The United States Housing Corporation Historic District
- Preservation Planning
- Cultural Resources
Spearheaded by the Rock Island Preservation Society and the City of Rock Island, McGuire Igleski worked to recognize the United States Housing Corporation Historic District by preparing a nomination for the National Register of Historic Places. McGuire Igleski exhaustively researched and documented the four residential development tracts, including 184 contributing buildings and 35 non-contributing primary buildings, comprising the two discontiguous units that compose the district. The district endures as a nationally significant residential district for its historic contribution to Community Planning/Development and Politics/Government.
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island Preservation Society
37 acres, 149 primary buildings
The United States Housing Corporation (USHC) Historic District is nationally significant as it depicts one of the first instances where the federal government became directly involved in building non-military permanent housing for civilians. While most USHC projects were canceled or sharply cut back following Armistice Day, these houses represent a large project that was fully completed.
The Rock Island District was the westernmost and the largest of the four Midwest USHC projects, and its house designs directly reflected regional residential typologies and popular architectural styles of the time. Locally, the district, in conjunction with the war industries of the Tri-Cities, illustrates the region as a historically significant industrial center and, specifically, a wartime production center and offers an interpretation of the lives of war workers of the era.