railroad marks the end of historic construction within the villag e. Th e boundary follows the railroad no rthwesterly until Eastern Avenue, where it goes north. Along Eastern Aven ue, the boundary jogs east twice: once for the Vint age Kno ll dev elopme nt which i s framed by two historic buildings, and again for three lots
ArchiSearch Historic Pr eservation Consultan ts Plai nfiel d’s Histor ic Urbaniz ed Core: An Intensi ve-Level Survey 14 just south of Main Street/Illinois Route 126, where historic buildings remain; by jogging to incl ude these two areas, the boundary has excluded the modern school between these. The boundary goes southweste rly along the southeas tern side of Main Stre et, then jogs ac ross to the nort hwest to include two lots along the north sid e of the street at M ill Street. The boundary follows the end of College Street, then goe s across Plainfield-Naperv ille Road to include four l ots before going to the point of origin.After the survey was b egun, several areas wi thin the survey boundary were eliminated f rom intensive-level survey due to construction which was c ompl etely modern. These a reas inc luded Lak eside Drive, off the eastern sectio n of Ottawa ; Penn Ro ad, just north off Main Street; Vintage K noll Drive;Vista Lane, which faces Electric Park. None of these streets or dev elopments is of sufficient age or exceptional architectural significance to be co nsidered contributing to any potential histori c distric t.Furthermore, these areas were eliminated to reduce the number of properties to be surveyed, which excee ded the o riginal estimate by nearl y 200.