State broadening effort to find Mesker buildings
At the turn of the 20th century, small towns could easily afford a big-city look for their downtown banks, shops and hotels without resorting to pricey architects and local foundries.
Two companies offered a reasonably priced solution. Mesker Iron Works and George L. Mesker and Company decorated more than 5,000 buildings in Illinois with cast-iron storefronts and ornamental sheet-metal facades.
The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency is enlisting the help of communities and citizens statewide to help play "historic detective" to find some of these hidden treasures that are still in existence in Illinois.
The agency has located almost 600 Mesker buildings since it launched its "Got Mesker?" campaign in 2005.
Central Illinois is home to several Mesker buildings. For example, Atlanta and Beardstown each have four that are known to the IHPA. Carlinville and Girard each have two, and Jacksonville has one. Such buildings have yet to be discovered in Springfield, according to the agency database.
"Mesker is the company that embodies the technical revolution at the turn of the 20th century," said Darius Bryjka, a representative for the campaign. "At one point, no one expected to find as many as we did. It's a difficult survey to undertake because they can really exist anywhere, in any small community."
Frank and Ben Mesker owned the St. Louis-based Mesker Brothers Iron Works. George L. Mesker and Company was named after and operated by another Mesker brother in Evansville, Ind. These two businesses were the top manufacturers of mass-produced sheet-metal facades and building materials in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The IHPA estimates at one point there were more than 45,000 installations located across the United States.
"When we first started out looking for Mesker buildings, we thought we would only find a few hundred," said David Blanchette, spokesman for the IHPA. "When we reached 500, we decided to go nationwide. We expanded the website to include a nationwide appeal for grassroots detective work."
The campaign website features a new Google Earth map of every known Mesker building in the country. Organizers are asking citizens across America to locate additional Meskers in their communities, which can be then added to the map.
But even the experts at the IHPA admit it's not so easy to find a Mesker building because there is a striking similarity in facades of the same time period. Identifying a Mesker proves to be an easier task, though, when building owners are lucky enough to spot nameplates on their structures.
At times agency staff members or local historians notice the facades. On occasion, the agency is able to use Mesker records to locate addresses.
"The company was very diverse, competitively priced and produced what customers demanded and served small building owners who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford ornamentation," he said. "They hold up pretty well."
For more information on IHPA's Mesker project or to get more information about how to identify these unique facades visit www.gotmesker.com
Meagan Sexton can be reached at 782-6882 or meagan.sexton@sj-r.com
-Northern Illinois is home to several Mesker buildings. For example, Byron and Rock Falls each have two that are known to the IHPA. Marengo, Kirkland, Genoa, and Dixon each have one. Buildings have yet to be discovered in Rockford, according to the agency database.
-- The Peoria area is home to several Mesker buildings. For example, Macomb and Elmwood each have three that are known to the IHPA. Spring Valley has two, and Princeton and Delavan each have one. Buildings have yet to be discovered in Peoria, according to the agency database.