April 25, 2024
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Five things to know about Geneva’s historic blacksmith shop

By Shaw Local News Network
Shodeen Construction Inc., has filed for a permit for the selective demolition of the shuttered Mill Race Inn at 4 E. State St., Geneva.

An undated file photo of the Mill Race Inn at 4 E. State St., Geneva, before it was demolished.

The Shodeen Family Foundation recently revived its plans to remove the historic landmark designation on Geneva’s circa-1843 limestone blacksmith shop at the Mill Race property, which would pave the way for its demolition.

The plan renews a years-long process for the Shodeens, who first bought the shuttered Mill Race Inn in 2014 and later bought an adjacent corner lot. They subsequently demolished the flood-damaged ancillary structures.

The Shodeen family has bought the historic Mill Race Inn, a historic restaurant at 4 E. State St. in Geneva that closed in January 2011. The Mill Race Inn began as a blacksmith shop in 1842, but eventually turned into a tea room in the 1930s.

The Shodeen family has bought the historic Mill Race Inn, a historic restaurant at 4 E. State St. in Geneva that closed in January 2011. The Mill Race Inn began as a blacksmith shop in 1842, but eventually turned into a tea room in the 1930s.

Years of attempts to find redevelopment solutions that are acceptable to the city and public have come up empty, including unsuccessful attempts to find a mover to relocate the structure to another area of the Historic District.

[ Shodeen revives plan to demolish historic Geneva blacksmith shop ]

Here are five things to know about the historic blacksmith shop:

Shodeen Inc. applied for a demolition permit for the 1846 limestone structure remaining at the former Mill Race Inn in Geneva. An application for landmark status has put the demolition on hold. A public hearing is scheduled Feb. 20 before the Historic Preservation Commission on the landmark application.

Shodeen Inc. applied for a demolition permit for the 1846 limestone structure remaining at the former Mill Race Inn in Geneva. An application for landmark status has put the demolition on hold. A public hearing is scheduled Feb. 20 before the Historic Preservation Commission on the landmark application. (Shaw Local News Network)

  1. The structure that included the still-standing blacksmith shop was first constructed by Julius Alexander, Edward Alexander and Lyman German some time around 1843 on the south side of State Street at the millrace. A deed, dated May 1, 1847, described the transfer of land situated on the south side of State Street and along the east bank of the Fox River. The land was sold by Julius Alexander to Edward Alexander and Lyman German, but noted the exemption and reservation of “the undivided third part of a strip one hundred feet wide on the west side of the lot ... being the lot on which the Blacksmith Shop now stands.” The operations of the Alexander brothers and German appear to have been more of a foundry than a traditional blacksmith shop, according to an evaluation by Preservation Planner Michael A. Lambert originally drafted in 2014.
  2. The site was sold in 1884 to Charles E. Mann, who practiced law in Geneva during the 1880s. Mann served as superintendent of schools at Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia, and was instrumental in establishing the high school in Geneva in 1874 and served as its first principal. The Alexander Blacksmith Shop remained after the sale, but operated as C. E. Mann’s Cooperage. It became a barrel-making factory and a manufactory of wooden butter tubs and cheese boxes. The building was remodeled in 1885 to accommodate a steam-powered lineshaft, powered by a 12 horsepower engine. A vertical steam boiler was vented through a 20-foot-tall brick and iron chimney.
  3. Excelsior Laundry operated by Carlson & Gustavson opened on August 29, 1892 on the site and operated until at least 1897, when it was advertised in the Kane County Business Directory. In October of 1897, however, the building on the south side of State Street was identified as “vacant” on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. map. A notation on the map indicates that the building may have been sitting idle following a May 1896 fire. The property was eventually sold to Charles W. Carter in January of 1900, who rented the building to Joseph Kirk. Kirk established a painting shop in the limestone building. In 1907, now known as “the Kirk Building,” it was back to being used as a blacksmith and wagon shop.
  4. The building was sold to the Kirk family in December 1921, then was sold at a Sheriff’s Sale to Emery T. Moore in September 1922. Moore was a St. Charles retail merchant, who repurposed the building as an auto business in 1923. It is unclear whether this referred to auto sales or auto repair. In March 1929, Moore sold the property to Geneva plumber John R. Tallman, who opened a plumbing and heating business in the building. Tallman later leased the former industrial property to Aurora policewoman Anne Forsyth, who opened a new restaurant in the structure called Mill Race Inn. Forsyth purchased the building from Tallman in November 1939 following a decade of operation as a restaurant. Forsyth formed Mill Race Inn, Inc. in March 1946 and continued to help run the restaurant until her death in May 1976 at 100 years old.
  5. The closing of the Mill Race Inn was announced on Thursday, January 20, 2011. The building had been vacated two years earlier and had deteriorated during that time. The lowest basements of the abandoned building flooded several times and the property was periodically vandalized. After a number of investigations into how much of the original structure remained and the first demolition attempt from Shodeen Construction Co., who purchased the structure, the limestone structure was granted Historic Landmark status by the Geneva City Council on May 7, 2018.
Kane County