Pennsylvania Avenue Historic District | |
The Katherine Dunham Museum at 1005 Pennsylvania Avenue | |
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| Location | Pennsylvania Ave., East St. Louis, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 38°37′42″N90°8′39″W / 38.62833°N 90.14417°W Coordinates: 38°37′42″N90°8′39″W / 38.62833°N 90.14417°W |
| Area | 2.9 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Renaissance Revival, Queen Anne |
| NRHP reference # | 79003166 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | July 27, 1979 |
The Pennsylvania Avenue Historic District is a residential historic district located on the 1000 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in East St. Louis, Illinois. The district includes four houses as well as the sites of two demolished homes. The historic district was once a prestigious area of the city known as "Quality Hill", and it contained well-built homes designed in popular architectural styles. However, East St. Louis entered a severe decline due to the loss of its industry, racial discrimination, and a corrupt and mismanaged city government. The historic district suffered the same fate as the city; the district is marked by vacant lots and abandoned buildings, and all but one of the houses had been vacated or demolished by the 1970s. [2]
East St. Louis is a city mainly in St. Clair and with a small portion in Madison counties in southwestern Illinois, United States. It is located across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri, in what is defined as the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a bustling industrial center, like many cities in the Rust Belt, East St. Louis has been severely affected by loss of jobs due to industrial restructuring during the second half of the 20th century. In 1950, East St. Louis was the fourth-largest city in Illinois when its population peaked at 82,366. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,006, less than one-third of the 1950 census.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern and Great Lakes region of the United States. It has the fifth largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth largest population, and the 25th largest land area of all U.S. states. Illinois is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in northeastern Illinois, small industrial cities and immense agricultural productivity in the north and center of the state, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, encompasses over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to international ports via two main routes: from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway to the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics.
As of 1979, four houses were still standing in the district; all four are contributing buildings. The Joyce House, located at 1005 Pennsylvania Avenue, is a Renaissance Revival house built in 1901. The Katherine Dunham Museum now occupies the house; it is the only house in the district which is still occupied. The John A. Campbell House, located at 1023 Pennsylvania Avenue, is a 1907 Queen Anne house designed by Albert B. Frankel. The Malburn M. Stephens House, located at 1010 Pennsylvania Avenue, is a Georgian Revival house built in 1902; its namesake owner served as mayor of East St. Louis for 22 years. The Thomas L. Fekete House, located at 1018 Pennsylvania Avenue, is a vernacular house built in 1896. The sites of two demolished houses, the Reid-Nims House and Derleth-McLean House, are included in the district as non-contributing sites. [2]
Renaissance Revival architecture is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes. Under the broad designation "Renaissance architecture" nineteenth-century architects and critics went beyond the architectural style which began in Florence and central Italy in the early 15th century as an expression of Humanism; they also included styles we would identify as Mannerist or Baroque. Self-applied style designations were rife in the mid- and later nineteenth century: "Neo-Renaissance" might be applied by contemporaries to structures that others called "Italianate", or when many French Baroque features are present.
Katherine Mary Dunham was an African-American dancer, choreographer, author, educator, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers in African-American and European theater of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for many years. She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance."
In the United States, Queen Anne-style architecture was popular from roughly 1880 to 1910. "Queen Anne" was one of a number of popular architectural styles to emerge during the Victorian era. Within the Victorian era timeline, Queen Anne style followed the Stick style and preceded the Richardsonian Romanesque and Shingle styles.
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 27, 1979. [1]
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.
