Riverview Historic District (Kankakee, Illinois)

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Riverview Historic District in Kankakee, Illinois, is a 78.2-acre area along the Kankakee River. It is the city’s oldest intact residential neighborhood and includes 118 contributing buildings out of 162 total. The district features two early Frank Lloyd Wright houses and other homes in Classical Revival and American Craftsman styles.

History: Kankakee was founded in 1853 after the state approved Kankakee County, and the Illinois Central Railroad helped the town grow quickly. The first major settler in the Riverview area was Lemuel Milk, who drained marshes to create livable land along the river. Emory Cobb, who helped found Western Union, moved to Kankakee in 1866 and built a house at River Street and South Chicago Avenue. Cobb owned much of the land and used it as pasture, and he also built a resort hotel called the Riverview Hotel. The hotel opened in 1887 and burned ten years later. After the fire, Cobb subdivided his land for homes, and the neighborhood became the city’s most desirable area. Wealthy merchants, lawyers, and industrialists built stylish homes there.

Notable Wright designs in the district include the B. Harley Bradley House and the Warren Hickox House, among his early Prairie School works. Other houses reflect Classical Revival and Craftsman styles. By 1935, most of the district had been developed. The Riverview Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 22, 1986.