National Historic Landmark · single-family detached home · Chicago, Illinois

Robert A. Millikan House

Historic house in Chicago, Illinois. Built 1907 by Thomas Tallmadge. Added to the National Register in 1976, and a National Historic Landmark.

Private, view from the street National Historic Landmark Built 1907 Listed 1976 Prairie School architectureThomas Tallmadge

Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 6 in the Commons category

What it is

The Robert A. Millikan House is a historic house at 5605 South Woodlawn Avenue in the Hyde Park community area of Chicago, Illinois. Built about 1907, it was the home of American physicist Robert A. Millikan (1868-1953) from about 1908 until 1921, the period in which he made his most significant Nobel Prize winning work. The three-story brick building earned National Historic Landmark status on May 11, 1976.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

Register name	Millikan, Robert A., House
Property type	Building
Address	5605 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL
County	Cook County
Listed	May 11, 1976
Listed for	Science
Level of significance	National
Reference number	76000699
Built	1907 · more from the 1900s
Architect	Thomas Tallmadge
Type of place	single-family detached home
Style	Prairie School architecture
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	5605 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL
Coordinates	41.7927° N, 87.5965° 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

Listing on the Register does not open the door. This is a private residence. See it from the sidewalk.

At a glance

State: Illinois
County: Cook County
Listed: 1976
Type: Building
Landmark: Yes
Architect: Thomas Tallmadge
Built: 1907

Cell signal

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T-Mobile: 5G (fast)

Outdoor coverage as modeled by carriers in FCC filings as of 2025-12-31. This product uses FCC APIs and/or Data but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.

Official links

Sister site

Park Atlas

Every unit of the National Park System, with its fees, hours, alerts and campgrounds.

Open Park Atlas →

This record is built from National Park Service sources, re-read every Saturday, and Wikidata, re-read on the first Saturday of each month. Register Atlas is independent and is not affiliated with any agency, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. How the data is built →

Explore

Map

Nearby in Cook County

All listings in Cook County →

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Robie, Frederick C., House

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Hitchcock, Charles, Hall

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Local history books for Chicago

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Sears in Chicago
Val Perry Rendel, 2019
Find at Bookshop.org
Chicago Rink Rats
Tom Russo and Darius "D-Breez" Stroud, 2017
Find at Bookshop.org
Chicago Haymarket Affair
Joseph Rulli, 2016
Find at Bookshop.org

Guidebooks to historic places and travel in Illinois

Looking for Lincoln in Illinois
Erika Holst, 2018
Find at Bookshop.org
Route 66 In Springfield
Cheryl Jett, 2010
Find at Bookshop.org
Cemeteries of Illinois
Hal Hassen and Dawn Cobb, 2017
Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

When was Robert A. Millikan 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 Robert A. Millikan House built?

1907, designed by Thomas Tallmadge, in the Prairie School architecture style.

Source: Wikidata

Can I visit Robert A. Millikan 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 Robert A. Millikan House?

5605 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 Robert A. Millikan House?

The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.

Source: National Archives

Are there campgrounds near Robert A. Millikan 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 Robert A. Millikan 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 76000699. 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.