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Photograph of Parlin Library
Photograph by Stolehome, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Parlin Library

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

From the record

“The Parlin Library is an historic library building at 210 East Chestnut Street in Canton, Illinois, US. The building was built in 1893-94 for the city's library; while the city had earlier had two library associations, both had failed and the city had no public library at the time.”

Wikipedia article Parlin Library, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 38 National Register listings published here for Fulton County · listed in 1994 · 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. 210 E. Chestnut St., Canton, 61520
  • When was it listed? May 1994
  • Category. building
  • Township. Canton township
  • Architectural style. Romanesque Revival architecture
  • National Register reference number. 94000434 - 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 Canton township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From Canton; Its Pioneers and History : a Continuation to the History of Fulton County, published 1871 - Canton Township

The Westerfield Defeat

IN the spring of 1832 the Black-Hawk War was a source of great alarm to the citizens of Canton. Major Isaiah Stillman, of Canton, in command of a battalion of volunteer infantry, was in the field, and had under him most of the young men of the community. On the 13th of May, 1832, the force under his command met with a defeat above Dixon, in Lee county, on what has since been known as " Stillman's Run," and the news soon reached Canton, coupled with the fact that Bird Ellis, Tyus Childs and John Walter, from the vicinity of Canton, had been killed, and a number of others from here wounded.

Read the rest of this passage

The ground it stands on

88,563 words

The chapter on Canton Township in Canton; Its Pioneers and History : a Continuation to the History of Fulton County, published 1871 names Canton. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

PRIOR to 1821, the present site of the Town of Canton was uninhabited. Deer, turkeys, and other wild denizens of the wood and prairie, were the only occupants. In 1822, Theodore Sergeant, Captain D. W. Barnes and Charles Sergeant came into the township, settling on the place now occupied by John Lane, Esq., northwest of Canton.

Passage source: Canton; Its Pioneers and History : a Continuation to the History of Fulton County, published 1871.

At this time a man by the name of Kinney was living on the northeast quarter of section twenty-seven, since known as the old Coleman farm. Kinney claimed to own the quarter, and proposed to Swan that he would join in the enterprise. To this Swan consented; and accordingly, on the 10th day of December, 1825, the Town of Canton was " staked off" and began its career. Kinney's lots were numbered from one to fifty-four, in consecutive order, and Swan's, beginning at fifty-five, continued up to one hundred and eight.

Passage source: Canton; Its Pioneers and History : a Continuation to the History of Fulton County, published 1871.

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 Canton Township - 88,563 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Parlin Library: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone. 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
Canton City PitStonePast Producer
Fulton City PitStonePast Producer
Joshua Township PitStonePast Producer

Every working recorded in Fulton County

Storms near this property

60 of 77 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Canton, the town this property stands in, in 77 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 42 thunderstorm wind, 33 hail, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2017HailCanton$2,000,000Dozens of vehicles and numerous homes sustained significant damage from the hailstorm that impacted the city of Canton and surrounding areas.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindCanton$175,000Widespread wind damage was reported in the town of Canton. Extensive tree damage was noted in the Sycamore Terrace neighborhood, where several 2 to 10 foot diameter trees were broken and/or uprooted. Numerous trees and powerlines were blown down throughout Canton as well. The wind also caused the transmission tower at WBYS radio to fall to the ground.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindCanton$75,000Ten power poles were snapped at the base near the Correctional Center.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindCanton$75,000Several trees and tree branches were blown down on the north side of Canton. A building at Flynn's Auto Parts was heavily damaged.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindCanton$60,000Roof and siding damage occurred due to strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindCanton$60,000Numerous trees were blown down on the north side of Canton.
March 2009Thunderstorm WindCanton$50,000The roof of the American Red Cross building sustained major wind damage. In addition, numerous trees were blown down across the city of Canton.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindCanton$20,000Several power lines were blown down in Canton. A large tree limb broke off and fell onto a house, causing minor damage.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindCanton$20,000A large tree was blown down onto a van. Numerous power lines were blown down.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindCanton$15,000The roof of a porch was blown off on the west side of Canton.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindCanton$12,000A large tree was blown down on North Main Street in Canton. Numerous tree branches were knocked down around town.
December 2008Thunderstorm WindCanton$12,000Shingles were blown off a roof and several tree limbs fell into power lines.
December 2008Thunderstorm WindCanton$2,000The back window was blown out of a spotter's truck.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindCanton$1,000Numerous tree limbs and one power line were blown down.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindCanton$500A tree 24 inches in diameter was blown down.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindCanton-A metal carport was blown down.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindCanton-Powerlines were blown down and pieces of metal roofing material were blown off from multiple buildings. A decaying tree was also split.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindCanton-Four to six inch tree limbs were blown down and power outages occurred.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindCanton-Two powerlines were blown down and one power pole was leaning.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindCanton-The wind gust was estimated by a trained spotter.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindCanton-A one-foot diameter tree branch was blown down, causing damage to patio furniture.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindCanton-Several two to six-inch diameter tree branches were blown down.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindCanton-A tree was snapped at its base in Canton.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindCanton-Numerous 6-inch diameter tree branches were blown down throughout Canton.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindCanton-A drive-up ATM building was blown over.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindCanton-Several large tree limbs were blown down near 11th and Ash Streets in Canton.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindCanton-A large tree branch was snapped.
November 2015Thunderstorm WindCanton-A large tree limb was blown down.
June 2014HailCanton-The hail was accompanied by wind gusts of up to 40 mph.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindCanton-A 12-inch diameter tree was blown down in Canton.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindCanton-A large tree limb was blown down onto power lines, causing a power outage.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindCanton-Large tree branches were blown down on the north edge of Canton.
September 2008Flash FloodCanton-High water was flowing across Route 78 two miles south of Canton.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindCanton-Several large tree limbs were blown down.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindCanton-Two barns blown down on the north side of Canton. Numerous trees blown down.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindCanton-Numerous large tree limbs blown down.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindCanton-Several trees and power lines blown down.
September 2005HailCanton-Large hail to golf ball size fell for twenty minutes in Canton. Strong winds also blew a few power lines down.
May 2004Flash FloodCanton-Very heavy rain fell in a short amount of time flooding several streets in Canton.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindCanton-Several large tree limbs were blown down.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindCanton-Several trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindCanton-Thunderstorm winds uprooted an 18 foot tall tree on the south side of Canton.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindCanton-Thunderstorms winds blew down numerous trees in Canton and Cuba. One tree fell onto a garage in Cuba, causing minor damage. No injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available.
July 2024HailCanton-no account filed
March 2023HailCanton-no account filed
April 2023HailCanton-no account filed
April 2023HailCanton-no account filed
August 2022HailCanton-no account filed
June 2021HailCanton-no account filed
May 2019HailCanton-no account filed
May 2019HailCanton-no account filed
May 2017HailCanton-no account filed
May 2017HailCanton-no account filed
April 2017HailCanton-no account filed
April 2017HailCanton-no account filed
April 2017HailCanton-no account filed
April 2016HailCanton-no account filed
June 2015HailCanton-no account filed
June 2015HailCanton-no account filed
May 2011HailCanton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Fulton 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

3 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
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Station0.1 miles1993
Ulysses G. Orendorff House0.6 miles1971
Duvall-Ash Farmstead5.9 miles1993

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 94000434 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Fulton CountyAll 38 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.