Historical Buildings of Southern Illinois, Magnolia Manor

[above image source St. Louis Patina]

Since we at Jack Home Construction have a combined interest in both architecture and in the history of Southern Illinois, we’d like to highlight another historical building of Southern Illinois. Today we’d thought we’d take a look with you at Magnolia Manor.

Magnolia Manor is a Victorian manor built just after the Civil War in Cairo, Illinois. It was completed in 1872, and it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since December 17, 1969. Charles Galigher began to build Magnolia Manor one hundred years earlier in 1869. Galigher had made his fortune selling flour to the government during the Civil War, and the family privately owned the building for over eighty years.

The five-story manor was originally built with red brick, and has fourteen rooms. In order to keep out the humidity that comes from living along a river, the house has double walls, 10 inches apart, that create insulation against the moisture.

The Galighers became friends with Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War when Grant was stationed in Cairo. Later, Magnolia Manor was the location of a large celebration for Grant when he completed his two presidential terms, giving the manor its claim to fame.

Magnolia Manor is an Italianate style building. The Italianate style originated in England as an imitation of Italian farmhouses that were characteristically square with informal embellishments. The style came to the United States in the 1830s where it changed enough to become a truly American style of architecture. Most of the houses in America built in this style were built just after the Civil War, just like Magnolia Manor, although many can be found in Washington, D.C. Elements of this style can be seen on Magnolia Manor in such features as brick, a tower, a gable, arched windows, a relatively small front porch, and large eaves (the overhang of the roof) with brackets.

above image source St. Louis Patina