The DuPage County Historical Museum, formerly the Adams Memorial Library, is a building designed by Charles Sumner Frost in Wheaton, Illinois, United States.

History

Adams Memorial Library was the first public library in Wheaton, Illinois; along with a library in Downers Grove, it was one of the first two libraries in the county. Funds for its completions were donated by John Quincey Adams, a real estate investor and miller. Adams was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and moved to Chicago in 1851. He was the fourth cousin, twice removed of President John Quincy Adams. He co-founded the

Chicago Board of Trade The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), established on April 3, 1848, is one of the world's oldest futures and options exchanges. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other excha ...

and became a prominent Chicago citizen. Adams moved to Wheaton following the death of his wife, Marilla Phipps Adams, for whom the library was named. Charles Sumner Frost, who had recently designed the

Chicago and North Western The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

railroad station in Wheaton, was selected as the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. It was one of Frost's first commission after he split with partner

Henry Ives Cobb Henry Ives Cobb (August 19, 1859 – March 27, 1931) was an architect from the United States. Based in Chicago in the last decades of the 19th century, he was known for his designs in the Richardsonian Romanesque and Victorian Gothic styles ...

. Ground was broken on October 2, 1890 and Adams dedicated the museum on October 28, 1891. The library classified books with the Dewey Decimal system, becoming one of the first in Illinois to use this system. Adams Memorial was the main library in the region until a new library was constructed in 1965. The endowment from Adams completely supported the facility until 1923, when Wheaton provided additional funds. The initial book purchase by Adams exceeded 2,700 books. The DuPage County Historical Society purchased the Adams Memorial building in 1965 and transferred ownership to the county. It re-opened as the DuPage County Historical Museum in 1967. On June 4, 1981, it was recognized by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government within the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of ...

with a listing on the

National Register of Historic Places 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 or "great artist ...

. The museum seeks to "educate the general public through the collection, preservation, interpretation, and exhibition of materials which document the history of DuPage County and its relationship to Illinois and the nation, and to provide local history services for historical organizations and for scholarly endeavors."

Architecture

The building is found at the southeast corner of Wesley and Main Streets in Wheaton. It stands two stories tall and was built with coursed limestone and Bedford stone trimmings in the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesq ...

style. The style is characterized by rough-hewn stone blocks, emphasized horizontal lines, wide rounded arches, and intricate ornamentation. The work is nearly identical to a library that Frost designed in

Morgan Park, Chicago Morgan Park, located on the far south side of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, is one of the city's 77 official community areas. Morgan Park is located south of the Beverly neighborhood and north of the Chicago city border, and i ...

the previous year. Each facade has a tall stone

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...

with pinnacles on either side near the base. Gable

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

have

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian ...

moldings carved into a leaf motif. Each gable has an arched window. The north gable is capped with a decorative urn. The north facade features a turreted stair tower on the east side. It also has a double doorway, the main entrance, and a bay window on the west side of the first floor. The entrance is arched with a Bedford stone

egg-and-dart Egg-and-dart, also known as egg-and-tongue, egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, is an ornamental device adorning the fundamental quarter-round, convex ovolo profile of moulding, consisting of alternating details on the face of the ovolo—typically ...

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

. An inner arch is ornamented with a leaf design. The south facade has a bay window that looks out onto a small courtyard. The interior features oak floors and plaster ceilings. The first floor is dominated by a main hall with an oak staircase on the west wall. The main reading room is on the northwest corner, the ladies' reading room is on the southwest, a lecture hall is on the northeast, and three rooms are on the southeast. The main hall features marble

wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...

. The main reading room has a carved panel ceiling and a fireplace; this room features the north bay window. The ladies reading room also has a fireplace. The lecture room is decorated with oak wainscoting. The library room, one of the three southeast rooms, also originally had a fireplace. The second floor was a 500-seat auditorium with a gallery. A room on the southeast of the floor was used as a dressing room, though it was later removed to build a fire escape and kitchen. The staircase leads up to a third floor, which originally overlooked the auditorium. In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, DuPage County Historical Museum was selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to ...

Illinois component (AIA Illinois).

References

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Adams Memorial LibraryDuPage County Historical Museum Architectural and Cultural History

External links

* {{Official website, 1=http://dupagemuseum.org/
Illinois Great Places

DuPage County Historical MuseumSociety of Architectural Historians SAH ARCHIPEDIA entry on the DuPage County Historical Museum
Infrastructure completed in 1891 National Register of Historic Places in DuPage County, Illinois Buildings and structures in Wheaton, Illinois Museums in DuPage County, Illinois History museums in Illinois Charles Sumner Frost buildings 1891 establishments in Illinois Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois