Jennings Ford Automobile Dealership

The Jennings Ford Automobile Dealership is a commercial building in Springfield, Illinois, built in 1919 and located on South 4th Street. The three-story structure was designed to house all operations of an auto dealership, including a showroom, repair shops, a car wash, and storage areas.

Ford dealer Frank Jennings built the three-story dealership in 1919 on South 4th Street, then Springfield's automobile row. Jennings Ford closed between 1927 and 1933, but the building stayed in use as a car dealership through the 1950s. It joined the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 2006.

The building carries the name of Ford dealer Frank Jennings, who built it in 1919 on South 4th Street, then Springfield's automobile row. Its three floors combined a sales floor, service center, car wash, storage garage and repainting facility, showing how a dealership of that era handled every stage of a car's sale and upkeep under one roof.

The building is located in downtown Springfield and is easy to find in a district with other historic structures. Visitors can study the exterior architecture and structure from the street, with the original garage doors and windows from around 1919 providing clear insight into its original function.

The building is the best-preserved of the early dealership buildings still standing in downtown Springfield, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 2006. It now houses an operations center for Illinois National Bank.