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Group might add attractions to historic register

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By Steven Martens | Wednesday, March 7, 2007 1:03 AM CST | () comments

MORRISON, Ill. — Morrison’s historic preservation commission is considering adding two of the city’s attractions to its register of historic places.

The commission met Tuesday to discuss whether to add the Annan Mill and the tourist cabins and restaurant along U.S. 30 to the register.

Dick Groharing, chairman of the historic preservation commission, said the Annan grist mill, built about 160 years ago, was what started the settlement of the Morrison area. “It’s the basis of our area,” he said.

The log cabins and nearby restaurant that catered to tourists along the Lincoln Highway were built around the 1920s and have been damaged by repeated flooding from Rock Creek, Groharing said. Of the six small cabins originally built, only three and the restaurant building, now a private residence, remain.

“I’m surprised any of them have survived,” he said.

By adding the attractions to the town’s register of historic places, both would become eligible for up to $850 in grants for repair work, Groharing said. He said the rules accompanying the local grant for what kind of work that can be done are not nearly as strict as the rules that govern buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“That’s Morrison’s way of trying to preserve our historic architecture around town,” commission member Roger Grau said.

Grau said the effort to expand the city’s list of historic places is part of a larger effort that could include declaring the entire U.S. 30 route through Morrison a historic area.

Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.