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Photograph of Chautauqua Auditorium
Photograph by Nyttend, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Chautauqua Auditorium

Built in 1903. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

From the record

“The Chautauqua Auditorium, built in 1903, is a large historic icosagonal (20-sided) wooden chautauqua meeting hall located at Forest Park and North East 9th Street, Shelbyville, Illinois, United States. On January 30, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.”

Wikipedia article Chautauqua Auditorium (Shelbyville, Illinois), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 6 National Register listings published here for Shelby County · listed in 1978 · category: Building · built in 1903, by H.B. Trout.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Forest Park and NE 9th St., Shelbyville, 62565
  • When was it listed? January 1978
  • Category. building
  • Township. Shelbyville township
  • When was it built? 1903
  • Architect. H.B. Trout
  • National Register reference number. 78001190 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Shelbyville township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From Shelby County in the World War, published 1919 - Shelbyville Township

Wilber Broughton

Death came to Wilher Broughton, a valiant and patriotic son of Shelby county, on the battlefield in France, where he was serving as a messenger and scout in the United States army. On the night of July 19, 1918, he was wounded, and removed to a hospital at Oise, France. Six days later, or on July 25, he died from the effects of the machine gun bullet.

Read the rest of this passage

The ground it stands on

35,144 words

The chapter on Shelbyville Township in Shelby County in the World War, published 1919 names Shelbyville. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

One avenue through which the work of this committee was done was the Child Welfare Department. Under the general direction of Mrs. S. S. Crook, many children in Shelbyville and throughout the county were weighed and measured, the work being done at different times over a long period. With the weighing and measuring, the parents were given instruction as to the proper care of the children, that the child life of the county might be conserved in harmony with the state- and nation-wide plan. A great deal of literature was distributed, and even the school boys became intensely interested in the subject. Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen, State Chairman, told of one lad who wrote a composition in which he said: "Xow that we are at war, it is everybody's business to have a baby and to save it!"

Passage source: Shelby County in the World War, published 1919.

The making and shipping of clothing to Belgian refugees was undertaken, the work being done principally from three centers - Shelbyville, Findlay and Clarksburg. Mrs. Arthur Birkett of Findlay and the Misses Mel Compton and Verna Ragan of Clarksburg co-operated splendidly with Mrs. Hoover and the women of Shelbyville, and many hundreds of aprons, dresses and boys' waists were shipped to destitute Belgian children.

Passage source: Shelby County in the World War, published 1919.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Shelbyville Township - 35,144 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

6 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Chautauqua Auditorium in 2013, burning about 138 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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
Debris and open burning4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
19 August 2013Debris and open burning2.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources130073
5 April 2013Debris and open burning12 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources130023
4 April 2013Debris and open burning1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources130022
3 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined100 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources130021
23 March 2013Debris and open burning2.5 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources130016
11 October 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources101113

Every fire recorded in Shelby County

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Chautauqua Auditorium: 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Prosser GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Shelby County Hiwy Dept PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Shelby County

Storms near this property

47 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Shelbyville, the town this property stands in, in 47 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 32 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 lightning. The reports record 1 death and 2 injuries. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2013LightningShelbyville1 killedA 29 year-old fisherman was struck by lightning on the Kaskaskia River near the Lake Shelbyville Dam at around 3:50 PM CDT on Sunday, May 26th. The man later died at Shelby Memorial Hospital in Shelbyville.
September 1996LightningShelbyville2 hurtno account filed
February 2017HailShelbyville$800,000no account filed
January 2005Flash FloodShelbyville$165,000Illinois Route 128 had water flowing across it.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$100,000The roof was torn off a building in downtown Shelbyville. Numerous trees and tree branches were blown down, and two homes were damaged by falling branches.
May 2009Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$80,000Numerous trees and power poles were blown down along a path from 4 miles southwest of Shelbyville to the far western edge of Shelbyville. Damage path was 1/2 mile wide and 3 miles long. Damage was caused by downburst winds as determined by an NWS Survey.
May 2009Tornado (EF0)Shelbyville$45,000A tornado touched down 1 mile southwest of Shelbyville, then tracked eastward to 1/2 mile southeast of Shelbyville. Numerous shallow-rooted trees were torn or uprooted. The tornado tracked through a campground, where several unoccupied trailers were damaged by falling trees and limbs. A carport was destroyed and porches were torn away from a few trailers. In addition, 2 unanchored metal sheds were destroyed.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$40,000Numerous trees, power lines and power poles were blown down on the south side of Shelbyville.
December 2015Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$30,000Several small trees were blown over.
December 2015Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$30,000A shed was blown down.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$24,000Power lines were blown down in Shelbyville.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$15,000Tree limbs and power lines were blown down.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$10,000Several tree branches were blown down.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$2,000A tree was blown onto Copeland Road 3 miles south of Shelbyville.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindShelbyville$2,000A few large tree limbs were blown down.|
June 1998HailShelbyville$200no account filed
March 2026Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A large tree limb, about eight inches in diameter, was blown down in Shelbyville.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A member of the public measured a 60 mph wind gust in Shelbyville.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Several large tree branches were blown down.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A tree was blown onto power lines.
March 2022Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A tree was blown onto a car traveling on a road.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A tree was split in two and damaged power lines.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A power pole was blown down.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A large tree was split in Shelbyville.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A tree was blown down in Shelbyville.
February 2008Flash FloodShelbyville-Many roads were flooded in Shelby county. Two vehicles drove into flooded roadways and were swept into ditches.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Several power lines were blown down.|
March 2006HailShelbyville-Hail covered the ground.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Several large tree limbs blown down.
May 2002Flash FloodShelbyville-Illinois Route 128 north of Shelbyville was flooded briefly. Also, Illinois Route 16 was flooded in spots near its intersection with Illinois Route 32.
February 2001Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-3 ft by 10 ft sign on telephone pole blown down by high winds.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Several trees and tree limbs were blown down. In Shelbyville, a window at a car dealership was blown out.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Numerous large trees were blown over at a country club.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Several large trees were blown down in Shelbyville. No structural damage was reported.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Several trees and tree limbs were blown down. Also, a section of tin was blown off of an old barn in town.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-A twenty-two foot sail boat, that was being stored with its keel up, was blown over. Two house boats and a ten foot section of docks sustained minor damage at a marina on Lake Shelbyville.
February 1999Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-In Shelbyville, numerous power poles were blown down. In Stewardson, one roof of a home was completely ripped off as well as several porch roofs. No injuries were reported.
June 1995Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Numerous large trees, tree limbs, and power lines were blown down. One large tree fell onto a house and a truck. The house had minor damage and the truck was smashed. One camper was damaged by a fallen tree at a Lake Shelbyville Recreation site two miles northeast of Shelbyville. No injuries were reported. An electrical wind generator tower was damaged just north of Shelbyville near Route 128, where a farmer was struck by lightning while working on a metal shed. He was uninjured by the strike.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-Several large tree limbs were blown down on the north side of Shelbyville. A few of the limbs fell onto several cars. No damage estimate was available.
May 2020HailShelbyville-no account filed
August 2018HailShelbyville-no account filed
May 2014HailShelbyville-no account filed
March 2012HailShelbyville-no account filed
June 2010HailShelbyville-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-no account filed
June 1999HailShelbyville-no account filed
January 1996Thunderstorm WindShelbyville-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Shelby 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

4 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 PropertyDistance Listed
Shelbyville Historic District0.7 miles1976
Horace M. Tallman House1.1 miles1988
Westervelt Christian Church5.7 miles2006
Clarksburg Schoolhouse6.3 miles2001

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 78001190 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Shelby CountyAll 6 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.