A remaining portion of Geneva’s defunct Mill Race Inn restaurant.

Two Kane County properties Naperville’s original public library are among the state’s most endangered historic places according to the latest list released by the Landmarks Illinois preservation group.

The nonprofit organization, with offices in both Chicago and Springfield, revealed its 2018 survey of the state’s 13 most endangered properties at a press conference last Wednesday.

A remaining portion of Geneva’s defunct Mill Race Inn restaurant and the Amasa White House on Fayban Parkway each date back more than 170 years and are rare surviving examples of early commercial properties and homes going back to the community’s earliest days.

The list also includes the James R. Thompson state office building in Chicago, state fairgrounds in Springfield and DuQuoin, churches, a courthouse and entertainment venues in Evanston, Chicago and St. Clair County.

In honor of Illinois’ Bicentennial, Landmarks Illinois highlighted properties that traced the state’s history and served as community gathering places.

“These endangered places still have value in providing a venue for personal connections, where we can get to know our neighbors and work together to solve problems,” Bonnie McDonald, President & CEO of Landmarks Illinois, said in a statement. “With some creativity, vision and committed investment, these endangered properties can be preserved and reused. Landmarks Illinois is here to help every step of the way.”

Most of the former Mill Race Inn was demolished in 2011 and stripped to a core 1846 building that now sits boarded up just south of (Illinois Route 38) on the east bank of the Fox River.

Naperville’s former Nichols Library, 110 S. Washington St., was constructed in 1898 and designed by architect M.E. Bell.

“Structures built within the first 15-20 years of the settlement of a community are increasingly rare historic resources, especially in suburbanized communities that have experienced constant growth over long periods of time,” Landmarks Illinois stated. “The property is moving through a controversial landmark designation evaluation. In March, Geneva’s Historic Preservation Commission voted in favor of recommending the circa 1846 building for landmark designation to the City Council. A full City Council meeting is scheduled to discuss landmark designation on May 7.”

Meanwhile, there’s currently no planned use for Geneva’s Amasa White House, which remains intact.

“Though the property sits vacant, the county has taken care to keep the house closed and secure,” Landmarks Illinois stated. “In 2007, the county published The Fabyan Utilization Study that identified the area of the Amasa White House as a possible historic settlement that would be a location for county historic buildings and educational programming. However, after the economy faltered, no pursuit of this recommendation was undertaken. “

Naperville’s former Nichols Library, 110 S. Washington St., was constructed in 1898 and designed by architect M.E. Bell.

“(It) was Naperville’s first public library,” Landmarks Illinois stated. “It features rusticated limestone  quarried in Naperville and is locally landmarked and in a National Register district. However, the landmark status only protects the structure’s main facade, and a developer has plans to demolish the remainder of the building for a new development.”

Other west suburban properties have landed on recent Landmarks Illinois endangered lists. Some are subjects of preservation efforts but others, like the McAuley School, a 103-year-old schoolhouse on Illinois Route 38 in West Chicago, appear to have had no work performed or recent public support for preservation.

The Amasa White House on Fayban Parkway in Geneva dates back more than 170 years.

McAuley School was highlighted in 2014 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. But four years later it remains shuttered and in a state of decay and a Facebook page devoted to the school has had no fresh postings.

The McKee House in the Churchill Woods Forest Preserve in Glen Ellyn was highlighted in 2017. A preservation group hopes to raise $65,000 this year for roof repairs as a first step in restoring the 82-year-old structure.

Other regional properties and their respective status include:

• Illinois Youth Center Auditorium and Gymnasium, St. Charles, 2016 list, condition unknown.
• Fox River Country Day School, Elgin, cited on the 2012 list, now a math and science charter school.
• Aurora’s Masonic Temple, was played on a 2009 list and still standing with no visible work being done.
• Geneva’s Viking Ship, noted in the 2007 list, is in a protective shelter at Good Templar Park and under the care of the Friends of the Viking Ship at
• Batavia’s Art Deco Campana building, included in a 2006 list, recently saw a proposal to convert the building into housing fail.