Wikipedia

LeClaire Historic District

LeClaire Historic District is a historic district located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The community was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 8, 1979.[1][2]

LeClaire Historic District
Holyoake Road
LeClaire Historic District is located in Illinois
LeClaire Historic District
Location within Illinois
LeClaire Historic District is located in the United States
LeClaire Historic District
Location within the United States
LocationRoughly bounded by RR tracks, Wolf St., Hadley and Madison, Edwardsville, Illinois
Coordinates38°48′01″N 89°57′00″W / 38.80028°N 89.95000°W / 38.80028; -89.95000
Area200 acres (81 ha)
Built1890 (1890)-95
NRHP reference No.79000855[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 8, 1979

N. O. Nelson, the owner of the Nelson Manufacturing Company, established the town between 1890 and 1895 on donated land. A factory complex was built for his company to provide jobs for the residents of Leclaire. Each building had working electricity, a sprinkler system, and featured large arched windows to provide natural light for the workers.[3] Nelson planned the town to be an intentional community inspired by ideals such as Edward Bellamy's novel Looking Backward and the Ethical Culture movement. The community included an academy which offered free adult education and reading rooms, which was inspired by a self-culture hall in St. Louis.[4][5]

Nelson also established a profit sharing system in the community. The system was derived from a concept used at the Maison LeClaire in Paris, from which the community took its name.[6][7]

As LeClaire was an open community, its residents were not all company employees, nor were employees required to live in the community. However, the company provided utilities and public facilities to LeClaire residents. Journalist Nellie Bly compared the community favorably to Pullman in Chicago, and Ida Tarbell also wrote about the community.[8]

The historic LeClaire water tower, also known as 'Tin Man,' was constructed in 1931. By 1993, it was no longer providing water service.[9]

In 1933, LeClaire was annexed within the Edwardsville city limits.[2]

Factory Complex

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The factories were built some time between 1890 and 1895. Designed by St. Louis architect E. A. Cameron. The state of the art building was fully electrified, had large windows for natural lighting, and a working sprinkler system in case of fires. The complex's buildings housed specialized workshops, including a machine shop, marble shop, brass shop, cabinet shop, and varnish shop.[10]

References

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  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Garner, John S. (1971). "Leclaire Illinois: A Model Company Town (1890-1934)". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 30 (3). University of California Press: 219–227. doi:10.2307/988748. ISSN 0037-9808. JSTOR 988748. OCLC 5548165587, 4907155088.
  3. ↑ "The Nelson Manufacturing Complex". Friends of Leclaire. Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  4. ↑ "The Idea That Became A Village". Friends of LeClaire. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  5. ↑ The History of Leclaire (Explore Historic Leclaire)
  6. ↑ Hart, Mary H. (1882) A brief sketch of the "Maison Leclaire"
  7. ↑ Bob J. Holder and Carl Lossau. "The N.O. Nelson and Leclaire Story". The CEO Refresher Archives. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  8. ↑ McDonough, David L. (January 19, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: LeClaire Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 1, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  9. ↑ Krause, William (September 5, 2025). "A towering dispute: Water, fire, and the Leclaire Village". The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  10. ↑ Unknown, Unknown (2010). "Leclaire Scrapbook" (Document). Friends of Leclaire. p. 2.
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