Bassett, Orland P., House - Hinsdale, IL
Posted by: adgorn
N 41° 47.796 W 087° 55.326
16T E 423390 N 4627604
Architectural Styles of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival, built in 1899, for Orland P. Bassett, horticulturalist.
Waymark Code: WM77XH
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 09/15/2009
Views: 3
From (
visit link)
1921 Obituary
Orland P. Bassett, a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, died Saturday, February 26, at Pasadena, California, aged 86. Mr. Bassett organized the Pictorial Printing Company of Chicago and was the first horticulturist to commercialize the "American Beauty" rose. He had lived in Pasadena since 1902. Mr. Bassett came from western Pennsylvania to Sycamore, Illinois in the late fifties, and started a newspaper there. In 1868 he came to Chicago and organized the Pictorial Printing Company, of which he was president until 1916, when he founded the "florist's firm of Bassett and Washburn. The body was brought to Hinsdale, Illinois for burial.
**********
From Architectural Resources in the Town of Hinsdale Historic Certification Consultants, 2001
Hinsdale is an example of the upper middle-class railroad suburb that developed across the country from 1850 through 1880. Chicago, with a network of eleven separate railroad lines that entered the city from 1847 through 1861, had more than 100 railroad suburbs surrounding the city by 1873. The railroad suburb has a distinctive landscape based on the picturesque English ideal of the country house set in a naturalistic, landscaped garden. Single-family homes were developed near rail stations to allow the wealthy to escape the ills of the city. Hinsdale is one of these railroad suburbs, founded by William Robbins in anticipation of the location of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad’s commuter line through the area in 1864.
The 1890s saw an era of extensive improvements in the village. Bonds were issued for a waterworks (1890), drainage system (1891), and electrical lines (1896). Streets were paved beginning in 1892 and cement sidewalks replaced the old wood plank walks in 1904. The Hinsdale Doings, a newspaper that continues publication to this day, began in 1894. Hinsdale came to be regarded as one of the most beautiful and desirable middle class suburbs. Its status was enhanced by the publication of an article entitled, “Hinsdale the Beautiful” in the November 1897, issue of Campbell’s Illustrated Journal. This journal focused on household affairs and interior decoration of the period.