Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home, Fenton
While these souvenir plates are expensive and desirable, they're hardly rare. Blue and marigold appear in about the same quantities. You can see Fenton's Berry and Leaf Circle pattern showing through. Fenton also made a similar piece: Indiana State House.

Hartung Book Four: Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home

Plates, 7-8 inches

Blue, 675, 800, 1,000, 1,250, (all 2021),
   500, 850, 950, 1,000 (all 2022)

Blue, from Fenton Museum, 2,000 (2017)

Marigold, 625, 650, 750, 850, 1,000, 1,200 (all 2021), 750, 1,000 (both 2022)

In 2013, a postcard showing the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home, postmarked 1918, sold at auction for $13.

Updated 12/90/2022

The marigold plate at left sold for $1,600 at the 2012 Heart of America Carnival Class convention auction.
From The Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass Lettered Pieces,
by John Resnik, 1989.

"The building shown this piece was constructed and dedicated in 1886, at 1707 North 12th Street, Quincy Illinois. Originally erected as a caretaker facility for destitute Civil War Veterans, the home has evolved into a portion of the Veterans Administration and is now called the Illinois Veteran's Home. Although a Major portion of the building still exists in daily use, the tower depicted at the left hand side was mysteriously destroyed by a wind storm on April 12, 1945. This is the day Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. No absolute information was found to indicate the purpose of this item, but since the Home was apparently always short of funds, it is possible that it was sold at the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration in 1911, as a fund raiser.

Addendum: You will notice that the flag shown on this item has only eleven stripes and nine stars. I have been unable to discover if this has any significance, or if it is simply a case of artistic license. However, it is interesting to note that this same flag appears on the Indiana Statehouse plate."

Note by Dave Doty in 2018: The name was changed to the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy in 1973. In 2015, it suffered an outbreak of Legonniers Disease, eventually killing some 15 people. The state tried to clean the water piping system, which harbors the bacteria, but medical officials point out that it's almost impossible to fix the problem without replacing the pipes--a mulit-million dollar expense.