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.
The building was constructed in 1919 by Ford dealer Frank Jennings and was one of several auto shops that opened on South 4th Street, the city's main thoroughfare for automobile commerce. After closing in the late 1920s, it reopened in the 1930s as a repair facility and continued operating until the 1950s.
The building bears the name of its founder Frank Jennings and reflects the moment when automobiles first became common in Springfield. The wide garage doors and large display windows show how car dealers presented and organized their businesses during that era.
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 remarkably well preserved and is one of the few structures from the early automobile dealership era still standing in downtown Springfield. This preservation was partly due to its later reuse by Illinois National Bank, which operated it as an office facility.
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