Virgil Hickox House
- Year
- 1839
- Style
- Italianate
- City
- Springfield, IL
- Collection
- italianate
The Virgil Hickox House at 518 East Capitol Avenue is the only house of its kind remaining in downtown Springfield, built in 1839 for businessman Virgil Hickox. Hickox helped bring Springfield its first rail line, an extension of the Chicago and Alton Railroad, and was a successful attorney who chaired the Democratic State Committee for twenty years while associating with both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Remodeled several times, the house had taken its present Italianate form with bracketed eaves and long arched windows by 1880, when the Hickox family moved out.
the building
A later life as a tavern. The Sangamo Club, a private men's club, opened in the building in 1895 and stayed for over fifteen years. It became a speakeasy during Prohibition and continued serving alcohol afterward as The Norb Andy's Tabarin, a tavern that remained popular with state legislators — in the 1980s it was reported as one of the few remaining bars regularly frequented by politicians.
the style
The house's Italianate design, featuring bracketed eaves and long arched windows, dates to the remodeling completed by 1880.
More on Italianatesignificance
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- Christ Episcopal Church
- Cong. James M. Graham House
- Illinois Governor's Mansion
- Jennings Ford Automobile Dealership
- Vachel Lindsay House
- Lincoln Home National Historic Site