Arthur H. Compton House
Historic house in Chicago, Illinois. Built 1916. Added to the National Register in 1976, and a National Historic Landmark.
What it is
The Arthur H. Compton House is a historic house at 5637 South Woodlawn Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1905 and designed by architects Holabird & Roche, it was the residence of physicist Arthur Compton (1892–1962) from 1928 until 1945. Compton discovered the Compton Effect in 1923, proving that light has both a particle and a wave aspect. Compton received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927 for this discovery. His house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The record
| Register name | Compton, Arthur H., House |
| Property type | Building |
| Address | 5637 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL |
| County | Cook County |
| Listed | May 11, 1976 |
| Listed for | Science |
| Level of significance | National |
| Reference number | 76000687 |
| Built | 1916 · more from the 1910s |
| Type of place | house |
| Designations | National Historic Landmark |
| Contributing resources | 1 building |
The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗
Visiting
| Address | 5637 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL |
| Coordinates | 41.7920° N, 87.5963° W · Directions ↗ |
| Also in Chicago | 419 listed places in Chicago → · walking tours → |
| Nearest national park unit | Pullman National Historical Park · 7 miles · on Park Atlas |
| Federal campgrounds nearby | West Beach Picnic Shelters 23 miles · Chellberg Farm Picnic Shelters 29 miles · Dunbar Group Site 32 miles |
Explore
Map
Nearby in Cook County
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Local history books for Chicago
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Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Illinois
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.
Reference
Questions people ask
When was Arthur H. Compton House listed on the National Register?
May 11, 1976. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.
Source: National Park Service
When was Arthur H. Compton House built?
1916.
Source: Wikidata
Can I visit Arthur H. Compton House?
No public access is recorded. A National Register listing recognizes a place; it does not open it to visitors.
Source: National Park Service
Where is Arthur H. Compton House?
5637 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. The nearest national park unit is Pullman National Historical Park, 7 miles away.
Source: Pullman National Historical Park
Where is the nomination form for Arthur H. Compton House?
The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.
Source: National Archives
Are there campgrounds near Arthur H. Compton House?
Three federal campgrounds are within reach. The closest is West Beach Picnic Shelters, 23 miles away. Chellberg Farm Picnic Shelters is 29 miles away, and Dunbar Group Site is 32 miles away.
Source: Campsite Atlas
Is there cell service at Arthur H. Compton House?
FCC coverage maps show Verizon 5G, AT&T 5G, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
Sources
Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 76000687. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.