Cedar Rapids is the second-largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. It is a part of the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids Region of Eastern Iowa which includes Linn, Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties.
The Peoples Savings Bank, located at 101 3rd Avenue, SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was designed by Louis Sullivan. It was the second of a number of small "jewel box" banks in midwest towns designed by Sullivan during 1907 to 1919. It was built in 1911, and it was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 2014 it was included as a contributing property in the West Side Third Avenue SW Commercial Historic District.
The Merchants' National Bank (1914) building is a historic commercial building located at 833 Fourth Avenue in Grinnell, Iowa. It is one of a series of small banks designed by Louis Sullivan in the Midwest between 1909 and 1919. All of the banks are built of brick and for this structure he employed various shades of brick, ranging in color from blue-black to golden brown, giving it an overall reddish brown appearance. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its architecture. In 1991 it was listed as a contributing property in the Grinnell Historic Commercial District.
May's Island is a small island on the Cedar River, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Functioning as a civic center much like the Île de la Cité, it is the site of the Memorial Building, the Linn County Courthouse, and the county jail. The island plus an adjacent block was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
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 Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway (BCR&N) was a railroad that operated in the United States from 1876 to 1903. It was formed to take over the operations of the bankrupt Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railway, which was, in turn, the result of merging several predecessor lines, the construction of which began in 1869. The corporate headquarters were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and it had operations in Iowa and in Minnesota. It was succeeded by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway.
The Bohemian Commercial Historic District, also known as New Bohemia, is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 75 resources, which included 48 contributing buildings, and 27 non-contributing buildings. Bohemian immigrants began settling in Cedar Rapids in the 1850s, and increasingly after the American Civil War in the 1860s and the Prussian War in Austria in 1880. They grew to be the largest ethnic group in the city, and the only one to settle in a distinct part of Cedar Rapids. They settled along the Cedar River between the downtown area and the T.M. Sinclair and Company meat packing plant. The buildings in the district were constructed between the 1880s and the 1930s. They are largely narrow-front commercial buildings and corner blocks. The buildings housed a variety of commercial establishments: a movie theater, two banks, and several filling stations. It also includes a railroad corridor factory building, a fire station, and fraternal halls. The buildings are representative of various commercial architectural styles and vernacular building forms popular at the times they were built. The Lesinger Block (1883) and the C.S.P.S. Hall (1891) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Cedar Rapids Post Office and Public Building, also known as the Witwer Building, is an historic building located in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. In 2015 it was included as a contributing property in the Cedar Rapids Central Business District Commercial Historic District.
The West Liberty Commercial Historic District in West Liberty, Iowa, United States, is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. At that time, it included 41 contributing buildings, six other contributing structures, and eight non-contributing buildings.
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and Northern Railroad-Rock Rapids Station, Railroad Track and Bridge is a nationally recognized historic district located in Rock Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. At the time of its nomination the district included one contributing building and three contributing structures.
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.
The Waverly East Bremer Avenue Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Waverly, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. At the time of its nomination it contained 53 resources, which included 41 contributing buildings, and 12 non-contributing buildings. The historic district covers a portion of the city's central business district between the Cedar River on the west and the former right-of-way for the Chicago Great Western Railway on the east.
The Waterloo West 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 2014. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 25 resources, including 22 contributing buildings, and three non-contributing buildings. The buildings are from one to three stories in height, and for the most part are clad in brick. The earliest building dates to 1882 and the latest, as of 2014, to 2000. For the must part they utilize the Victorian, Romanesque Revival, and Italianate commercial styles. Ornamentation is minimal. The buildings are all commercial structures with the exception of the former Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway Depot, designed by the Cedar Rapids architectural firm of Josselyn & Taylor. Several of the buildings housed automobile-related businesses that clustered along West Fifth Street beginning in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Second and Third Avenue Historic District is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 186 resources, which included 176 contributing buildings, and 10 non-contributing buildings. This area was developed as a streetcar suburb at the turn of the 20th century. It includes single-family dwellings, apartment buildings, and two churches. The upper part of the district is called the Sampson Heights Addition. It was developed by Ellen Bever Blake and realtor/developer Malcolm Bolton. Blake's brothers James and George Bever developed the lower part of the district that they called the Bever Park Addition. The family members were in litigation for four years over the development as the two Bever sisters maintained that the three brothers received a disproportionate share of the property in their father's estate, and that they never paid for their stock in the Bever Land Company. In the end, their father's will was set aside and the five children agreed to divide the estate equally.
The Cedar Rapids 2nd Avenue SE. Automobile Row Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 24 resources, which included 17 contributing buildings, two contributing sites, four non-contributing buildings, and one non-contributing structure. This is a collection of commercial buildings that were built along the old Lincoln Highway between 1912 and 1953 to house automobile dealerships. They feature broad fronts with large display windows and open interiors. Auto repair shops were generally located at the rear of a dealership, but some were located in their own utilitarian buildings. Some of the corner lots were taken up by small gas stations. In later years, sales lots were placed adjacent to dealerships in order to display a larger number of cars. Other lots were occupied by used car lots. Prior to being converted into an automobile-centric commercial area, the district was a Victorian-era residential neighborhood. The multi-family dwelling at 309 8th St. SE remains as a reminder of that era, and it is one of the contributing properties.
The Cedar Rapids Central Business District Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 60 resources, which included 46 contributing buildings, one contributing structure, 12 non-contributing buildings, and one non-contributing structure. Cedar Rapids was platted on the east bank of the Cedar River as Rapids City in 1841, and it was incorporated under the same name in 1849. Kingston was established on the west bank of the river in 1852. The two smaller communities consolidated in 1870 as Cedar Rapids. The streets were laid out parallel and perpendicular to the river, which flowed from the northwest to the southeast. The Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska Railroad was the first to arrive in the community in 1859 and the tracks were laid on Fourth Street on the eastern edge of the central business district. The first bridge across the river was built at Third Avenue in 1871.
Oak Hill Cemetery is a rural cemetery located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 17 resources, which included 13 contributing buildings, one contributing site, two contributing structures, and one contributing object.
The Davenport Motor Row and Industrial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located on the eastern edge of downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 28 resources, which included 21 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing structure, and five non-contributing buildings. The area was previously a part of the notorious Bucktown, a district of saloons, beer gardens, brothels, billiard parlors, gambling establishments, and theaters. Davenport licensed prostitution in 1893, gambling in 1904, and failed to enforce Iowa prohibition laws during this period. A crusade against vice by Davenport's Catholic bishop, Henry Cosgrove, and reforms by state leaders led to the district's transformation in the early 20th century into a light industrial area. The city's automobile industry settled here beginning in the 1910s. They stayed until the mid-20th century when Interstate 80 was completed on the north side of the city and they moved to the suburban areas. U.S. Route 32 and its successor U.S. Route 6 passed through the district on East Second Street from 1926 to 1937. The Government Bridge (1896), which for years was the city's only bridge across the Mississippi River, is immediately adjacent to the district.
Marion station was a railroad station in Marion, Iowa. It served passenger trains of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, commonly known as the Milwaukee Road. After passenger train service was discontinued, elements of the station were moved across the street to City Square Park, where it remains as a pavilion today. The structure is listed as a non-contributing property by the National Register of Historic Places in the Marion Commercial Historic District.
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.
