Fifth Street Bluff Historic District

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Fifth Street Bluff Historic District
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LocationRoughly bounded by Jefferson, E. 6th, Washington, and 4th Sts.
Ottumwa, Iowa
Coordinates 41°1′9″N92°24′26″W / 41.01917°N 92.40722°W / 41.01917; -92.40722 Coordinates: 41°1′9″N92°24′26″W / 41.01917°N 92.40722°W / 41.01917; -92.40722
Area23.5 acres (9.5 ha)
Architect Edward Hammatt, et al
Architectural style Tudor Revival
Italianate
Queen Anne
MPS Ottumwa MPS
NRHP reference # 97001606 [1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 7, 1998

The Fifth Street Bluff 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 1998. [1] At the time of its nomination it contained 67 resources, which included 40 contributing buildings, three contributing structures, and 24 non-contributing buildings. [2]

Historic districts in the United States group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated as historically or architecturally significant

Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing a group of buildings, properties, or sites by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided into two categories, contributing and non-contributing. Districts greatly vary in size: some have hundreds of structures, while others have just a few.

Ottumwa, Iowa City in Iowa, United States

Ottumwa is a city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,023 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Located in the state's southeastern part, the city is split into northern and southern halves by the Des Moines River.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Contents

History

As Ottumwa grew in the mid to late 19th century many of its wealthier citizens built houses on the bluff overlooking the town and the Des Moines River Valley below. By doing so they were able to move away from the swampy river bottom and were able to capitalize on the view. Construction began in this part of the city in the 1850s. There were, however, three main periods of development: the 1860s, the 1890s, and the 1920s. [2] Prominent citizens who built homes on the bluff included George Morrell of John Morrell & Company, F.W. Simmons of American Mining Tools Company, G.C. Janney of Janney Manufacturing, J.W. Edgerly who was a wholesale druggist, J.H. Merrill who was a wholesale grocer and Judge H.B. Hendershott. Construction in the area was largely concluded by 1930. Italianate, Queen Anne, and Tudor Revival are the most popular architectural styles that are found in the district. In 1895 the streets were paved with bricks and lined with limestone.

Des Moines River river in Iowa, United States

The Des Moines River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately 525 miles (845 km) long from its farther headwaters. The largest river flowing across the state of Iowa, it rises in southern Minnesota and flows across Iowa from northwest to southeast, passing from the glaciated plains into the unglaciated hills near the capital city of Des Moines, named after the river, in the center of the state. The river continues to flow at a southeastern direction away from Des Moines, later flowing directly into the Mississippi River.

Queen Anne style architecture in the United States architectural style during Victorian Era

In the United States, Queen Anne-style architecture was popular from roughly 1880 to 1910. "Queen Anne" was one of a number of popular architectural styles to emerge during the Victorian era. Within the Victorian era timeline, Queen Anne style followed the Stick style and preceded the Richardsonian Romanesque and Shingle styles.

Tudor Revival architecture architectural style

Tudor Revival architecture first manifested itself in domestic architecture beginning in the United Kingdom in the mid to late 19th century based on a revival of aspects of Tudor architecture or, more often, the style of English vernacular architecture of the Middle Ages that survived into the Tudor period. It later became an influence in some other countries, especially the British colonies. For example, in New Zealand, the architect Francis Petre adapted the style for the local climate. Elsewhere in Singapore, then a British colony, architects such as R. A. J. Bidwell pioneered what became known as the Black and White House. The earliest examples of the style originate with the works of such eminent architects as Norman Shaw and George Devey, in what at the time was thought of as a neo-Tudor design.

Architecture

Because of its location along a bluff, the area is primarily residential and has had little in the way of commercial development. It contains some of the best examples of several architectural styles in the city, and the largest concentration of architect-designed houses and buildings. [2] Nine different architects contributed designs to the district including Ottumwa architect George M. Kerns, New York City architect F.R. Comstock, Davenport architect Edward Hammatt, and the Omaha architectural firm of Fisher & Lowrie. Historic churches in the district include First Baptist and Trinity Episcopal. The contributing structures include the brick streets, stone retaining walls, and an iron fence. The Foster/Bell House and the Jay Funeral Home are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States and in the U.S. state of New York. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

Davenport, Iowa City in Iowa, United States

Davenport is the county seat of Scott County in Iowa and is located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. It is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population estimate of 382,630 and a CSA population of 474,226; it is the 90th largest CSA in the nation. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine Le Claire and was named for his friend George Davenport, a former English sailor who served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812, served as a supplier Fort Armstrong, worked as a fur trader with the American Fur Company, and was appointed a quartermaster with the rank of colonel during the Black Hawk War. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 99,685. The city appealed this figure, arguing that the Census Bureau missed a section of residents, and that its total population was more than 100,000. The Census Bureau estimated Davenport's 2011 population to be 100,802.

Edward Hammatt architect

Edward Hammatt was an architect in the United States. He designed several notable buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 Molly Myers Naumann. "NRHP Inventory-Nomination: Fifth Street Bluff Historic District". National Park Service . Retrieved 2019-03-26. with photos