The historic house at 918 Belleville St. was the home of one of the most prominent families in Lebanon, the Chamberlins. David Chamberlin was a Methodist preacher and one of the original subscribers to the fund that established Lebanon Seminary in 1828 (McKendree College as of 1830). He later served as the head of McKendree's boarding department. One of David's sons, McKendree Hypes Chamberlin, served as president of the college for fourteen years. Another son, John McLean Chamberlin, was treasurer of the college, a member of the city council, and head of the board of education. Also known as the Hoerner House, the home was built in 1855 and is part of the Lebanon National Register Historic District, listed in 1978.
The house at 904 Belleville St. was built around 1865 for Benjamin Hypes, the postmaster of Lebanon who was appointed by President Lincoln. Hypes had been one of Lebanon's leading merchants for decades and served as treasurer of McKendree College from the 1830s to the 1870s. The Belleville St. house held Benjamin, his wife, and all six children in 1870. By 1880, three of the children had moved out but two of the remaining added spouses and children. In 1896, Benjamin Hypes died in Lebanon and his widow, Caroline, moved to St. Louis to live in one of the homes of her youngest son, a physician. The Benjamin Hypes House is part of the Lebanon National Register Historic District.
The house at 820 Belleville St. is thought to have been built in 1854 as the home of former Illinois Governor Augustus Chaplin French. French was elected governor twice, in 1846 and for a four-year term in 1848. When he lived in Lebanon after his terms ended, he founded and headed the Law Department at McKendree College. The former governor, age 56, and his eldest son William, age 20, died within a month of each other in 1864. The French family - widow Lucy and the four remaining children - appear to have moved away by 1870. The Governor French House is part of the Lebanon Historic District, listed in the National Register in 1977. The house is next door to another Clio entry, the Benjamin Hayes House.
Built in 1910 to 1911 as the residence hall for female students at McKendree College, Clark Hall now houses McKendree University's computer lab, and a number of staff and faculty offices. Student Affairs, Leadership and Student Development, International Student Services, and Show Choir are some of the occupants. Women were first admitted to McKendree College in the fall of 1869. For part of World War II, Clark Hall was divided into dorms for female students in the west half with male students in the east half; the male dormitory, Carnegie Hall, was converted into housing for Scott Field military personnel.
Constructed from 1856 to 1858, this brick chapel which includes a tall wooden spire is home to Bothwell Chapel on the McKendree University campus in Lebanon. The chapel was documented in the 1930s by the Historic American Buildings Survey and its bell is thought to be one of the oldest in the U.S., being made in Spain in the eighth century. The chapel was renamed the Marion Bothwell Chapel in 1958 to honor a donor who contributed funds used for the building's restoration. Miss Bothwell's father and uncle attended McKendree College during the Civil War.
The three-story brick building behind and between the Old Main and Bothwell Chapel buildings was built in 1868 as a one-story gymnasium called the "Athleteon." There wasn't much of an organized athletics program at McKendree College at the time, and the little-used building became a large study hall. The building was taken over by the Science Department in 1893 and became "Science Hall." In 1916, the roof of the building was removed, the interior was divided into rooms, and two more floors were added. The building was renovated for administrative offices in the late 1970s and was renamed Wildy Hall. Offices for the university's president and provost are located in Wildy Hall, as well as student financial services.
Old Main, a three-story brick building on the McKendree University campus in Lebanon, east of Stanton St., north of College Rd., and west of Bothwell Chapel, is the oldest surviving building on campus. It was constructed from 1850 to 1851 as the second campus building. McKendree University started out in 1828 as Lebanon Seminary and then became McKendree College two years later; it is the oldest college in Illinois and the oldest U.S. college with a continuous association with the Methodist Church. Old Main formerly held classrooms and halls for student literary societies. The building was the subject of a Historic American Buildings Survey in the 1930s and is part of the Lebanon National Register Historic District. The McKendree U. registrar and graduate admissions have offices in Old Main; the literary society rooms were renovated in 1999.
This stately Lebanon home is known as the James Riggin/George Bernays House. Although Riggin was associated with this address by the late 1830s, including a 2.5-story house by 1847, the Italianate-style house appears to date to around 1866 but parts of the earlier house where Riggin lived may have been incorporated into the new construction. In the mid-1860s, a wealthy physician from St. Louis named George Bernays relocated to Lebanon and lived in this house. A member of the Bernays family graduated from McKendree College and became a well-known surgeon. By the turn of the twentieth century, the house was the home of the head of McKendree's Music Department, Fred Pesold. The historic house is part of the Lebanon National Register Historic District, listed in 1978.
The commercial building at the northeast corner of W. Louis and Pearl Streets with the distinctive mansard style roof was built around 1878. Henry Bachmann's furniture business occupied part of the building in 1881. To the rear was a wooden stable for the family's undertaking business; this was replaced with a carriage house by 1914 which is now a two-car garage. The Bachmann Building is part of the Lebanon National Register Historic District, listed in 1978. The commercial building contains Sips Art Bar (an art party business) on the corner at 125, Stephen Johnson Antiques at 123, and two apartments on the upper floors at 123A and 125B.
This small two-story in Lebanon seems rather unassuming, but it has a surprising history. The little building was once an inn for people traveling westward through the Looking Glass Prairie. Many people came to the inn, but its most famous visitor was Charles Dickens, one of the most popular British novelists of the 19th century and a man whose words came to define the era he lived in. The inn no longer operates as a hotel, but it is available for tours, and it stands as a spot of historic pride for the town.
This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.
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Begin on Belleville Street on the west side of Lebanon in one of the finest residential districts from the mid-19th century and drive to other historical landmarks at McKendree College and downtown Lebanon, ending at the oldest building in town, an inn from 1830, two years after the founding of the college as Lebanon Seminary.
