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William Gest House, 1203 2nd Avenue
Most Significant Unprotected Structures:
Very early cube Italianate with excellent integrity and wonderful floor-to-ceiling windows
Architectural Style:
Italianate
Construction Date:
circa 1851
Nominated by:
Suzanne Curry and Jim Griesel for the Rock Island Preservation Society
Architect/Builder:
Unknown
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This stunning Italianate was the home of famous Rock Islander, William Gest. Born in Jacksonville, Illinois, Gest moved to Rock Island in 1842 when he was four. After graduating from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1860, Gest taught school in one of the Mercer county hamlets named Millersburg and while there purportedly cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. Later he read law in the office of Wilkinson & Pleasants. By the summer of 1862, he was admitted to the bar and opened an office in the Federal Bank Building at Second Avenue and 16th Street.
Being interested in public service, Gest was elected school superintendent of Rock Island County, serving for four years. Twice during the 1870s, Gest served as city attorney and in 1886 was elected to Congress from the 11th District of Illinois. For the last years of his life, Gest served as circuit court judge for Rock Island, Henry, Mercer and Whiteside counties.
This home exemplifies the most common sub-type of Italianate architecture, the simple hipped roof variety. However, in Rock Island it is the only example of floor to ceiling windows in this cube style. The bracketed porch is probably original.
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