Weyerhaeuser House

Weyerhaeuser House
Location 3052 10th Ave., Rock Island, Illinois
Coordinates 41°30′5″N 90°33′19″W / 41.50139°N 90.55528°W / 41.50139; -90.55528Coordinates: 41°30′5″N 90°33′19″W / 41.50139°N 90.55528°W / 41.50139; -90.55528
NRHP Reference # 75000674 [1]
Added to NRHP September 11, 1975

Weyerhaeuser House is an historic building located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. It was built in 1865 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The home is also known as House on the Hill, and is now part of the Augustana College campus.

History

Frederick Weyerhaeuser

Frederick Weyerhaeuser (1834–1914) was a native of Nieder-Saulheim, in the independent Grand Duchy of Hesse, in present-day Germany,[2] and immigrated to the United States in 1856. He and his brother-in-law, Frederick C.A. Denkmann, founded the Weyerhaeuser and Denkmann Lumber Company in Rock Island. The company continues today as the Weyerhaeuser Company with its head offices in Federal Way, Washington.[3] As the company prospered Weyerhaeuser bought this house in 1865, and re-built it from 1882-1883. In 1900 Weyerhaeuser and fifteen partners bought 900,000-acre (3,600 km2) of timberland in Washington State.[3] The local partnership ended in 1905 when Denkmann died, and Frederick Weyerhaeuser and his wife had moved to Washington by this time. He died in 1914 in Pasadena, California[2] and is buried in Chippiannock Cemetery in Rock Island. After Weyerhaeuser moved from the house his daughter Apollonia and her husband Samuel S. Davis lived in the house. They were leaders in industry, society and philanthropy in the city of Rock Island.

The home remained in the Weyerhaeuser family for 85 years before it was donated to Augustana College in 1954.[3] The first floor of the home is now used for entertaining college and community guests.[4] Female students are housed in apartments on the second- and third-floors. The building is maintained by an endowment created by friends of the college, with support from descendants of the Weyerhaeuser family.

Architecture

When Frederick Weyerhaeuser bought the house in 1865 it was a two-story brick structure with a square cupola.[3] He had it rebuilt in 1882-1883 in the Second Empire style. He added the west entrance hall, additional rooms, bath rooms and the third floor. The third floor featured a mansard roof and a tower room was built over the main entrance. A large tank on the third floor supplied water to the entire house. The dining room was enlarged and elaborate woodwork, carvings and the John LaFarge stained glass window above the fireplace were added in 1888. It is the most elaborate Second Empire structure in Rock Island.[3]

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "F. Weyerhaeuser, Lumber King, Dead". The New York Times (April 5, 1914). 1914-04-05. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Frederick E. Weyerhaeuser House, 3052 10th Avenue". City of Rock Island. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  4. ↑ "Campus". Augustana College. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
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