Building date: 1846
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Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°02'09.61"N 88°17'19.62"W. Current owner of record, City of Elgin as of the 2019 Tax Roll. Previous owners - sold by-to: 3/3/2001 Richards-Schober, 2/1/2001 Hass-Richards.
Township of Elgin and Kane County Maps.
The structure is known locally as the Nancy Kimball Cobblestone as it was built for Nancy by her sons. Thiers was her daughter who lived there until the 40's when it was turned into six apartments. The Historical Society is currently rehabbing the building. Thus far we have spent over $400,000 on it. I am a woodworker and have donated my time and the materials to trim the building. If you are interested, here is my blog telling the story: https://wp.me/p9cXEX-uZ. Dan Miller email 4/11/2021.
Nancy Kimball Home - Part 1, by David Siegenthaler, Elgin Area Historical Society.
Editor's Note: The Elgin area historians have asked that the structure name Thiers-Wayner House stated in the Carl Schmidt book "Cobblestone Masonry" be changed in this documentation to the official locally designated name, Nancy Kimball Cobblestone House, to be that of the original owner.
This cobblestone house at 302 W. Chicago St. in Elgin, Ill. is known as the Nancy Currier Kimball home. Nancy was the matriarch of the Kimball family that settled Elgin's west side. Her husband, Joseph, died from cholera in Ohio on a trip back east to retrieve his family in 1835. Her sons, Samuel and William, who both became mayors of Elgin, had this home built for their mother in 1846. Often referred to as Elgin's oldest existing home, it is certainly the oldest on the west side.
The Kimball house is one of six cobblestone structures remaining in Elgin. It is thought that Elgin has the largest number of cobblestone homes of any city west of New York State.
The house was converted to multiple apartments in the 1950's, had extensive fire damage in 1991. It was purchased by the city of Elgin in 2009. The city planned to rehab the home for use in the resident officer program. However, the cost of the quotes received to repair it were prohibitive, so the decision was made to shelve the project. Earlier in 2016, the Elgin Area Historical Society came into an agreement with the City of Elgin to rehabilitate the building as a satellite museum.
Photos and information courtesy of the Elgin Area Historical Society. Richard Palmer blog.
 | Current photographs with audio and text description of historic and architectural significance, courtesy Historic Elgin website. There is a gallery of six photographs of the structure on this webpage. Photography courtesy Historic Elgin.com. |
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Thiers - Wayner House
- Pages 210 - 211
 IMG_4168.jpg ¹ | IMG_4163.jpg ¹ |
¹ Richard Palmer email 9/30/2020. Photograph courtesy Elgin Area Historical Society
² Photography courtesy Historic Elgin.com.
