Carlinville, Illinois: Home of the Sears house
In 1918, Standard Oil bought about 200 Sears houses and plunked them down in Carlinville, Illinois. The oil giant didn't do it out altruism, but as a practical way to house miners. Today, Carlinville has "nine blocks of nothing but Sears houses, the largest concentration in the country." According to a fascinating article by Deborah Hasting of the Associated Press, Sears sold these homes for $2,900 to $3,300. Sears' website has two pages on its website devoted to the topic. One of the pages focuses on history, the other page is devoted to photos.