Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
“The Price-Prather House is a historic house located at the intersection of Main and Elkhart Streets in Williamsville, Illinois. The house was built in 1868 for livestock breeder James R.”
Wikipedia article Price-Prather House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 68 National Register listings published here for Sangamon County · listed in 1991 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
The chapter on Williams Township in History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881 names Williamsville. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
Mrs. Rebecca Miller has a silver half-dollar given to her when a child by her mother, bearing date 1822, the year in which Mrs. Miller was born. In 1846, her husband desired to purchase a piece of land, and lacked one-half dollar of having the necessary amount to pay for it. The coveted half-dollar was given to him, and paid out on this purchase. In 1876, the identical half-dollar was given to him in change by a merchant in Williamsville, and by him returned to Mrs. Miller. Thus, after a lapse of thirty years, she received back the precious coin, paid out in Jackson City, Missouri.
Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.
A petition of the citizens was circulated, praying the post office department at Washington, to establish here a post office. Their petition was granted, and an office established in the spring of 1854, named Williamsville Post Office, with John George as postmastei*. Mr. George was subsequently succeeded by his son, Wesley George, who served until 1858, when Jacob Mc- Clure was appointed. From 1858 to the present time, the[.following named have had charge of the office: George Brown, Jacob McClure, Charles Elder, R. M. Lawrence, William Stewart, Sarah Stewart, and Jacob McClure, the second time, the incumbent.
Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.
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 Williams Township - 10,853 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Price-Prather House between 2002 and 2014, burning about 94 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 September 2013 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-0000327 |
| 17 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 10308 |
| 8 August 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 10259 |
| 8 July 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 10209 |
| 19 July 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 10228 |
| 6 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-0000112 |
| 14 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 10107 |
| 1 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 1098 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Williamsville, the town this property stands in, in 24 storm reports between 1996 and 2022: 13 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2009 | Tornado (EF3) | Williamsville | 17 hurt, $11,000,000 | The tornado touched down on the west side of Williamsville, just west of I-55, at 319 PM CST. It destroyed an antique mall, damaged the Casey's gas station building and collapsed the canopy over the gas pumps. One person was injured at the mall, while 2 motorcyclists were injured when they were thrown from their bikes. The tornado moved northeast through Williamsville and hit a church, throwing a 2-horse trailer onto the roof and collapsing the roof over half of the building. One person inside the church was injured. The tornado continued through the northern portion of town, causing damage to numerous trees and several homes. Two homes lost their roof and several others lost a portion of their roof. The tornado also caved in the southern end of a metal building, part of an agricultural business on the edge of town. A total of 12 additional people were injured by tornado debris in the town of Williamsville. The width of the tornado through town ranged from 100 to 150 yards. The maximum wind speed of 135 mph (EF2) in Williamsville was determined from the damage to the church. A total of 10 houses were destroyed and 35 houses damaged in Williamsville. A total of six businesses and non-residential properties were destroyed.||The tornado continued east-northeast and flattened cornfields, damaged farm outbuildings and machine sheds, and damaged homes, garages, and vehicles on Lester Rd. Two houses were completely destroyed, and four others had extensive damage, as the tornado widened to 600 yards at this point. A 19-month-old baby was injured as the family home was hit by the tornado. ||The maximum wind speed at this point was estimated at 140 mph (EF3). The tornado continued through fields, causing extensive crop damage, until crossing into Logan County around 326 PM CST. Path length through Sangamon County was 4.5 miles. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Williamsville | $100,000 | The roof of a pole barn was lifted off by strong winds. The building had no doors and was open to the south. Based on radar data, a microburst with winds of between 50 and 60 mph likely caused the damage. |
| October 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Williamsville | $40,000 | Several trees were blown down or snapped off about 10 feet above the ground. Five homes sustained minor damage to their roof shingles and siding. A fence was blown down as well. |
| May 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Williamsville | $15,000 | Power poles were blown down on the east side of Williamsville. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Williamsville | $12,000 | Nine trees were blown down just west of Williamsville. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Williamsville | $12,000 | A tree fell onto a vacant house in Williamsville. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Williamsville | - | Five power poles were snapped. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Williamsville | - | Power lines were blown down onto IL-123. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | Williamsville | - | Rainfall amounts of 2.00 to 3.00, on top of waterlogged ground, were reported during the evening of June 28th. This resulted in the flooding of streets and viaducts in parts fo Springfield. Part of Illinois Route 124 from Williamsville to the Menard County line was also impassable. |
| September 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Williamsville | - | A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage or injuries were reported. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Williamsville | - | Several trees were blown down eight miles west of Williamsville. One of the fallen trees landed on chimney and caused minor damage. No injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available. |
| August 2022 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Hail | Williamsville | - | no account filed |
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Cornelius Flagg Farmstead | 5.8 miles | 1993 |
 | Power Farmstead | 6.2 miles | 1989 |
| Route 66 by Carpenter Park | 6.6 miles | 2002 | |
| Route 66 by Carpenter Park | 6.7 miles | 2002 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 91000574 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Sangamon County | All 68 listed properties in this county. |
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