The area around the Illinois-Wisconsin border once had the largest population of cobblestone houses outside of New York City.

However, very few remain—the Illinois Historic Sites Survey in 1978 identified only two remaining.

Cobblestone houses were popular among individuals who worked on the Erie Canal, and the style came to the border region from New York migrants.

Because of the nature of his house, it has been suggested that Herrick was a cobblestone mason.

Herrick came from Massachusetts to Rockford in the mid-1830s, though he probably stopped in New York on the way and came to learn of the style.