Look for a large, square red-brick house with tall, thin windows framed in white, and a big arched blue door right up the center-sitting behind neatly trimmed bushes beneath a row of trees.
Now, before you stands what was once the Morgan-Wells House-an Italianate beauty with a splash of mystery and more than a few life changes under its roof. Back in 1853, a pork packer named J.E. Norwood started things off by building the first part, probably never guessing just how many lives would parade through this place. In 1860, Edward Wells showed up and decided the house needed a bit more ‘oomph,’ so he expanded it, wrapping his new fanciness right around the old. After a while, a big-hearted banker named Lorenzo Bull took over and, in a move that could warm anyone’s heart, handed the home to the Cheerful Home Association in 1901. Suddenly, those polished floors echoed with the laughter and footsteps of children-it became Illinois’s very first licensed children’s home, making history by opening its arms to kids in need. And just for a twist, the YWCA scooped it up in 1933 for only ten dollars-yes, less than a pizza! Fast forward, and in 2016, progress came knocking as the building made way for the local newspaper’s new offices. Though the house is gone, just imagine the dinners, secrets, and hugs that made this site unforgettable.
