Central City Commercial Historic District | |
Location | 300 and 400 blocks of E. Main St., N. 4th St. to Commercial, Central City, Iowa |
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Coordinates | 42°12′15″N91°31′28″W / 42.20417°N 91.52444°W |
Area | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
Built by | Paul Sigmund |
Architectural style | Late Victorian Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals |
NRHP reference No. | 02001027 [1] |
Added to NRHP | March 18, 2003 |
The Central City Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Central City, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. [1] At the time of its nomination it consisted of 27 resources, which included 18 contributing buildings, one contributing object, and eight non-contributing buildings. [2] The historic district exemplifies the importance transportation played in the development of the central business district.
Central City was established in 1857. East Main Street and North Fourth Street were part of an early overland road system that was an important transportation corridor in Eastern Iowa. [2] It linked the cities of Marion, Manchester, and Dubuque. Early business leaders in the community were successful in getting the Illinois Central Railroad to lay its tracks through town, which were completed in 1887. Two years later the commercial district was destroyed in a fire. Local entrepreneurs rebuilt the area as quickly as possible. Paul Sigmund, a noted local contractor-builder, built a group of buildings after the fire. The buildings are one- and two-stories in height and are of masonry construction, either brick or concrete block. Several buildings are constructed of wood frame. Several architectural styles are featured in the district including Late Victorian, Prairie School, Commercial style, and Art Deco. All of the buildings were constructed for commercial purposes, but a couple of them have been converted for residential use.
The Fort Madison Downtown Commercial Historic District has a collection of late-19th century store fronts centered on Ave. G, from 6th to 9th Street, and Ave. H from 7th to 9th, in Fort Madison, Iowa. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
The Vogel Place Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Ottumwa, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. At the time of its nomination it contained 158 resources, which included 101 contributing buildings, six contributing structures, and 51 non-contributing buildings.
The State Center Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in State Center, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. At the time of its nomination it contained 36 resources, which included 31 contributing buildings, two contributing structures, and three non-contributing buildings. The historic district covers the town's central business district. State Center is located at the highest point in Marshall County, midway between Marshalltown and Nevada. The town was established by the Cedar Rapids & Missouri Railroad on 80 acres (32 ha) of land in 1863. It was initially named "Centre Station," but William Barnes, the first railroad agent, changed the town's name to "State Centre."
The Grant Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Grant, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. At the time of its nomination it contained 17 resources, which included 15 contributing buildings, two contributing structures, and one non-contributing building. The historic district covers the town's central business district. Grant is a small town located in northeast Montgomery County in the southwest quadrant of the state. It was plated in 1858, and it was known as Milford until the early 20th century even though its post office was Grant. While not on a railroad, the town was still able to maintain a viable commercial district.
The Manning Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Manning, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. At the time of its nomination it contained 37 resources, which included 26 contributing buildings, four contributing structures, and seven non-contributing buildings.
The Osage Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Osage, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. At the time of its nomination it contained 50 resources, which included 46 contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and three non-contributing buildings. The historic district covers most of the city's central business district.
The Belle Plaine Main Street Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Belle Plaine, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. At the time of its nomination it contained 63 resources, which included 46 contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and 16 non-contributing buildings. The historic district covers most of the city's central business district. Belle Plaine was laid out in 1862 as a railroad town. The Chicago & North Western Railroad was extended from Cedar Rapids the following year. The commercial district is adjacent to the tracks. A major fire destroyed much of the business district in 1894. Thirty-five buildings in the district were built in the months after the fire.
Winterset Courthouse Square Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Winterset, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 82 resources, including 74 contributing buildings, seven noncontributing buildings, and one noncontributing object. The historic district covers most of the city's central business district in the original town plat. Most of the buildings are two-story, brick, commercial buildings. The commercial Italianate style is dominant, with Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Neoclassical styles included. The Madison County Courthouse (1878) is a Renaissance Revival structure designed by Alfred H. Piquenard. Most of the buildings are brick construction, but four were constructed using locally quarried limestone. The stone buildings include the courthouse, the White, Munger and Company Store (1861), and the Sprague, Brown, and Knowlton Store (1866), all of which are individually listed on the National Register.
The Lansing Main Street Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Lansing, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 51 resources, including 42 contributing buildings, 8 non-contributing buildings, and one non-contributing site. The district covers most of the central business district, which is generally along Main Street. The commercial buildings are mostly masonry structures constructed with bricks or native limestone. A few buildings are frame construction with gable roofs. The buildings are from one to three stories in height, although most are no taller that two stories. The Italianate architectural style dominates. Most of the upper stories in the buildings housed retail or office space, but a few were residential. The commercial buildings that did not house retail establishments were located near the Mississippi River and were industrial in nature. The G. Kerndt & Brothers Office Block (1861) and the G. Kerndt and Brothers Elevator and Warehouses, No. 11, No.12 and No. 13 (1868) are individually listed on the National Register. Three public buildings are located in the district: the former jail and fire station, the Art Deco former City Hall (1938), and the modern U.S. Post Office.
The McGregor Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in McGregor, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 60 resources, including 51 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing structure, and seven noncontributing buildings. Unlike most river towns in Iowa the central business district does not follow along the Mississippi River, but moves away from it. It is linear in shape, following Main Street, which runs from the southwest to the northeast in a narrow valley between two 400-foot (120 m) bluffs. The narrow valley ends at the river.
Fort Dodge Downtown Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Fort Dodge, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. Additional documentation for the district was approved by the National Park Service on January 4, 2019. At the time of its nomination it contained 177 resources, which included 100 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing structure, five contributing objects, 64 non-contributing buildings, three non-contributing structures, and three non-contributing objects. The district covers the city's central business district, mainly along Central Avenue, but also along the adjoining streets as well. Commercial development in the district began with the city's original plat in 1854 and continued through the opening of the Crossroads Mall in 1964. Webster County Courthouse (1902), First National Bank Building (1908), and the Wahkonsa Hotel (1910) are all located in the district and are individually listed on the National Register.
The Anamosa Main Street Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Anamosa, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 52 resources, including 42 contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and nine non-contributing buildings. The district takes in most of the city's central business district. For the most part, the buildings here were used for commercial purposes, but some of them housed light industrial operations, the post office, and the Masonic lodge. The buildings generally range from one to two stories, but a couple structures are three stories in height. Built between the 1860s and the early decades of the 20th century, the buildings are composed of masonry construction. Several were built using the areas limestone. The Italianate style is dominate, but other late 19th and 20th century revivals, and late 19th and early 20th century American movements are also found here.
The Upper Iowa Street Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Dubuque, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. At the time of its nomination it consisted of nine resources, which included eight contributing buildings and one non-contributing building. The district is a single block with commercial and residential buildings on both sides of Iowa Street. It was originally a residential section on the north side of the central business district. The first two commercial buildings were substantial Italianate-style structures constructed on the north side of the block in the mid-1880s. In the 1890s larger and more elaborate Queen Anne commercial buildings were built to the south. The oldest building is an 1872 residence that was used as a doctor's office and other business purposes. It has subsequently been covered in Permastone. The rest of the buildings are brick with stone ornamentation.
The Oxford Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Oxford, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 20 resources, which included 16 contributing buildings and four non-contributing buildings. This district reflects a typical central business district found in a Midwest town. It represents a transitional period from a frontier town to a settled community, and from the horse as the primary means of transportation to the automobile and mechanized farming. Most of the buildings in Oxford's business district were constructed between 1883 and 1917. Some replaced the wood-frame structures from the town's frontier days, while others replaced those destroyed by a major fire that consumed the north side of the district in 1890. They are one to two stories in height, and their exteriors are composed of common brick. While simple in composition, many feature ornate decorative cornices. The Italianate and Romanesque Revival styles dominate.
The Marion Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Marion, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 41 resources, which included 29 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing structure, two contributing objects, and eight non-contributing buildings. The historic district covers the city's central business district. The development of this area largely occurred when Marion was the county seat of Linn County (1838-1919). There are no county government buildings extant from this era. The city was also a division point for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Business Part of Olin Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Olin, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 22 resources, including 18 contributing buildings and four non-contributing buildings. The district takes in the city's central business district.
The Waterloo East Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 36 resources, including 28 contributing buildings, and eight non-contributing buildings. The city of Waterloo was established in the early 1850s. Its first settlers started developing the west side of the city before crossing the Cedar River and developing east side. The first Black Hawk County Courthouse was built on the east side in 1856 and East Waterloo Township was created two years later. As industry began to develop along the river, and the arrival of the first railroad in 1861, the commercial district on the east side began to grow. Also on the east side of town was the terminus of the streetcar-turned-interurban system. By 1900, the city became one of the primary wholesale and retail centers in northeastern Iowa. In 1911 the Black population increased significantly as workers, primarily from Mississippi, moved into town to work for the Illinois Central Railroad. The following year the saloons in town were closed and bootlegging, gambling, drugs, and prostitution started to increase in the area surrounding the central business district. All of these developed put together created the atmosphere of the downtown commercial district.
The Upper Central Avenue Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Dubuque, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 65 resources, which included 56 contributing buildings, one contributing site and eight non-contributing buildings. This six block section of Central Avenue is located on the north side of the central business district. The largely linear district includes a jog at 18th Street. Below the jog the street was originally named Clay Street and above it Couler Avenue. It was also the dividing line where all commerce used the German language exclusively to the north. At one time the street featured a streetcar route and it was a significant farm-to-market route and a gateway into the city from the north.
The South Main Street Historic District in Memphis, Tennessee, is located south of the city's central business district encompassing over 100 mostly commercial buildings spread across 11 blocks. The area was constructed between 1900 and 1930 in a wide range of early-twentieth-century architectural styles including Beaux Arts, Georgian Revival, Art Deco and Chicago Commercial. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as an area of Memphis representing the impact of the railroad on the city during the a period of railroad-led prosperity that ended with the Great Depression. The district includes the Lorraine Motel, constructed in 1925, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. The South Main Arts District is a smaller area within the historic district. The district is also a City of Memphis local historic district or Historic Overlay District.
The Iowa City Downtown Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 102 resources, which included 73 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing object, 21 non-contributing buildings, and seven non-contributing objects. Eight buildings that were previously listed on the National Register are also included in the district. Iowa City's central business district developed adjacent to the Iowa Old Capitol Building and the main campus of the University of Iowa. This juxtaposition gives the area its energy with the overlap of university staff and students and the local community. The district was significantly altered in the 1970s by the city's urban renewal effort that brought about the Ped Mall, which transformed two blocks of College Street from Clinton Street to Linn Street and Dubuque Street from Burlington Street to Washington Street. It is the contributing site and the large planters/retaining walls that are original to the project are counted together as the contributing object. There are also several freestanding, limestone planters, five contemporary sculptures, and a playground area are the non-contributing objects.