Standard Addition: Sears Homes
- Category
- Landmark
- Type
- Tourist Spot
- Address 1
- 110 University St
- City
- Carlinvile
- Zip
- 62626
- Full Address
- 110 University St Carlinvile 62626
- Source
Description
Beginning in 1917, Carlinville saw its population grow by one-third when Standard Oil of Indiana opened two new coal mines causing a housing shortage. The solution to the housing crisis was found in an unlikelly place; Sears and Roebuck. For the first time, people could order home kits in a variety of models through the Sears mail order catalog. Eight different models were selected for Standard Addition and by the end of the 1918, one hundred and fifty-six of the mail order homes had been placed within a nine-block neighborhood in the northeast side of town. As the largest single repository of Sears Homes in the United States, Standard Addition has been the subject of several documentaries and has attracted the attention of architects and nostalgia buffs from araound the globe. Boundaries: East to West - University Street to High Street. North to South - Whitley Steet to Burton Street.