Gifford-Davidson House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

From the record

“The Gifford-Davidson House, also known as Stone Cottage, in Elgin, Illinois was built in 1850 and expanded in 1871. The Gifford-Davidson House is unusual due to its cobblestone construction and Second Empire style details.”
Wikipedia article Gifford-Davidson House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 86 National Register listings published here for Kane County · listed in 1980 · category: Building.

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. 363--365 Prairie St., Elgin, 60120
When was it listed? May 1980
Category. building
Township. Elgin township
National Register reference number. 80001375 - 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.

The ground it stands on

46,673 words

The chapter on Elgin Township in The History of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, 1835 to 1875, published 1875 names Elgin. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

We have endeavored to make the following History of Elgin not only interesting but accurate - not only useful to the reader at the present time, but to some future historian who shall continue the narrative. We have taken much pains to give facts and dates correctly, and yet some errors will doubtless be discovered which can be corrected in future editions, and some additions made which will be valuable.

Passage source: The History of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, 1835 to 1875, published 1875.

All compilers of history avail themselves of what has previously been written, and of course we have done so in this instance, although we have introduced much new matter. In some cases we have used the facts, and in others not only the facts but the language of previous chroniclers, making such alterations and additions as seemed called for. We are especially indebted to a history of Elgin published by Gilbert & Hanchett, in 1870, and to a sketch of Kane county by M. H. Thompson, in 1872. We likewise tender our acknowledgments to the gentlemen who have furnished articles, or the facts embraced in them, on special subjects, and whose names appear at the head of their articles.

Passage source: The History of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, 1835 to 1875, published 1875.

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 Elgin Township - 46,673 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

1 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Gifford-Davidson House in 2014, burning about 1 acre 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 burning	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
7 April 2014	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	2014-337

Every fire recorded in Kane County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Gifford-Davidson House: 8 past producers, 6 producers, 2 plants. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone. 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
Elgin City Pit	Stone	Past Producer
Fox River Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Fox River Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Bartlett Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Bartlett Plant & Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Beverly Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Dundee S & G Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Elgin Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Hammond Plant & Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Hammonds Pit & Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Plant

Every working recorded in Kane County

Storms near this property

60 of 90 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elgin, the town this property stands in, in 90 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 51 thunderstorm wind, 20 hail, 6 heavy rain, 4 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2006	Lightning	Elgin	1 killed, 1 hurt	Two men were struck by lightning on a golf course after taking cover under trees. One of the men died from his injuries two days later.
July 2003	Lightning	Elgin	1 hurt	A 28 year old man was critically injured after being struck by lightning while working on a roof.
July 2011	Lightning	Elgin	$35,000	A church on Division Street was struck by lightning which broke a hole in the steeple tower. Much of the damage was from heavy rain which entered through the hole.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	$30,000	Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down across many areas of Elgin. A tree fell onto a car on West Chicago Street.
September 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	$25,000	Extensive tree damage with some roads closed was reported on the west side of Elgin. One foot diameter tree limbs were blown down. Part of a roof was blown off a business on Fleetwood.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	$20,000	Wind gusts were estimated between 70 mph and 80 mph. Hundreds of trees suffered damaged on the east side of Elgin. Some trees were uprooted with large branches on cars. Several roads were closed due to downed power lines.
August 2008	Lightning	Elgin	$5,000	A house was struck by lightning on Prairie Street, sparking a fire in the kitchen. Damage was limited to the stove, a wall, cabinet and a window.
May 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	$3,000	Large trees and power lines were blown down. A utility pole was snapped and a fence was also blown down.
September 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	$2,000	Several trees were blown down, some on wires.
September 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	$2,000	A four foot diameter tree was blown down near Worth and Larkin. Power lines were also blown down.
April 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A tree was down on Chicago St in Elgin.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Large sections of roofing were blown off of the First United Methodist Church in Elgin.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A large branch or small tree was down on College St near North St.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Extensive tree damage was reported along IL-25 between Summit St and Congdon Ave.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Kane County EMA reported a broken tree branch down onto power lines near Fremont St and Hill Ave in Elgin.
February 2024	Hail	South Elgin	-	A photo shared via social media shows one inch hail near Wayne.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	South Elgin	-	A wind gust to 59 mph was measured by a private weather station. Tree limbs were blown down.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A tree fell onto a car and damaged the windshield and a utility pole was blown down.
June 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A large tree was down across Buckeye St in Elgin blocking the road.
January 2023	Hail	Elgin	-	Photos showed that most hailstones were half an inch in diameter or less, though the largest hailstones were roughly one inch in diameter.
April 2023	Hail	Elgin	-	A photo shared on social media showed quarter size hail near Elgin.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Large trees were snapped and large tree limbs were blown down, some onto power lines near National Street and Villa Street.
July 2022	Heavy Rain	Elgin	-	A private weather station measured 3.38 inches of rain in about one hour.
July 2022	Heavy Rain	Elgin	-	A private weather station measured 3.25 inches of rain in about one hour.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Several 5 inch diameter tree limbs were blown down.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	South Elgin	-	A large tree was uprooted.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Extensive tree damage was reported across the Elgin historic district with trees uprooted and trees that fell onto houses.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Multiple small tree limbs were blown down in Elgin.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A large tree four to five feet in diameter was snapped and fell onto nearby utility poles between Douglas Avenue and Spring Street. Several other medium to large tree limbs were blown down in the area.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A personal weather station measured a gust to 58 mph.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A large tree limb was blown down into the road at Liberty Street and Sherman Avenue.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	South Elgin	-	A measured gust to 58 mph was reported.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Numerous tree limbs were blown down in Elgin and vicinity.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	South Elgin	-	A large tree limb was blown down.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A large tree limb was blown down.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Large tree limbs were blown down blocking Hammond Avenue.
June 2020	Flood	Elgin	-	Street flooding was reported at the intersection of Meyer Street and Jane Drive.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	South Elgin	-	Trees were blown down and a steel pier on the Fox River was damaged.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A swath of wind damage occurred in Elgin starting north of Route 20 and west of Route 31 and continuing northeast between Route 31 and Dundee Avenue, ending south of Interstate 90. Numerous trees and tree limbs were blown down. Some trees were uprooted. Two tree limbs were blown down onto a car. Utility poles and power lines were also blown down.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A one foot diameter tree was blown down onto a house on Oak Street.
July 2017	Flood	Elgin	-	Water was reported on multiple roads in Elgin. Rainfall of 1.33 inches was measured in 25 minutes.
April 2016	Hail	Elgin	-	Quarter size hail was reported near the intersection of Route 20 and McClean Boulevard.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Branches down Rt. 25 and Sunset Park Dr.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Power lines blown down as well as tree limbs of 4 to 6 inches diameter blown down. Time estimated.
September 2015	Heavy Rain	Elgin	-	CoCoRaHs observer reported 1.01 inches of rain in 20 minutes. Since midnight 1.80 inches of rain had fallen.
May 2014	Flash Flood	Elgin	-	Approximately four to eight inches of flowing water was reported over the intersection of Route 25 and Route 19.
November 2013	Flood	Elgin	-	Several streets in Elgin were flooded with one to two feet of water. A spotter measured 0.95 inches of rain.
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Winds measured to 60 mph knocked out power near the intersection of Randall Road and Bowes Road. Large tree limbs were blown down in north Elgin.
June 2012	Hail	Elgin	-	Numerous reports of large hail were received from Elgin. Average hail was nickel size with the largest up to ping pong ball size. Hail caused denting in cars and shredded leaves.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph. Small tree limbs were blown down.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph.
September 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Elgin	-	A one foot diameter tree was snapped off 10 feet above the ground. Three houses were damaged by falling limbs in Elgin.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	South Elgin	-	Large tree limbs were blown down.
August 2009	Heavy Rain	Elgin	-	Rainfall of 2.12 inches was reported in the past 24 hours.
May 2008	Hail	South Elgin	-	Penny size hail was reported two miles south of Route 20 on Route 25.
May 2008	Heavy Rain	South Elgin	-	One and one half inches of rain was reported in 15 minutes.
August 2008	Flood	Elgin	-	Street flooding was reported curb to curb at Demmond and Mclean Boulevard. Rainfall of 2.04 inches was also reported.
August 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	South Elgin	-	A large tree was blown down near Crispin Drive and Mclean Boulevard.

Every storm recorded in Kane 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

6 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.

Property	Distance	Listed
First Universalist Church	0.2 miles	1980
Elgin Historic District	0.2 miles	1983
Elgin National Watch Company Observatory	0.3 miles	1994
Elgin Downtown Commercial District (Additional Documentation)	0.4 miles	2014
Ora Pelton House	0.4 miles	1982
Elgin Academy	0.5 miles	1976

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 80001375 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Kane County	All 86 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.