Mid-Twentieth Century Preservation

Recent Past on Main Street: Mid-Century Modern Commercial Resources

Main Street changed dramatically in the mid-twentieth century as new buildings were constructed and older storefronts were remodeled to make them modern looking. In small towns and mid-sized cities across America, the first architectural expression of Modernism was often the bank, specialty shop, store, cinema, or pharmacy. Unfortunately, many of these “recent-past” resources are swiftly disappearing from our built environment, often before their importance is recognized. The preservation of smaller-scale, post-World-War II commercial downtown buildings is complicated by their both their familiarity and their incongruity. These historic resources from the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s often go unrecognized by preservation efforts because they are just too “new” for many to recognize their cultural and historic significance. Furthermore, the sleek lines and smooth facades of post-war construction often contrasts sharply with the more traditional downtown buildings that preservationists warmly embrace. To further complicate the issue, new materials, technologies, and design assemblies of the mid-century often require new approaches to building repair and conservation. Yet these buildings reflect important developments in style, design, economics, and technology that resonated across a newly consumer-oriented America.

The Illinois State Historic Preservation Office (IL SHPO) has had a long-term enthusiasm for the preservation of resources from our more recent past. This site will make available online to the public technical, preservation and historical information created by IL SHPO staff. As this site grows we will add bibliographies, images and links. Finally, some examples of facade renovations, created by IL SHPO Main Street designers that work successfully with these often-underappreciated buildings are linked below:

How to Work with Storefronts of the Mid-Twentieth Century: A Mid-Twentieth Century Storefronts Components Guide, from a presentation by Carol J. Dyson, AIA, entitled What to do when a Storefront is Younger than You Are: How to Work with Storefronts of the Mid-Twentieth Century, prepared for the 2008 National Main Street Meeting in Philadelphia.

Storefronts of Tomorrow: American Storefront Design from 1940 to 1970, by Mike Jackson, AIA, In Preserving the Recent Past 2, edited by Deborah Slaton and William G. Foulks, 2-57 to 2-78. Washington, D.C.: Historic Preservation Education Foundation, National Park Service, and Association for Preservation Technology International, 2000.

Banking on the Future: Modernism and the Local Bank, by Carol J. Dyson and Anthony Rubano. Published in Preserving the Recent Past 2, edited by Deborah Slaton and William G. Foulks, 2-43 to 2-56. Washington, D.C.: Historic Preservation Education Foundation, National Park Service, and Association for Preservation Technology International, 2000.

Structural Glass: Its History, Manufacture, Repair, and Replacement, by Carol J. Dyson and Floyd M. Mansberger, published in CRM, Cultural Resource Management: Preserving the Recent Past 18:8 (1995): 15-19.

The Grille is Gone: The Rise and Fall of Screen Block, by Anthony Rubano. Published in Preserving the Recent Past 2, edited by Deborah Slaton and William G. Foulks, 3-89 to 3-99. Washington, D.C.: Historic Preservation Education Foundation, National Park Service, and Association for Preservation Technology International, 2000.

Midcentury Commercial Design Evaluation and Preservation: An Opportunity for Commissions, by Carol J. Dyson, AIA. Published in The Alliance Review, a quarterly journal of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions, Spring 2017.

Mid-Century Commercial Modernism: Design and Materials, by Carol J. Dyson, AIA. Published in the proceedings of the Mid-Century Modern Structures: Materials and Preservation Symposium, St. Louis, Missouri, April 13-16, 2015.

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Main Street Design For Mid-Century
Design is one of the four basic points of a Main Street program. By enhancing the design and appearance of downtowns, the unique assets of a community are reinforced and a preservation ethic is encouraged. The Architecture Section of the IL SHPO provides design, training, and technical assistance to Illinois Main Street Communities. As part of those services, IL SHPO architectural staff provides facade, graphics and sign design renderings, free of charge, to Illinois Main Street communities. More than ten years of those renderings are available online

Selected examples from the archive of IL SHPO Main Street Designs showing proposed facade renovations for 1930’s-1970’s buildings are listed below. The dates indicate the year the rendering was prepared. All design suggestions are based on the owner’s budget limits and preferences, but also conform to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.