Editing Streator, Illinois (section)

===Museums and historical buildings===
[[File:Streator IL Downtown1.jpg|thumb|right|Buildings in downtown Streator]]
[[File:Streator IL Silas Williams House1.jpg|thumb|right|The Silas Williams House is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Illinois#LaSalle County|National Register of Historic Places]].]]
[[File:Streator Il Ruffin Drew Fletcher House1.jpg|thumb|right|The Ruffin Drew Fletcher House is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Illinois#LaSalle County|National Register of Historic Places]].]]

The Streatorland Historical Society Museum houses displays of Streator history and memorabilia of some of its famous citizens. One of the displays is a tribute to the Free Canteen.  The Canteen was a group of local volunteers who served over 1.5&nbsp;million soldiers during World War II who briefly stopped at the city's old Santa Fe Train Depot while traveling by troop trains. Other features include a homemade telescope used by astronomer [[Clyde Tombaugh]] and a Burlington Northern caboose rail car.<ref name="streatorland">{{Cite news |last=Wieczorkiewicz |first=Craig |date=2007-11-19 |title=Treasured Pieces: Historical museum leads to memory lane |url=http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/print_display.php?id=348644 |access-date=2008-10-26 |publisher=Streator Times-Press News}}</ref>

During World War II the [[Streator Station|Streator Santa Fe Train Depot]] was a busy way-station for millions of soldiers and sailors who passed through the town on the way to or from training for the war. Beginning in 1943, the Streator Parents Service Club, a group of parents of veterans of the war, created the Streator Free Canteen.<ref name="timescanteen">{{Cite web |date=2006-11-09 |title=Canteen dedication set for Veterans Day |url=http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/print_display.php?id=278505 |access-date=2008-11-17 |publisher=Streator Times-Press News}}</ref> The volunteers handed out sandwiches and coffee and presented a friendly face to the servicemen during their stopover in Streator. During the 2½ years that the canteen operated, volunteers hosted over 1.5&nbsp;million servicemen and women. Thirty other service groups from Streator joined to assist the Parents Service Club as well as 43 other organizations throughout the central-Illinois region. On [[Veterans Day (United States)|Veterans Day]], November 10, 2006, a bronze statue commemorating the "Coffee Pot Ladies" of Streator was dedicated at the Santa Fe Railroad Station.<ref name="panta-canteen">{{Cite web |last=Stanmar |first=Greg |date=2006-11-10 |title=Streator to dedicate statue to canteen volunteers |url=http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/11/10/news/doc4554b19361736964057171.prt |access-date=2008-11-17 |publisher=Bloomington Pantagraph News}}</ref>

The Streator Public Library was made possible with a $35,000 grant from [[Andrew Carnegie]]. With its two-story high domed ceiling, Ionic columns and oak staircases, it was considered too extravagant by critics when it opened in 1903. The Library was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Illinois#LaSalle County|National Register of Historic Places]] in 1996.<ref name="library">{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Holly |date=2007-07-10 |title=Streator Public Library-Rich history traced back to Streator's beginning |url=http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=302356&query=streator%20Glass%20history |access-date=2008-10-23 |publisher=Streator Times-Press News}}</ref> The [[Ruffin Drew Fletcher House]] located on East Broadway Street is an example of [[Stick style]] architecture. It was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Illinois#LaSalle County|National Register of Historic Places]] in August 1991. The [[Silas Williams House]] is a [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne style]] home built-in 1893. It was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Illinois#LaSalle County|National Register of Historic Places]] in June 1976. Founded in 1883, St. Stephens Catholic Church was the first Slovak Catholic church in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-05-12 |title=St. Stephens Church archive at the University of Minnesota |url=http://www.ihrc.umn.edu/research/vitrage/all/so/ihrc2517.html |access-date=2006-08-13 |website=Immigration History Research Center |publisher=University of Minnesota}}</ref> In September 2010, the four Roman Catholic churches in Streator were consolidated into one new parish named St. Michael the Archangel.  Currently all masses are conducted at St. Stephen's Church and discussions are continuing to decide if a new church will be built or if one of the existing churches will be rebuilt.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barichello |first=Derek |title=Consolidation is here: What's next? |url=http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=414593&query=Prendergast |access-date=2011-03-21 |publisher=Ottawa Times Newspaper}}</ref>

Among Streator's other notable buildings are the ornate [[Bauhaus]]-inspired National Guard Armory near the Vermilion River and the town's turn-of-the-20th-century City Hall on Park Street (now a business).  These facilities are accessible to the public, with some limitations.  Streator is also home to many private residences of significant historical interest and value, including the Kennedy Home on Pleasant Avenue.