Learning Elgin History Through Architecture on The Gifford Park Association: A Historic Home Tour
The Gifford Park Association: A Historic Home Tour is an audio tour that you can follow either walking or driving. Since our afternoon in Elgin was pretty rainy, we opted to drive. The audio tour provides interesting factual information about the families that constructed and lived in the homes as well as details about architectural elements. We learned a lot about Elgin history by following the tour!
Discovering Elgin History on The Gifford Park Association:
A Historic Home Tour
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| Elgin's Sheehan house represents a simple style typical of the 1870s-1910s. |
By following the tour, we also learned about the industries in Elgin. For example, this home was owned by James Sheehan who immigrated from Ireland. Sheehan was a tanner and then a night watchman for the Borden Milk Condensing Plant. So, through this home, we learned that Elgin had both a tanning and dairy industry. Additionally, Sheehan served in the Civil War and was noted as a war hero. The home is in a style typical to 1870-1910. The modest style indicates the family's status as working class.
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| One of Elgin's many spectacular Italianate homes. |
Charles Wayne and his mother Ellen moved to this stunning Italianate home in 1883. When Charles moved to Elgin, he was just beginning his law career. He would become a leading northern Illinois trial lawyer. He would eventually delve into politics, becoming mayor of Elgin 1895-6. The home would stay in the family until 1967.
Admiring Second Empire Homes in Elgin
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| Captivating Second Empire home owned originally by John Spire in Elgin. |
The 1871 home of John Spire is one of my favorites featured on the tour. The home was constructed in the Second Empire style. I love the mansard roof and bay windows. If you have been to Paris, you are very familiar with the mansard roof so a little bit of France in Elgin! Merchant and capitalist John Spire moved from New York to Elgin in 1871. His son, Samuel, was noted as a carpenter so it is believed that he constructed the home. The home would have a series of owners including John Murphy who invented the motorized sweeper funded by what would become the Elgin Street Sweeper Company.
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| Elgin's magnificent 1850s Gifford mansion was constructed in the Second Empire style. |
Another Second Empire home happens to be the Edmund Gifford home. The 1850s brick home once featured two stories with the upstairs ballroom being added in the late 1800s. Edmund Gifford lived in this home with his wife, Lucy, and their nine children. Gifford was a lawyer who brought the first law library to Elgin. He also was the first superintendent of Elgin's public school system. This gorgeous home is one of my favorites on the tour!
Incredible Architecture Gives Another Perspective of History
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| The Barclay home is an example of the Queen Anne style. |
The breathtaking Barclay home was constructed in the Queen Anne style. Edward Barclay and his wife Cordelia owned the home. Edward was the son of David Barclay, a hardware dealer and former mayor of Elgin. He worked for his father's company. The Barclay home is across the street from the Elgin History Museum, so can easily pair the tour with a visit to the museum.
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| Beautiful brick Italianate home with ornate porches in Elgin. |
This gorgeous brick Italianate home was constructed for Fred Allen, a real estate and insurance broker and former alderman, in 1891. I love the arched windows. The ornate porches were restored by Habitat for Humanity in 2013.
Incredible Way to Learn More Layers of Elgin History
I hope you enjoyed my little tour of Elgin homes! The Gifford Park Association: A Historic Home Tour in Elgin includes an incredible 45 homes -- many more than I show here. So the range of Elgin history that you will learn while admiring these exceptional architectural gems is pretty outstanding. The tour can easily be accessed on the Explore Elgin Area website and is free!
We truly enjoyed snapshots of moments in Elgin history as we wound our way along the tour. I am genuinely amazed by the stories homes have to tell. Additionally, the collections of homes certainly dazzle with interesting architecture. The historic home tour offered us a different way to learn about Elgin and the people that have lived there. The tour can be completed in any type of weather, so I recommend this little adventure any time of year!
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