Peabody, Francis Stuyvesant, House - Hinsdale, IL - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

From Architectural Resources in the Town of Hinsdale Historic Certification Consultants, 2001

George Robbins built the Peabody House at 8 E. Third Street in 1889. Francis Stuyvesant Peabody, founder of Peabody Coal Company, lived here from 1911 through 1921, at the peak of his career. Peabody Coal formed an alliance with the Chicago Edison Company (later Commonwealth Edison) in 1903 and became the leading Illinois supplier of coal to electrical power generating plants. This house is the remaining building most closely associated with Peabody. Alexander Legge, president of International Harvester, also lived here from 1922 until his death in 1933. The house next door at 20 E. Third, now a separate residence, is believed to have been the former barn or coach house to the Peabody estate.

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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 [Bateman, 676-677]. 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.

Street address: 8 E. Third St. Hinsdale, IL USA 60521 County / Borough / Parish: Dupage County Year listed: 2000 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Person Periods of significance: 1900-1924 Historic function: Domestic Current function: Domestic Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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