Houses in Sycamore Historic District

home at 512 S. Main Street A full 75% of the districts buildings are listed as contributing properties. Many of these include homes within the boundaries of the district that are architecturally or historically significant but are commonly known only by their street address. Ottawa and Maple Streets Two of the districts contributing homes are found along Ottawa Street. Both homes are nameless and stand next door to each other, one is at 124 and the other is at 134. Along Maple Street the Italianate home at 202 is also listed as a contributing property, it is known only by its address. Main and High Streets The two-story Italianate home at 314 S. Main Street is another example of a contributing property in the Sycamore Historic District that is known only by its address. The house was constructed in 1878. At 512 S. Main St. is a brightly colored example of Queen Anne architecture. The only contributing property along the east-west High Street is the home at 418 W. High. Somonauk Street The house at 312 Somonauk Street is an example of Italianate architecture, it is a nameless contributor to the district's historic nature. The Italianate home further down the same block, at 328, has undergone some exterior changes. Its original wood siding was replaced with vinyl. On the other side of the street, the house at 413 Somonauk is an example of the American Foursquare style of domestic architecture. Also in the 400 block of Somonauk, at 437 is another nameless contributing property. ==Named Houses==

Byers-Faissler House The Byers-Faissler House is located in the 500 block of Sycamore's Somonauk Street, the house is included as a contributing structure to the historic character of the Sycamore Historic District. The house was built in 1867 for Sycamore politician William Byers. Captain R.A. Smith House The Captain R.A. Smith House, also known as the F.W. Partridge House is another contributing property to the Sycamore Historic District. The house was built sometime before 1871 by Captain R.A. Smith. The Smith House is designed in a Gothic Revival motif by R.A. Smith. Besides the military Smith was elected treasurer in DeKalb County, little is known about him other than the fact that he designed his home in the 200 block of Sycamore's Somonauk Street. Charles Kellum House The Charles Kellum House was constructed in 1858 by Charles Kellum. Kellum came to Sycamore in 1855 as an attorney and eventually served in several public offices, including state's attorney and circuit court judge. The house was once a larger structure than it is today. The building at 123 Lincoln Street, directly behind the Kellum House, was separated from the main house, in the 600 block of Somonauk Street, in the 1920s. The house's owner at the time had a daughter who was getting married and he presented the separated wing as a wedding present for the couple. Clark lived in the home until 1970. The new owners added an addition to the house in 1996 Elmore Cooper House The 'Elmore Cooper House is listed as a contributing structure to the district's overall historical character. The Elmore Cooper House was built in 1924 by the Sycamore gas station entrepreneur Elmore Cooper. The house is of a Colonial Revival style, with English roots. It features simple lines and proportions, which make it architecturally distinctive. It features an original roof. Elmore Cooper opened Sycamore's first gas station in 1898, it was located across the street from the DeKalb County Courthouse on Illinois Route 64. Floyd E. Brower House The Floyd E. Brower House is another of the historic homes in the DeKalb County, Illinois, city of Sycamore. The house, in the 400 block of Sycamore's Somonauk Street, lies in the heart of the Sycamore Historic District. It was constructed for Sycamore attorney, Floyd Brower. General Daniel Dustin House The General Daniel Dustin House is a 19th-century residential home in the 400 block of California Street and is a contributing structure to the historical integrity of the Sycamore Historic District. Daniel Dustin served in the United States Army and accompanied General William Tecumseh Sherman on his "grand march to the sea" during the American Civil War. In Sycamore Dustin settled in the California Street home and made a living as a merchant, working with James E. Ellwood in the sale of medicines. He eventually became DeKalb County's county clerk. George S. Robinson-Ellzey P. Young House This simple I-house home was constructed in 1847 for early Sycamore settler and, later, elected official Ellzey P. Young. Built in 1847 the house is one of the oldest in the city of Sycamore. It is believed that Eleanor Roosevelt once stayed in the home during a visit to nearby Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb. Young was one of Sycamore's earliest settlers, coming to the town in 1839. He went into the mercantile business with James Waterman, to build the two-story house for $4,000. The final cost of construction was $4,500 and the bill outraged Wild. The building was designed in the Italianate architectural style. It features a veranda, though not original, which winds from the front door, around the building, to the secondary entrance on the home's south side. The door has the name G.P. Wild etched into its glass. The distinctly Queen Anne turret on the home's northwest side is offset by the distinctly Romanesque arch over the front doorway. J.H. Rogers/Bettis House The J.H. Rogers/Bettis House, also known as the John Gathercoal House, is located in the 500 block of Main Street. The house began its existence in 1863 attached to the Charles A. Bishop House, which currently stands next door to the Bettis House. In 1887 the Bishop house was moved, by mule, from its original location. Yet the house is as historically important as it is architecturally significant. The events surrounding the founding of the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival occurred at the house in 1956. Wally "Mr. Pumpkin" Thurow is considered the founder of the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival. The festival essentially started as Thurow's personal Halloween celebration; he filled his lawn with decorated pumpkins. Thurow pushed the Lions Club to expand on his idea and every year since 1962, during the Pumpkin Fest, the lawn of the DeKalb County Courthouse is filled with carved, decorated and otherwise enhanced pumpkins, many of them created by children and families. William McAllister House The William McAllister House is located in the 200 block of South Main Street in Sycamore. It was constructed in 1906 and remains much the same today as it was 1912. McAllister was a successful dry goods dealer whose longtime business in the Daniel Pierce Building evolved into the later Henderson's Department Store in downtown Sycamore. William Robinson House The William Robinson House was constructed in 1874. It stands in the 400 block of South Main Street in Sycamore is designed in a mostly Gothic Revival style. Robinson was an entrepreneur, dealing in threshing equipment and farm implements. On New Year's Day, 1897 he turned over his successful business to his son George E. Robinson. == Ellwood family ==

There are three houses within the district that were owned by various members of the Ellwood family, famed for their affiliation with barbed wire through Isaac Ellwood. The Abram Ellwood House is in the 400 block of Somonauk Street. Further down the street, in the 700 block of Somonauk, is the James Ellwood House. The James Ellwood House was constructed in 1859. It was moved from its original location, about a block away, in 1989. Since that time the home has been fully restored. a subtype of Queen Anne Style architecture. James Ellwood worked in the pharmacy and grocery business in Sycamore for 23 years. Before he became Sycamore Postmaster from 1898 to 1908 he also worked for 17 years as treasurer of Reuben Ellwood Manufacturing.The 1859 Chauncey Ellwood House, a prominent Italianate home, is in Somonauk Street's 800 block. ==Other houses==

The Charles O. Boynton House is an 1887 Queen Anne style home which stands along Main Street, north of the DeKalb County Courthouse. Its distinctive red brick facade has aged fairly well and the porch is nearly exactly as it was in the late 19th century. Boynton was a dry goods dealer. On the adjacent property is the Frederick B. Townsend House. Townsend helped found the DeKalb County Farm Bureau and was a native of DeKalb County. At least two other contributing houses are found south of the Boynton and Townsend Houses. The D. B. James House is a home located on Exchange Street directly behind the DeKalb County Courthouse, it is one of the oldest homes on that block. James was a Sycamore attorney, coincidentally, the house now holds a law office. Along Somonauk Street is another of the district's elegant examples of Queen Anne architecture, the David Syme House. The Somonauk Street house was designed by George Garnsey of Chicago and constructed around 1880. == See also ==