Location Galesburg, Illinois NRHP Reference # 66000323 Opened 1857 Added to NRHP 15 October 1966 | Built 1857 Designated NHL July 4, 1961 Area 8,094 m² Architect Charles Ulricson | |
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Architectural style Gothic Revival architecture Similar Meetinghouse of the Central C, Carl Sandburg State Hist, Galesburg Railroad Museum, Lake Storey Beach, Santa's Village AZoosme | ||
Old Main at Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, is the oldest building on the college campus, and the best preserved site of one of the 1858 senatorial debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
Designed by Swedish-born-and-educated architect Charles Ulricson, it was inspired by Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace in London, England.
A campus website describes it proudly: "Old Main is one of the most important pre-Civil War buildings in the Midwest. Built in the most respected style of the day—Gothic Revival—Old Main received high praise upon its completion in 1857 and is still recognized today as a building of architectural distinction. In addition to its status as a National Historic Landmark, Old Main expresses Knox's ongoing commitment to equal rights, democratic ideals, international excellence, an openness to new and old, and a mission to summon up the best in ourselves, as evidenced in Knox's Original Circular and Plan, which hangs on Old Main's first floor."