ROCHESTER'S ROSS HOUSE LISTED IN NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Ross House in the Rochester vicinity was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 2 by the National Park Service, a designation that places it on the nation's most prestigious list of places with historical significance.

 

            "A National Register listing is an honor bestowed upon our most significant historic places," said Robert Coomer, director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA), which administers the National Register program in Illinois.  "The Ross House makes us justifiably proud of our heritage in Illinois."

           

             The Joseph Ross House is a two-story, brick house built in 1868 that is significant as a good local example of the Italianate style.  Italianate architecture was popular in the United States largely between the years 1850 and 1880 and began in England with a movement that shifted away from classical styles and employed less formal, geometric decoration based on Italian farmhouses.  The Ross House has several characteristics of the Italianate style.  The ornate brackets adorning the eaves are perhaps the property's most decorative element.  The emphasis on the front door surround and the paired rounded windows on the door are also common features of Italianate architecture. 

 

Illinois has a total of 1,570 listings in the National Register.  For more information about the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois, including how to nominate a property for listing, visit www.Illinois-History.gov/PS/historicplaces.htm.