Joliet council votes Tuesday on agreement to save Casseday House

Efforts to save one of the oldest houses still standing in Joliet apparently have been successful.

The Casseday House on Jackson Street would be relocated and put to new use with the help of $300,000 from Thornton’s, which plans to build a gas station on the site, according to a proposal that goes to the Joliet City Council for approval Tuesday.

The Will County Historical Society would take possession of the 19th-century limestone house, which would be moved to a location yet to be determined.

“I see it as a positive solution, and I would hope that they get it [the house] landmarked when it is moved,” said Mary Beth Gannon, who has led an effort to stop demolition plans from going forward. Gannon also is a member of the Joliet Historic Preservation Commission.

An attorney for Thornton’s said there are still “a few details” in the agreement that need to be worked out by the Tuesday council meeting.

“I expect that to happen,” attorney Michael Hansen said. “We’ve been working super-hard on this for three weeks.”

The house would most likely be moved to a city-owned lot at Jackson and Herkimer streets, said Sandy Vasko, president of the Will County Historical Society.

Vasko said the historical society hopes to convert part of the house to a Will County visitors center and use part of it as an archive and research center for local African American history.

“There’s a lot of African American history in this area, and it’s not in any museum,” Vasko said.

A demolition permit on the building had been pending when Gannon and others began speaking at City Council meetings to argue the house should be saved.

Among their arguments is a belief the house may be the oldest Joliet home still standing.

The house was built in 1851 for George Casseday and his family.

There is speculation the house may have been used as a stagecoach stop at one time, although a historical assessment of the building done for the developer casts doubt on that belief.

The house at 411 E. Jackson St. has been used in recent decades for apartments.