Lincoln Ave Row House District

“Through the consistent scale, setting, setbacks, overall design, use of materials, and detailing of its buildings, the District exemplifies the handsome development of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood during the late 19th century.”

“The row houses in the District exhibit a consistently high quality of design and craftsmanship using traditional building materials, including Joliet limestone, wood, and decorative metal. The later porches at 1930 and 1936 N. Lincoln Ave., although added at a later date, contribute to the distinctive architectural character of the District through their handsome design and fine use of historic building materials.”

“In 1876 (just after McNally built the row houses on Lincoln Avenue), Rand McNally started publishing books, the first being The Locust Plague in the United States by James V. Riley.”

“LATER HISTORY Over time, the houses within the Lincoln Avenue Row House District were the homes for a variety of middle-and working-class professionals and workers, reflecting gradual demographic changes in the Lincoln Park neighborhood during the first half of the twentieth century as members of various ethnic groups took residence in the community and later as the neighborhood increasingly was considered "run-down." Soon after the construction of the row houses in the District, Andrew McNally sold the one at 1930 N. Lincoln Ave. to L. J. J. Niewwenkamp, a broker and also the Chicago consul-general from The Netherlands.”

“The Lincoln Avenue Row House District exemplifies the high-quality residential architecture constructed in Chicago's neighborhoods in general, and the Lincoln Park neighborhood in particular, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”

“The original developer of the row houses in the Lincoln Avenue Row House District was Andrew McNally, co-founder of the noteworthy Chicago-based mapmaking company, Rand McNally & Company.”

“The Italianate was Chicago's predominant architectural style during the 1870s and 1880s, widely used for residential and commercial buildings. When used for masonry houses such as the row houses of the Lincoln Row House District, the style was usually characterized with decorative lintels, sometimes with keystones, wooden or pressed-metal cornices with brackets and paneling, and ornamental stoops and front porches.”

“Added circa 1890, the Queen Anne-style porch at 1930 N. Lincoln has wood turned porch posts, a decorative wood sunburst, and ornamental-metal cresting. The Classical Revival-style porch at 1936 N. Lincoln, with its lonic columns, most likely was added around 1910, just after the estate of Andrew McNally sold the building to Minnie Bordewick in 1909.”

“Joliet limestone was used for a wide range of buildings, including office and institutional buildings, as well as residences such as the Lincoln Avenue row houses commissioned by Andrew McNally.”