McHenry Illinois Historical Crazy Quilt Block #5

I'm moving right along on my McHenry Illinois Crazy Quilt.  If you're new to my blog, I started this project to take my mind off of worrying about my husband who's being treated for cancer.  And for worrying about how I'm going to pay all the bills on my income.

This is block #5:

The building is the North Western Hotel.  It was built in 1901 and sits right next to the Train Depot. 

Here's a screenshot of it now.  I grabbed this off of Google Earth.  In was in the process of being repainted:

It's called, "Apartments" now but it's really public housing.  At least it's well kept and maintained in it's original era style.

I don't know about anyone else, but sometimes I wish I could go back in time for just a day and walk around my little town and see what it was like back then.   Thankfully we have old photos!

Here's a couple of close up photos of the stitching:

I have some more stitching to do on this and then I'll post another photo.

McHenry Illinois Crazy Quilt Block 2 - The Riverside

After finishing up Block 1 of my McHenry Crazy Quilt, I immediately started on Block 2.  The purpose of this quilt is partly because I love my little town of McHenry and it's history and, I thought it would help get my mind off of worrying about Scott and everything else.

So this is Block #2:

This block is titled, The Riverside.

The Riverside House sits on the corner of Rt 120 and Riverside Dr. which runs along the Fox River in McHenry.  Back in the day, Riverside Dr. was called Water St.  I have no idea when they changed the name.

In 1851, a hotel named The Fremont House was built at this location.  That burned down about 1859.  Five years later, in 1864, This beautiful hotel was built and still stands today.

Here's another historical photo of it:

Sadly, the beautiful double porch was removed in 1940 when Rt. 120 was widened.

And here it is today:

This block will get some more stitching on it.  I need to embroider the name and date on the block, add the little spider (all blocks will have a spider for good luck) and I think I'll stitch a little cat on this block.  I'll post another update when it's finished.