Greenfield Public Square Historic District

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Greenfield Public Square Historic District
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Location102–362 Public Square, 201–215 S. 1st St., 107–110 E. Iowa St., Greenfield, Iowa
Coordinates 41°18′17.6″N94°27′39.7″W / 41.304889°N 94.461028°W / 41.304889; -94.461028
Area7.5 acres (3.0 ha)
Architect Charles E. Bell
William Gordon
Architectural style Italianate
Classical Revival
Late 19th & Early 20th Century American Movements
NRHP reference No. 14000623 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 17, 2014

Greenfield Public Square Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Greenfield, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. [1] At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 52 resources, including 42 contributing buildings, one contributing site, six noncontributing buildings, and three noncontributing objects. [2] The historic district covers part of the city's central business district in the center of the original town plat. There is a significant number of one- and two-story, brick, commercial buildings, as well as a few three-story structures. The Commercial Italianate style is dominant. While the vast majority of the buildings are commercial buildings, there are four government buildings in the district: the Adair County Courthouse (1892), public library (1916), city hall (1930), and the municipal light plant (1940). Besides the courthouse, the other buildings that are individually listed on the National Register include Warren Opera House Block and Hetherington Block (1896), Adair County Democrat-Adair County Free Press Building (1903), and the Hotel Greenfield (1920).

The most unique feature of the district is the square itself, which is the contributing site. It is a Lancaster Square, of which there was only one other in an Iowa county seat, Fort Dodge. Unlike Greenfield, the courthouse in Fort Dodge was never in the square. In a Lancaster Square the streets enter the square in the middle of the surrounding blocks rather than at the corners (a Shelbyville Square), which is the most common form of public square in Iowa. [2] The streets that surround the square are not named, so building addresses are rendered with the building number and then "Public Square." Building numbers begin on the west side of South First Street with 102 and follow clock-wise around the square ending at the east side of South First Street with 362.

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The Douglasville Commercial Historic District in Douglasville, Georgia is a historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

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The Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in the central business district of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 43 resources, which included 33 contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and nine non-contributing buildings. In addition, the district also contains 33 buildings that are individually listed on the National Register. This historic district is bordered by four other districts: the Crescent Warehouse Historic District and the Davenport Motor Row and Industrial Historic District on the east, the Hamburg Historic District to the northwest, and the West Third Street Historic District on the west.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Molly Meyers Naumann. "Greenfield Public Square Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service . Retrieved August 9, 2016.