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Photograph of Sandwich City Hall
Photograph by A. McMurray A mcmurray, CC BY 2.5. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Sandwich City Hall

Built in 1878 (Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

From the record

“Sandwich City Hall, which is also known as the Sandwich City Hall & Opera House, is the government center for the city of Sandwich, Illinois, in DeKalb County. The first floor of the building is occupied by city government while the second floor of the historic building houses an active opera house.”

Wikipedia article Sandwich City Hall, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 19 National Register listings published here for DeKalb County · listed in 1979 · category: Building · built in 1878, Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada.

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

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 144 E. Railroad St., Sandwich, 60548
  • When was it listed? December 1979
  • Category. building
  • Township. Sandwich township
  • When was it built? 1878
  • Architectural style. Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada
  • National Register reference number. 79003159 - 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.

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Sandwich City Hall: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Plano PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in DeKalb County

Storms near this property

36 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sandwich, the town this property stands in, in 36 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 28 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 lightning, 1 flash flood. The reports record 3 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
July 2003Thunderstorm WindSandwich2 hurtno account filed
June 2007Thunderstorm WindSandwich1 hurt, $10,000Vehicles damaged by blown over shelters, one minor injury.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindSandwich$40,000Three to six inch diameter tree limbs were blown down with numerous power lines blown down on Route 34 between Davis and Main Streets. A restaurant lost part of its roof. Storefront windows in downtown Sandwich were shattered. A car was damaged by a large tree limb.
August 2018LightningSandwich$20,000A house near the intersection of Fourth and DeKalb Streets was struck by lightning. The house's tower burst apart, exposing the third floor attic and other elements. Pieces of the roof, glass windows and electric outlets were blown across the street. Everyone in the home escaped with no injuries reported.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindSandwich$20,000Sandwich Police reported numerous trees and power lines blown down. One tree fell on a vehicle, but the occupant was not harmed.
May 2011LightningSandwich$10,000A house on 3rd street in Sandwich was struck by lightning.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindSandwich$4,000Four utility poles and ten spans of electrical wire were blown down at the Sandwich Fairgrounds. Several trees suffered minor damage and three large oak trees were blown down.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSandwich$2,000Many power lines were blown down along with tree damage reported.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindSandwich$1,000Power poles were blown down by the high school. A home weather station observed a wind gust of 73 mph.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSandwich$1,000A trampoline was thrown over a garage and two fences were destroyed.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindSandwich-A tree was blown down on Castle Street south of Pleasant Avenue.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Photos showed several large tree limbs snapped in Sandwich, one hanging on power lines.
April 2023HailSandwich-Half dollar size hail was reported east of Sandwich.
July 2023Tornado (EF0)Sandwich-According to high resolution satellite imagery and drone imagery provided by a private citizen, a brief tornado touched down near Harvey Creek Conservation Area Park on the southeast side of Sandwich. The tornado moved to the east-northeast crossing into Kendall County shortly after forming. The storm mainly impacted agricultural land but caused roof damage to an outbuilding south of Griswold Springs Road.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindSandwich-A tree was blown down onto power lines near Lisbon Street and Green Street.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Numerous trees and power lines were blown down throughout Sandwich.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Sandwich.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Seven large and new utility poles were snapped about 10 feet up from their base along Somonauk Road, just south of Chicago Road.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Multiple trees were blown down, some onto houses.
August 2013HailSandwich-Quarter to ping pong ball size hail was reported for three to four minutes.
September 2013Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Power lines were blown down at Latham Street and Railroad Street.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Tree limbs up to five inches in diameter were blown down. A four foot tall metal fence was also blown down.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindSandwich-A wind gust was measured to 60 mph.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Wind gusts were measured to 68 mph.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindSandwich-A dozen trees were damaged near Dummer School.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Wind gusts to 62 mph were measured by a spotter.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Tree damage reported in Sandwich.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Large tree limbs broken off by strong winds.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindSandwich-Emergency management reported a 62 mph wind gust at Sandwich. Tree limbs were blown down at Somonauk.
March 2026HailSandwich-no account filed
April 2023HailSandwich-no account filed
July 2023Thunderstorm WindSandwich-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindSandwich-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindSandwich-no account filed
July 2000Flash FloodSandwich-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindSandwich-no account filed

Every storm recorded in DeKalb 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

1 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
von KleinSmid Mansion0.3 miles1985

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 79003159 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
DeKalb CountyAll 19 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.
  • 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.