Winterset Courthouse Square Commercial Historic District

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Winterset Courthouse Square Commercial Historic District
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Location Roughly bounded by Green & 2nd Sts., 2nd Ave. & alley S. of Court Ave., Winterset, Iowa
Coordinates 41°20′05″N94°00′51″W / 41.33472°N 94.01417°W / 41.33472; -94.01417 Coordinates: 41°20′05″N94°00′51″W / 41.33472°N 94.01417°W / 41.33472; -94.01417
Area 16 acres (6.5 ha)
Architect William Foster
A.H. Piquenard
Architectural style Victorian
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals
NRHP reference # 15000915 [1]
Added to NRHP December 22, 2015

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. [2] 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.

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.

Winterset, Iowa City in Iowa, United States

Winterset is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,190 at the 2010 census.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

The period of significance for the district is 1861 to 1965 when most of the buildings were constructed. Unlike many historic downtowns in Iowa, Winterset replaced its initial frame buildings with masonry buildings because of economic prosperity, and not because of fires. [2] In addition to Piquenard, other architects of note who contributed buildings in the district include William Foster (Crawford/Jefferson Block, 1873; Schwaner/Centennial Block, 1876), L.W. Foster (Madisonian Building, 1872; City Hall Block/Jones & Tidrick, 1875), Joseph S. Blake (Firemen's Hall/City Hall/Light Plant, 1888, 1889, 1923), Frank E. Wetherell (Bevington Building/Masonic Temple, 1914 remodel), and Louis A. Simon (U.S. Post Office, 1935).

William Foster (Iowa architect) American architect in Iowa, born 1842

William Foster was an architect in Iowa.

Frank E. Wetherell (1869-1961) was an architect in the U.S. state of Iowa who worked during 1892–1931. He founded the second oldest architectural firm in the state in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1905.

Louis A. Simon American architect

Louis A. Simon (1867–1958) was an American architect. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

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References

  1. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 Leah D. Rogers. "Winterset Courthouse Square Commercial Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service . Retrieved 2016-07-29.