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Blue Island, Illinois
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====The American House==== [[File:American House Hotel Blue Island.JPG|thumb|right|Drawing of the American House Hotel, modeled after a sketch that appeared in Ferdinand Schapper's 1917 manuscript ''Southern Cook County and History of Blue Island before the Civil War''.]] One of the oldest buildings in Blue Island, the American House was built in 1839 as the courthouse for [[Lake County, Indiana]]βa function it never actually had the chance to serve, as the county seat was moved from Liverpool to [[Crown Point, Indiana|Crown Point]] in 1840.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Calumet Region β Indiana's Last Frontier. Indiana Historical Collections, Volume XXXIX |last= Moore| first=Powell A. |year= 1959 |publisher= Indiana Historical Bureau| location= Indianapolis|page=72 }}</ref> In 1844, the building was disassembled, sent by raft up the [[Little Calumet River]], and reassembled in Blue Island. Once in Blue Island, the building originally stood on the west side of Western Avenue north of Vermont Street,<ref name="American House Hotel">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=13 - American House Hotel {{!}} Blue Island, IL |url=https://www.blueisland.org/259/13---American-House-Hotel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406212308/https://www.blueisland.org/259/13---American-House-Hotel |archive-date=2025-04-06 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=www.blueisland.org |publisher=Blue Island Historic Preservation Commission}}</ref> (where Three Sisters Antique Mall stands today). It was popular among Southerners who used it as a summer boarding house and with the contractors who built the feeder canal for the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]]. After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] it was used as a home for retired soldiers. Although it was built after the invention of [[balloon framing]], the building is constructed using the [[timber framing]] method, evidence of which is still clearly visible in the basement and attic. However, while its [[Greek Revival]] roots are discernible, the building is much remodeled and serves today as a private residence. Greek Revival was the architectural style of choice in the early years of Blue Island's history. Many of the buildings that remain from those days have been similarly remodeled, but some of the most well-preserved examples of the style, albeit in a vernacular form, can be seen either in the Walter P. Roche House on York Street<ref>{{Cite web |title=28 - Walter P. Roche House {{!}} Blue Island, IL |url=https://www.blueisland.org/274/28---Walter-P-Roche-House |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406212342/https://www.blueisland.org/274/28---Walter-P-Roche-House |archive-date=2025-04-06 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=www.blueisland.org}}</ref> or the Henry Schuemann House on Western Avenue.<ref>[http://www.blueisland.org/historic/landmark-tour/36-schuermann/ Blue Island Historic Preservation Commission Landmark Tour β Henry Schuemann House.] Retrieved 10/30/2009</ref> When the American House was dismantled in the 1890s, Jacob Link cut and relocated half of it to its current location on Collins Street, where he converted it into a residence.<ref name="American House Hotel" />
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