Detail from the 1872 bird's eye view of Springfield, looking southwest across the Aristocracy Hill Neighborhood.

A turn-of-the-century view of South Fifth Street. Notice the fine Queen Anne houses on the opposite side of the street.

The Price-Wheeler House at 618 South Seventh Street is a premier example of Neoclassical residential architecture in the survey area.

Streetscape view in the Aristocracy Hill Neighborhood, taken during the 1890s. Note the gas streetlamps, fire hydrants, hitching posts, curbs, and well-trimmed lawns. These features all bespeak of the neighborhood's mature character by this period. Even so, an undeveloped lot is visible in the background at right, indicating that the area had not yet been fully built up.

The relocation of the Franklin Life Insurance Company's headquarters from the central business district to the corner of Sixth Street and Lawrence Avenue in 1912 marked the first significant inroad of the large-scale commerical development in the Aristocracy Hill Neighborhood. In 1952, the company constructed a twelve-story tower immediately south of the Neoclassical offfice building constructed in 1912. Another addition eventually would be made on the east, extending the building complex across an entire block. The above photograph shows the company headquarters as it appears today. Charles Becker, president of the company from 1939 to 1961, appears in the inset.

The Lawrason Levering House was located near the northwest corner of Second and Edwards Streets, on the southern end of the present-day State Capital grounds. Built in 1838, the Levering House was one of the most impressive Greek Revival homes in Springfield and helps illustrate the character of the residences erected on "old" Aristocracy Hill.

The Elijah Iles House circa 1898. Note the dwelling's "incised" front porch supported by square columns, wide entablature, and raised basement. This image shows the house at its original location, on the southeast corner of Sixth and Cook Streets.

The Gothic Revival cottage of Samuel Willard was constructed in 1865 in the Cottage Garden Addition on Springfield's east side. Although located outside of the project area, this dwelling illustrates the decorative elements common to Gothic Revival homes.

The Dana-Thomas House originally was built as the Italianate dwelling shown here in this circa 1898 photograph. The house underwent a drastic Prairie-style remodeling in 1904 under the direction of Frank Lloyd Wright. The dwelling's original design, however, serves as the classical study of Italianate architecture, featuring a stacked bay window, square cupola, low hip roof with wide overhanging eaves, arched window and door openings, full-length front porch with square columns, and jig-sawn brackets along the eaves.

A 1954 photograph of Swinney's service station, a non-extant Art Moderne commercial structure once located at the intersection of Eighth Street and South Grand Avenue. Notice the horizontal banding along the cornice and the prominent curved corner on the left side of the building.

A 1931 photograph of the Vachel Lindsey House at 603 South Fifth Street. Constructed in 1846, this Greek-Revival I-House is one of the earliler buildings in the project area. The Italianate-influenced front porch and central cross gable may be later additions.

The above figure illustrates areas of good, moderate, and no historic integrity in the Aristocracy Hill survey area. There are many holes in the survey area, making it difficult to draw a boundary around a large contiguous historic district. Establishing a smaller district, such as that marked "A" could be done however.