Colwell, E. B., and Company Department Store - Monmouth, IL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 40° 54.634 W 090° 38.902
15T E 698050 N 4531492
This building, and the Annex on the street behind are the department store. The Main Building is previous the annex is not in the NRHP Historic District.
Waymark Code: WMXCRD
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 12/28/2017
Views: 0
County of building: Warren County
Location of building: 208 S. Main St. & 211 South A St., Monmouth
208 S. Main St.:
E.B. Colwell & Company Department Store
Year Built: 1904
Architectural Style: Chicago School
Architect/Builder: J. Gran Beadle
Original Occupant: E.B. Colwell and Company
"This imposing three story building is a testament to the strength of the Monmouth economy prior to the Great Depression. The building was the height of elegant department store shopping in its day. The large department store did so well that in 1911 they added an Annex on South A Street connected to the building with a sky bridge. This building does not have a lot of ornamentation but it does have an attractive roofline accented with dentils." ~ NRHP Nomination Form (Historic District)
211 South A Street:
Colwell Annex
year Built: 1911
Architectural Style: Early Twentieth Commercial Style
Original Occupant: E.B. Colwell and Company
Other occupants: Form Fit from 1949 to 1955
Current Occupant: Strom Senior Center
"The Annex was added onto the Bowman Colwell building that was built in 1904 on South Main. This four-story brick addition is a testament to the strength of Monmouth economy prior to the Great Depression. The building is connected with a sky bridge to the main Bowman Colwell building. The building is now a senior community center and many of the windows in the building have been covered over." ~ NRHP Nomination Form (Historic District)
"The E. B. Colwell and Company Department Store is a historic department store building located at 208 South Main Street and 211 South A Street in Monmouth, Illinois. Local businessman Edward B. Colwell had the store built in 1904. Architect J. Grant Beadle of Galesburg designed the three-story Chicago school building. The store was Monmouth's only true department store; its main competitor, the Allen Store, was the largest dry goods store in Monmouth but was nonetheless smaller than the Colwell store. Shoppers came to the store from throughout Warren County, and from elsewhere in western Illinois via car and interurban railroad. The store's size and reputation allowed it to sell goods such as china under their own brand name, and it came to be known as "the Marshall Field's of western Illinois". The store suffered a downturn during the Great Depression, and while Colwell's second wife kept it in business for many years, the couple sold their store in 1959" ~ Wikipedia