Paul W. Dillon Home

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The rear facade of the Paul W. Dillon Home in Sterling, Illinois.

The Paul W. Dillon Home is located in Sterling, Illinois. It was home to the late steelman and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The home is located at 1005 E. Third Street in Sterling and is operated as the Dillon Home Museum by the Sterling Park District. They have operated it as a museum since Paul W. Dillon's death in 1980. In 1981, on the home's grounds, the Sterling-Rock Valley Historical Society Museum opened in what was once the carriage house and barn.

[edit] History

The property the home is located on passed through the hands of many owners, even before the mansion was built. Dating back to Nelson Mason in 1841 the property had 33 owners. The home on today's property was constructed in 1857 by Colonel Edward N. Kirk and the architecture harkens back to the Italian Renaissance period. After Kirk built the home in 1857 the property was owned by eleven different people until Washington M. Dillon purchased it from Joseph Patterson in 1882.

Dillon's son, Paul W. Dillon, was born in the house on June 3, 1883 and resided there until his death in Feb. 1980. It was the consensus of the Dillon family heirs, after Paul W. died, that the home, its furniture and all its artifacts be turned over to the Sterling Park District for future generations to enjoy. The home was transferred to the park district on May 1, 1980.

The Paul W. Dillon Home-Museum opened to the general public on 18 November 1980. Between Nov. 1980 and May 1981 over 5,000 people visited the home.