Edward Chipman Public Library

Built in 1912. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

From the record

“The Edward Chipman Public Library is a historic public library located at 126 N. Momence's library board was formed in 1901, and the town's first library opened in 1907 in three rooms in the Momence State and Savings Bank.”
Wikipedia article Edward Chipman Public Library, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 14 National Register listings published here for Kankakee County · listed in 2017 · category: Building · built in 1912.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Listed as. Chipman, Edward, Public Library - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
Address. 126 N. Locust St., Momence, 60954
When was it listed? February 2017
Category. building
Township. Momence township
When was it built? 1912
National Register reference number. 100000629 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

1 since 2020

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Edward Chipman Public Library in 2020, burning about 1 acre in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Arson/incendiarism	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
1 April 2020	Arson/incendiarism	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	2020-579

Every fire recorded in Kankakee County

Mines and quarries near this property

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Edward Chipman Public Library: 5 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
C. Shrock Clay Pit	Clay	Past Producer
Lehigh Main Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Momence Quarry & Mill	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Azzarelli Pit No. 1	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Grosso Pit Number 1	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Grosso Pit Number 2	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Tanner Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Kankakee County

Storms near this property

28 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Momence, the town this property stands in, in 28 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 19 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	$5,000	Trees 12 to 18 inches in diameter were blown down onto power lines. Numerous tree branches were blown down.
May 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	$5,000	Trees were blown down. Part of the roof of a storage unit and a train depot were blown off.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	$3,000	Trees and power lines blown down on Hill Street.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	$2,000	Numerous large trees were uprooted with a small limb falling onto a car near Wilbur Street and Chatfield Street. A pine tree fell on and damaged a front porch near 2nd Street and Pine Street.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	$2,000	A tree and power lines were blown down on Fifth Street.
April 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Photos shared showed snapped softwood trees and damaged fences in Momence.
May 2023	Hail	Momence	-	A report from mPING relayed one inch hail in Momence. Time was estimated based on radar.
May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Trees and power lines were blown down along River Road, west of Momence.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Momence.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Numerous trees were blown down in the Momence area including trees blown down onto residences.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Six utility poles bent on 4000N between 6000E and 8000E and a half dozen trees downed. Radar indications are this was a microburst.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Trees up to one and a half feet in diameter down. One tree blocking Route 1.
May 2014	Flash Flood	Momence	-	On 3000N Road water estimated to around a foot and a half deep was flowing from a field across the road and caused a car to stall.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Numerous four to six inch diameter limbs were blown down across portions of Market Street.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Wind gusts were estimated to 75 mph.
October 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Numerous large trees were blown down.
May 2006	Hail	Momence	-	Nickel size hail was reported in Sun River Terrace.
June 2006	Hail	Momence	-	Nickel to Quarter size hail fell across parts of eastern Kankakee County, east of Momence to the Illinois Indiana state line. The hail caused signficant crop damage.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Several tree limbs were blown down.
April 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Two power poles were blown down.
August 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Thunderstorms developed out ahead of a coldfront that moved through northeast Illinois during the late afternoon hours. The storms produced locally heavy rainfall, strong winds and hail. In Cook County, Oak Forest reported 1.79 inches of rain and Park Forest reported 1.78 inches of rain. Wind damage resulted from these storms with wind gusts to 60 mph reported. Damage from the storms included, several large trees and power lines downed. In DuPage County, a building sustained damage from high winds. In Cook County, strong winds peeled back the roof an apartment building in Hinsdale. Damage estimated to the roof was $15,000.
August 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	Strong to severe thunderstorms developed late in the afternoon and continued into the evening, producing strong winds, heavy rain and small hail. Downed trees and power lines resulted in numerous power outages.
May 1995	Tornado (F0)	Momence	-	A weak tornado was spotted at a farm northeast of Momence. It did no damage. There were several reports of funnel clouds in the area.
March 2026	Hail	Momence	-	no account filed
January 2025	Flood	Momence	-	no account filed
May 1998	Hail	Momence	-	no account filed
January 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Momence	-	no account filed
April 1996	Tornado (F0)	Momence	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Kankakee County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

2 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph	Property	Distance	Listed
	Downtown Momence Historic District	0.8 miles	2006
	Point School	4.3 miles	1992

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 100000629 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Kankakee County	All 14 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.