Miller Davis Building
Built: 1843-1844
Architect: Unknown
Style: Vernacular Georgian Style
Vernacular Georgian Style
The Georgian style, identified by its symmetrical composition and formal, classical details, was the most prevalent style in the English colonies throughout the 18th century. It was the first architect-inspired style in America, a distinct departure from the more utilitarian, earlier buildings that followed prevailing folk traditions. The Georgian style arrived in America via British architectural building manuals called pattern books around 1700. While the Georgian style was popular in England in the 17th and 18th centuries, it is based on the classical forms of the earlier Italian Renaissance period.
Address: 101, 103 N. Main & 104 E. Front Streets
James Miller and David Davis were the owners of what is now the oldest surviving building in downtown Bloomington and has been in continuous use since 1843-1844.
Before these buildings were erected this was the site of “the store-house occupied by James Allin and a room occupied by Jesse W. Fell, and the long building was used by Allin as a warehouse.”
The three occupancy areas share two common walls. Miller I and II (on Main Street) are primarily brick construction and wooden flooring and roofing systems. Davis (on Front Street) is a post and bean construction with a common masonry wall with Miller I and a portion with Miller II.
Miller I & II, designed in the vernacular Georgian style, was one of the first brick buildings in Bloomington. It was constructed by James Miller’s son, William, and James Goodheart. It is the only remaining 1840s commercial structure in Bloomington’s business district.
Materials used in the structure were mainly locally made, hand hewn timber and handmade bricks. Glass for windows was “imported” by wagon from Pekin, Illinois.
The first floor of Miller I served as a drug store, while the second floor was a law office that served the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Jesse Fell, Asahel Gridley, Leonard Swett, and James M. Scott.
Lincoln went on to become the 16th president of the United States, while Davis became a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Gridley and Fell were influential in the development of Bloomington-Normal and Miller, the building’s owner, served as Illinois State Treasurer from 1856-1860.
The building at 104 E. Front was built by Davis to serve as his office and he worked there until 1848 when he became a judge for the Eighth Judicial Circuit. The original building was torn down in 1895, and a two-story brick building was erected to replace it.
The buildings underwent dramatic changes over the years, and an aluminum façade was placed over the original brick in 1971, which remained in place until 1980 when restoration efforts began. The buildings were given to the McLean County Historical Society by Herbert and Hannah Livingston in 1978. Restoration was completed in 1981 at a cost of $206,500 ($38,500 of which was from a federal matching grant). The building at 104 E. Front is a reconstruction of the original.
The structures were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Additionally, the Historical Society received two awards in 1981 for the restoration work: an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History and an Award of Merit from the Congress of Illinois Historical Societies and Museums.