HomeMy WebLinkAboutJefferson Street Historic Dist.
NPS Fonn 10-900
(Oct. 1990)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
OMB No. 10024-0018
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
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1. Name of Property
historic name Jefferson Street Historic District
other names/site number
2. Location
street & number Portions of 100-400 Blocks of East Jefferson Street
N/A U not for publication
city or town
Iowa City
N/A U vicinity
state
Iowa
code
IA
county
Johnson
code 111
zip code
52242
3. State/Federal Aøency Certification
As the desi9nated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this W nomination U request for
determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets
the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property W meets U does not meet the National
Register criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant
U nationally U statewide W locally. (lJ see continuation sheet for additional comments).
Signature of certifying officialfTUIe
Date
Slate or Federalageney and bureau
In my opinion, the property U meets U does not meet the National Register criteria. (U See continuation sheet for addUionai comments.)
Signature of certifying officialfTUle
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that the property is:
U entered in the National Register.
U See continuation sheet.
U detennined eligible for the
National Register.
U See continuation sheet.
U determined not eligible for the
National Register.
U removed from the National
Register.
U other, (explain:)
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson Countv.IA
County and State
6. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
[2Ç private
U public-local
U public-State
U public-Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box)
U building(s)
!25J district
Usite
U structure
U object
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
Contributing Noncontributing
36 3 buildings
sites
structures
36
3
objects
Total
Name of related multiple property listing
Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a muftiple property listing.)
Number of contributing resources preyiously Itsted
In the National Register
Archllectural and Historical Resources of Oriainal Town Plat Neiohborhood (Phase II) 1845 - 1945
5
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
DOMESTIC/Sinole Dwellinos
DOMESTIC/Secondarv Structures
DOMESTIC/MuItiDIe Dwellinos
EDUCATION/Colleoe
RELlGIONlRelioious Facilitv
RELIGION/Church-Related Residence
HEALTH CARElHosDital
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
DOMESTIC/Sinole Dwellinos
DOMESTlC/Secondarv Structures
DOMESTIClMultiDle Dwellinos
EDUCATIONlColleoe
EDUCATION/Librarv
RELlGION/Relioious Facilitv
RELIGION/Church-Related Residence
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions)
Matèrials
(Enter categories from instructions)
MID-19th CENTURY/Gothic Revival
MID-19th CENTURY/Greek Revival
foundation STONE/Limestone
walls WOODlWeatherboard
BRICK
LATE VICTORIAN/Queen Anne
roof
ASP HAL T
other
Narratiye Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County, IA
county and State
8. Statement of Slaniflcance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark ''x. In one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing.)
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions)
IX] A Property is associated with events that have made
a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
ARCHITECTURE
U B Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
[2Q C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses
high artistic values. or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
Period of Significance
1850-1954
U D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield,
information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.)
Significant Dates
N/A
Property is:
U A owned by a religious institution or used for
religious purposes.
U B removed from its original location.
Significant Person
(Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
N/A
u C a birthplace or grave.
U D a cemetery.
Cultural Affiliation
N/A
U E a reconstructed building, object. or structure.
U F a commemorative property.
U G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance
within the past 50 years.
Narrative Statement of Significance
(ExDlain the sianificance of the DI'QDertv on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Maior Biblioøraphlcal References
Bibliography
(Cite the books, articles. and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Preyious documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data:
U preliminary detemnination of individual listing l1U State Historic Preservation Office
(36 CFR 67) has been requested U Other State agency
U preyiously listed in the National Register U Federal agency
U previously detemnined eligible by the National [2g Local government
Register U University
U designated a National Historic Landmark U Other
U recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository:
#
U recorded by Historic American Engineering
Record #
Architect/Builder
See continuation sheet
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and Stale
10. Geoaraphlcal Data
Acreage of Property
12 acres
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet.)
1 I.1l§1 ~
Zone Easting
3I.1l§1 ~
~
Northing
~
2I.1l§1 ~
Zone Easting
4 I.1l§1 mmJ§lQl
U See continuation sheet
~
Northing
~
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared BY
organization
Marlvs A. Svendsen. Svendsen Tvler. Inc.
for Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission
nameltitle
city or town Sarona
state WI
date Januarv. 2004
telephone 715/469-3300
zip code 54870
street & number
N3834 Deep Lake Road
Additional Documentation
SubmU the following ems with the complete fonn:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any addlllonalllems)
Proøertv Owner
(Complete this Uem at the request of SHPO or FPO.)
name Various - see continuation sheets
street & number
telephone
city or town
state
zip code
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties
for listing Of determine eligibilíty for listing. to list properties. and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in
accordance wUh the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
EstImated Burden Statement Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this
fonn to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and
Budget, Paperwork Reductions Projects (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
5 & 7
Page
1
Jefferson Sfreet Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
5. Classification: Related Multiple Property listinG (continued)
"Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa" MPS (1994, amended 2000)
7. Description: Architectural Classification (continued)
LATE VICTORIAN/ltalianate
LATE VICTORIAN/Second Empire
LATE VICTORIAN/Romanesque
LATE 191h & 20'" CENTURY REVIVALS/Classical Revival
LATE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY REVIVALSlltalian Renaissance Revival
LATE 191h & 20'" CENTURY REVIVALS/Colonial Revival
LATE 191h & 201h CENTURY REVIVAlSrrudor Revival
LATE 191h & 201h CENTURY REVIVALS/late Gothic Revival
LATE 19'" & 20'" CENTURY REVIVALS/late Gothic Revival/Collegiate Gothic
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS/Bungalow/Craftsman
Description: Materials (continued)
foundation: CONCRETE
walls: STUCCO
roof: METAL
roof: STONE/Slate
7. Narratiye Description:
The Jefferson Street Historic District is a linear neighborhood located one block north of the downtown and immediately
adjacent to the east campus of the University of Iowa (historically referred to as the State University of Iowa or SUI in
this nomination). The District also borders the southern edge of a commercial and residential section of Iowa City
known as the "North Side." The District extends east for approximately three blocks along East Jefferson Street from
North Clinton Street on the west to North Van Buren Street on the east. The northern edge of the District generally
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
7
Page
2
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
follows along the alleys to the north of East Jefferson Street. The southern edge of the District jogs through portions of
the University of Iowa in the west half and generally follows the alleys south of East Jefferson Street in the east half.
Properties facing the intersecting streets of Dubuque, Linn, Gilbert, and Van Buren are also included within the Disbict.
All of the Jefferson Street Historic District is contained within the Original Town Plat of the city of Iowa City, which was
laid out in 1839 as the territorial capital of Iowa Territory. Jefferson Street was laid out with a standard 80-foot width with
alleys measuring 20 feet and intersecting streets also measuring 80 feet. Adjacent blocks measured 320 feet by 320
feet with eight large lots in each block containing 80 feet of street frontage and a depth of 150 feet. Development of the
west half of the Jefferson Street Historic Disbict saw several instances of the combination of lots to form larger building
parcels for institutional structures while the east half of the District experienced subdivision of lots resulting in a denser
residential neighborhood. Most of the south side of the 100-300 blocks of Jefferson Street is part of the east campus of
the University of Iowa with Linn Street vacated to form a continuous double-block. All of the streets in the District are
paved in asphalt with 4-foot wide cement walks along each side. Jefferson Street serves as an eastbound one-way with
westbound traffic handled by Market Street located one block to the north.
The terrain of the District is generally flat with buildings sited level with the street. The exception are the lots on the
north side of the 400 block of Jefferson Street that have moderate to steep upgrades along the sidewalks but no
retaining walls. The neighborhood has a dense covering of deciduous trees. Their age suggests that considerable
planting took place before World War II. Street plantings include maple, oak, ash, hackberry, American elm, and a few
catalpas with conifers generally reserved for settings within private lots. Dutch elm disease decimated most of the elm
trees by the 1970s. Today streets in the Jefferson Street Historic Disbict are lined by a mixture of 60 to 80 year old trees
measuring 40 to 75 feet in height. 1 There are no natural water features within the District and no city parks or
playgrounds in or near the District.
The building stock in the Jefferson Street Historic District includes a mix of institutional and residential buildings that
reflect its historical deyelopment along the edge of the downtown and the SUI campus. University related resources
include buildings originally used as a biological sciences classroom building, a medical school anatomy lecture hall, an
isolation hospital, and sorority houses. Buildings used for religious purposes include four churches, a student center, a
former convent, and a rectory. The balance of the District includes two large apartment buildings, single-family
dwellings that date from the 1850s through the 1930s, and secondary structures erected during the early 20'" century.
The District contains a total of 44 buildings including 38 primary resources and six secondary resources. All but one of
the primary resources or 97 percent are considered contributing resources with 22 buildings or 50 percent qualifying as
individually significant or key contributing resources. One primary building, the Neuman Catholic Center (104 E.
Jefferson Street), is non-contributing due to its relatively recent date of construction though it is physically connected to a
previously freestanding historic convent. The two are counted as a single resource within the District. The District also
contains 6 secondary resources originally constructed as garages. Of these, four are considered contributing and two
have been determined non-contributing due to alterations or age.
The pattern of building and density of the Jefferson Street neighborhood is a result of the organic manner in which the
area was developed over eight decades. Sanborn maps from various dates reveal the construction of earlier buildings
on some lots and their replacement by larger, more substantial buildings as the decades passed. In several cases, brick
and frame dwellings were moved to nearby lots to make room for larger buildings. One instance (John and Magdalena
Englert House, 320 E. Jefferson Street), saw the movement of a house that originally faced Market Street across the
alley into the District in order to make room for an expansion of the family-owned brewery. In another case, a widow
moved her former house (115 N. Gilbert Street) one lot north to make room for a substantial new residence for her and
.Email interview with Terry Robinson, Park & Recreation Department, City of Iowa City re: species and size of
neighborhood trees December 2003.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
7
Page
3
Johnson County. IA
County and State
her children (Mary Rohret House, 328 E. Jefferson Street). The practice of moving buildings was a long-standing
tradition in Iowa City identified in the in the amendment to the "Iowa City Historic Resources MPS" for the historic context
"Architectural and Historical Resources of Original Town Plat Neighborhood (Phase II), 1845 - 1945"2 More than 10
percent of the primary buildings in the North Side neighborhood under study were moved to their current sites during the
period 1904 - ca. 1935.
The District's two and two-and-half-story houses are constructed of frame, brick, and stucco with frame being the most
popular. Wood cladding includes narrow and medium width clapboards or decorative shingles. Institutional buildings
are constructed of masonry materials including dressed and ashlar limestone and locally manufactured red brick.
Bedford stone was used for one of the churches and both of the State University of Iowa's tum-of-the-20th-century
buildings with brick used for the other churches, apartment buildings, and hospital building. Brick was also used for
several houses, the rectory, the convent, and a sorority house within the District.
The institutional and residential buildings in the Jefferson Street Historic District exhibit a variety of late 19th and early
20th century historic architectural styles including excellent examples of eleven distinct styles. Greek Revival, Italianate,
Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and Craftsman style houses are scattered through the District with well preserved
institutional buildings designed in the Gothic Revival, French Second Empire, Classical Revival, Romanesque Revival,
Italian Renaissance Revival, and a mix of the Collegiate Gothic and Tudor Revival. Many of the dwellings are examples
of vernacular house forms commonly found in Iowa City before and after the turn of the 20th century. The vernacular
forms that appear most frequently in the Jefferson Street Historic District are the American Four-Square (most
common), Front-Gable Roof, and Side-Gable Roof house forms. These styles and vernacular forms are discussed in
greater detail in the amendment to the "Iowa City Historic Resources MPS" for the historic context" Architectural and
Historical Resources of Original Town Plat Neighborhood (Phase II), 1845 - 1945" approved by the National Park
Service in 2000.
Some of the best examples of residential architectural styles, vernacular house forms, and institutional architectural
styles in the Jefferson Street Historic District are listed below. A complete list of contributing and non-contributing
resources appears on pages 24 and 25.
· Greek Revival:
· Italianate:
· Queen Anne:
· Colonial Revival:
· Front-Gable:
Residential Architectural Styles
Bostick-Rohret House, 115 N. Gilbert SI. (Photo #1, ca. 1850, NRHP)
Robert & Julia Hutchinson House, 318 E. Jefferson SI. (ca. 1875)
John & Magdalena Englert House, 320 E. Jefferson SI. (Photo #2, ca. 1885)
John & Catherine Sueppel House, 425 E. Jefferson SI. (Photo #3, 1876)
Joseph & Ludmila Barborka House, 114 N. Gilbert SI. (ca. 1900)
Justine Mueller House, 420 E. Jefferson SI. (Photo #4, ca. 1905)
Vernacular House Forms
David & Isabell Abrams House, 424 E. Jefferson SI. (1893)
2.Architectural and Historical Resources of Original Town Plat Neighborhood (Phase II), 1845 - 1945," Amendment to the
"Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa MPS," National Register of Hisforic Places, 2000, pp. 49-50.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
7
Page
4
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson CountY IA
County and Slate
· Am. Four-Square: Alois & Esther Smith House, 120 N. Gilbert St. (ca. 1908)
Mary Rohret House, 328 E. Jefferson St. (Photo #5, 1911)
Falk Rental House, 403 E. Jefferson SI. (1907)
James & Henry Kohrt House/Phi Rho Sigma Annex, 430 E. Jefferson St. (1924)
John & Mary Messner House, 117 N. Van Buren St. (Photo #6, ca. 1911)
Institutional Architectural Styles
· Gothic Revival:
First Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St. (Photo #7, 1868)
First Methodist Episcopal Church, 214 E. Jefferson SI. (Photo #8, 1908)
· French Second Empire: Park House/SI. Agatha's Seminary, 130 E. Jefferson St. (Photo #9, 18521ca. 1875)
· Romanesque Revival: st Mary's Rectory, 220 E. Jefferson St. (Photo #10, 1891)
SI. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 230 E. Jefferson SI. (Photo #11, 1867/1907)
· Classical Revival: Hall of Anatomy, 119 E. Jeff!!rson StJSUIBIc:lg. #19, (Photo #12, 1902)
Medical Laboratory Building, 121 E. Jefferson StJSUI Bldg. #18 (Photo #13, 1902)
· Italian Renaissanœ Revival: St. Mary's Convent (part of Newman Center), 104 E. Jefferson St. (ca. 1930)
Isolation Hospital, 325 E. Jefferson St. (Photo #14, 1916)
· Collegiate Gothic: SI. Paul's Lutheran Church, 404 E. Jefferson SI. (Photo #15, 1926)
The condition of buildings in the Jefferson Street Historic District ranges from fair to exœllenl. Nearly all of the
residences originally used as single-family homes have been subdivided into duplexes or apartments with three
residences converted to use as guesthouses (115 N. Gilbert Street, 119 N. Gilbert Street, and 328 E. Jefferson Street).
The most likely alteration to houses in the District that have been conyerted to use as rental housing is the addition of
synthetic siding including asbestos shingle siding dating from the 1940s and aluminum siding or vinyl siding added
beginning in the 1960s. Other changes include the removal of porches and the construction of rear wings and attached
garages. One new institutional building has been built at the west end of the District. The Newman Catholic Center
(104 E. Jefferson Street) replaced the former Catholic school on that site in 1988 but the adjacent SI. Mary's Convent
rem¡¡in!l conn!!Çt!!d to th!! new bujlding. Historiç r!!h¡¡bjlitations have b!!en completed for a number Of buildings within
the District during the 1990s including two major University of Iowa buildings. The SUI Hall of Anatomy (SUI Building
#19) was conv!!rted to the Biological Sciences Library and the SUI Medical Laboratory Building (SUI Building #18) was
rehabilitated for continued use as the Biology 6uilding. Other buildings substantially rehabilitated include the Park
House/SI. Agatha's Seminary at 130 E. J!!ff!!rson Street, the Mary Rohr!!t House at 328 Jefferson Stree~ and the
William Bostick House at 115 N. Gilbert Streel. All of th!! churches within the District have seen significant maintenance
work during th!! 1990s as well.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
5
Jefferson Street Historic Distrid
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
8. Statement of Sianiflcance:
General:
The Jefferson Street Historic District is locally significant under Criteria A and C.
Under Criterion A the Jefferson Street Historic District derives significance under the category of "Community Planning and
Development' The District is associated with an important era of growth in one of Iowa City's North Side neighborhoods at
the end of the 19'" century and the beginning of the 20'" century. During this time, Jefferson Street was transformed from a
neighborhood of single family dwellings and churches to a neighborhood of larger, more substantial residences, churches,
and State University of Iowa education and hospital buildings. Prominent Iowa City residents continued to make the District
their home throughout its development, choosing to build, enlarge, move, and rebuild homes along a street favored by
proximity to the city's churches, downtown businesses, and SUI campus.
Additional significance under Criterion A derives from the fact that the Jefferson Street Historic District represented a cross
section of middle and upper income households with prominent business and professional leaders living next door to
working class families. As the 20'" century progressed, this mix of social groups included individuals associated with the
University as professors, physicians, and laborers of many types. Undergraduate students, graduate students, nursing
students, and medical students resided in apartment buildings, boarding houses, and sorority houses in the District with
many attending classes and working in University medical school buildings in the District
Under Criterion C the Jefferson Street Historic District is significant as a representative collection of the residential
architectural styles, vernacular house forms, and institutional architectural styles that appeared in Iowa City neighborhoods
from the 1850s through the 1930s. A number of examples of the work of important local and state architects have been
identified to date with a likelihood that more may exist In addition to single-family dwellings, the District contains four
architecturally significant churches and seyeral other buildings with religious connections including a cOnvent and rectory.
Three architecturally important SUI buildings including two classroom buildings and one hospital building are present as well.
Together the District's buildings tell the story of architectural design and vernacular building practices displaying 11 different
architectural styles.
Four buildings within the District are already listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Congregational Church
(30 North Clinton Street), the William Bostick House (115 North Gilbert Street), the Park House/St Agatha's Seminary (130
East Jefferson Street), and St Mary's Roman Catholic Church and Rectory (230 East Jefferson Street). The last property
contains two contributing resources.
Although a number of individual properties in the district are associated with important local business and civic leaders, no
significance is asserted under Criterion B. No reconnaissance or intensive level archeological surveys were conducted for
properties within the District. As a result, no significance is claimed under Criterion D.
The period of significance for this locally significant historic District extends from 1850 to 1954. The first date marks the
construction of the earliest architecturally significant resource in the District and the last date marks the 50-year cut-off for
National Register eligibility.
North Side Historical Survey Recommendations:
The Jefferson Street Historic District is one of four existing or proposed historic districts located in a section of Iowa City
known as the "North Side." This area is located in the northern tiers of blocks in the Original Town Plat and contains
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
6
Jefferson Street Historic Disbict
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and state
approximately 50 city blocks. Historic preservation surveys of portions of the North Side were first completed in 1977 and
again in 1981 by City of Iowa City planning interns. In 1982 nominations to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)
for two contiguous North Side historic districts - one commercial properties and one residential properties - were prepared
and submitted to the local historic preservation commission and the SHPO. Both districts were eventually approved at the
state level but final submittal to the National Park Service was withheld pending adoption of a local historic preservation
ordinance. The nominations were eyentually redrafted in 1984 but due to contentious local debate at the time, they were not
resubmitted to the SHPO. Following completion of a comprehensive historic preservation plan by the City of Iowa City in
1992, a more complete historical and architectural survey was begun in multiple phases in the North Side. Sections of the
North Side were included in each of the following studies:
· Dubuque/Linn Street Corridor Survey by Molly Naumann (1996)
· Original Town Plat of Iowa City (Phase I) Survey by Jan Nash, Tallgrass Historians L.C. (1997)
· Original Town Plat of Iowa City (Phase II) Survey by Marlys Svendsen, Svendsen Tyler, Inc. (1999)
· Goosetown Neighborhood (Phase III) Survey by Marlys Svendsen, Svendsen Tyler, Inc. (2000)
· Iowa City Central Business District Survey by Marlys Svendsen, Syendsen Tyler, Inc. (2000)
Once these survey efforts were underway, two NRHP nominations were prepared using the multiple property documentation
(MPD) and historic district format. To date, the Brown Street Historic District nomination and the Original Town Plat Phase II
MPD haye been listed on the NRHP. In 2000 a reexamination of the various North Side surveys was completed and
recommendations for future NRHP nomination work were made by Marlys Svendsen to guide the efforts of the Iowa City
Historic Preservation Commission and the City of Iowa City.
In addition to the already listed Brown Street Historic District (listed 1994), Svendsen recommended that nominations be
considered for several other North Side areas that contained sufficient integrity, architectural significance, and/or historical
associations that helped to represent this important Iowa City neighborhood. The North Side was developed oyer 16
decades beginning in the 1840s. Historic resources survive from throughout this period and are scattered oyer the entire
geographic area. Several generations of development and redeyelopment took place throughout all sections of the North
Side in subsequent years. As a result, each of the potential North Side historic district areas has a similar period of historical
significance extending from the late 1840s or early 1850s through ca. 1950. Architecturally speaking, all of the potential
districts recommended contain good representative examples of the architectural styles and vernacular house forms that
became popular during this period. For comparison purposes, each district is briefly described below:
· Jeffel1lon Street Historic District - This four-block section of Jefferson Street contains an important collection of
Iowa City churches, residences, and institutional buildings associated with the State Uniyersity of Iowa Medical
School and the University Hospital. The district's buildings are historically significant under the themes of education,
rel~ion, and community planning as well as architecturally significant for the good examples of late 19'" and early
20 century institutional and residential building styles.
· Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District - This well-preserved group of large-scale, single-family residences extends
along the north-south routes of two important North Side streets - the brick-paved course of Linn Street and the
north-south route of the Old Military Road known today as North Gilbert Street. The district is architecturally
significant for the representative collection of architectural styles and vernacular house forms dating from the 1 BaOs
to 1920s. The district also contains a good set of examples of the work of one of Iowa City's most important turn of
the century architects, O.H. Carpenter. Historically, the district demonstrates the importance of deyelopment factors
such as street paving and proximity to employment generators in stimulating residential growth in existing
neighborhoods.
· Brown Street Historic District and Ronalds Street Extension - The original Brown Street Historic District was
listed in the NRHP in 1994. It qualified for listing under Criteria and A and C for its association with Iowa City's
neighborhood settlement patterns; the development of a major transportation corridor and its related sub-themes; its
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
7
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County IA
County and State
affiliation with the growth of the State University of Iowa in the decades immediately following 1900; and its collection
of representative examples of architectural forms and styles from the period extending from the 1850s through the
1920s. The original district extended along seven blocks of Brown Street and several blocks of the adjoining private
drive, Bella Vista Placa. A proposed amendment to the Brown Street Historic District includes a four-block stretch of
Ronalds Street that was not intensively surveyed until several years after the Brown Street Historic District was
listed in the NRHP. The Ronalds Street extension contains similar building stock in terms of form, scale, material,
and architectural style. Its historical development occurred during a similar period as the Brown Street Historic
District and was prompted by similar factors. These facts make the Ronalds Street extension appropriate for
amending to the existing Brown Street Historic District.
. North Clinton Street Historic Street - This potential district contains well-preserved, large scale residences
associated with some of Iowa City's most prominent business and professional leaders from the late 19'" and early
20'" canturies. In addition the houses are well-executed and well-preserved examples of the architectural styles
popular during this era. At the turn of the 21" century, the area adjoins the State University of Iowa Campus. After
World War I, several of the houses served as examples of adaptiye use as fraternity houses and rooming houses.
A number of the occupants of residencas in the district had strong links to the State University of Iowa as faculty
members and administrators.
In addition to these four historic districts, Svendsen recommended two thematic nominations for resourcas under separate
historic contexts. They include a well-preserved, but scattered, collection of University of Iowa fraternity houses and a group
of resources connected to the historical development of the Bohemian-American community.
Based on the recommendations made in 2000, the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission obtained a Certified Local
Government grant in 2003 to nominate three of the identified North Side historic district areas to the NRHP. In addition to
the Jefferson Street Historic District included in this nomination, they include the Gilbert-Linn Street Historic District and the
amendment to the Brown Street Historic District that increases its boundary with the addition of the Ronalds Street section.
The Historical Development of East Jefferson Street: 3
Iowa City was laid out as the new capital city for Iowa Territory in the summer of 1839, Its location 50 miles west of the
Mississippi River and its population canters anticipated the state's westward expansion. The Jefferson Street Historic
District is located along an east-west stretch of Jefferson Street in the cantral section of the Original Town Plat. This plat,
which appears on page 8 with the Jefferson Street Historic District outlined, included 100 blocks with eight lots per block, 31
out lot blocks, two public squares, three market squares, two public parks, and reserves set aside by territorial legislators for
churches and a school. Three of these open spaca features, now either nonextant or much altered, were originally located
near the Jefferson Street Historic District. The most significant was Capitol Square (now the Pentacrest Historic District,
NRHP) located southwest of the District on a rise overlooking the Iowa River. Lots anticipated for commercial development
measuring 80 feet x 140 feet were laid out facing the square, and a grid system of streets aligned with the compass points
stretched in four directions from the square. Jefferson Street had an SO-foot width with lots facing the street along its east-
west course. Proximity to the square initially encouraged commercial building along the north side of the 100 block of
Jefferson Street. Among the most important buildings in this block was the Park House (contributing, Photo #9) built in 1852
at 130 E. Jefferson Street opposite the northwest comer of the city park for which it was named. The hotel was frequently
used by territorial legislators as seasonal lodging. Like many of the buildings within the District, its use changed over time as
the character of the District changed. The Park House clOsed soon after the capital was moved to Des Moines in 1857 and
3Portions of this section are taken from "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa MPS" listed in the NRHP in 1994 and an
amendment to this MPS nomination, "ArcMectural and Historical Resources of Original Town Plat Neighborhood (Phase II), 1845 _
1945," listed 2000. Addilional material was taken from a second amendment to the MPS prepared in 2000 titled "Architectural and
Historical Resources of Iowa City Central Business District, 1855 -1945" that has not been submitted to the National Register of Historic
Places for listing. The three documents were authored by Marlys Svendsen.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
8
Jefferson Street Historic Distrid
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
the demand for transient lodging lessened. In 1861 the building reopened as St. Agatha's Seminary. It was owned by St.
Mary's Roman Catholic Church and functioned as a day and boarding school for Catholic girls under the direction of the
Sisters of Charity of the Benevolent Virgin Mary, a fact confirmed by painted wall signs in the 1865 view on page 9.
Map of Iowa CIty, 1839
(from the State Historical Society of Iowa - Iowa City)
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United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
9
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
Park HouselSt Agatha's Seminary, 1865
(Gerald Mansheim, Iowa City: An Illustrated History (Noñolk, Virginia: The Downing Company), 1989, p. 80)
The same block of Jefferson Street that attracted the Park House saw the construction of other small scale commercial
buildings during the 1850s. However, as the business center of the town gradually established itself further south along
Clinton, Washington, College, and Dubuque streets, Jefferson Street fell out of favor as a commercial district. As a result,
the Jefferson Street commercial buildings were converted to use as private schools (both non-extant - the Iowa City
Academy and Normal School and St. Joseph's Institute, a Catholic boy's school). In later years, all of this portion of the
100 block of E. Jefferson Street was aCQuired by St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church and in 1893 became the site for
construction of St. Mary's Catholic School. Like Capitol Square, the city park located just south of the District between
Jefferson Street, Iowa Ayenue, Dubuque Street, and Linn Street played an important role in the development of the District.
Its primary purpose initially was to serve as an open space on which important buildings such as churches could front.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
Jefferson Street Historic Distrid
Name of Property
10
Johnson Countv.1A
County and State
St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 1869
from the State Historical Society of Iowa - Iowa City)
,-,CO
1
During the decades of the 1840s and 1850s churches
established by Roman Catholic, Methodist Episcopal,
Methodist Protestant (later Christian), and Universalist
congregations built on the reserved lots facing the north and south
sides of the park. The first building (non-extant) occupied for St.
Mary's Roman Catholic Church was constructed in 1841-43 at the
northwest comer of Linn and Jefferson streets. At the end of the
Ciyil War a new building was erected. Father Edmonds, the
pastor of St. Mary's Church in 1867-68 when the new St. Mary's
Roman Catholic Church was erected at 230 E. Jefferson Street
(Photo #11, contributing, NRHP), has been credited with
designing the church.' An historic view of the church appears to
the left.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was the second coogr<'g,,\ion to
build a church alOng;JeffeTSC)R Street on a church I,"""",," ~ - The
first b1lilding (/:I('n-e¥t9'1t)~ completed in 1$42, ..nl"O:U..n in
18Et3-. rebtriftfolluwill~ a-fife--in t884"; -and ~huJç(J _I!:,!_~.~~J
f[ain_1906_- The.pre~øn' b'lilding ¡¡of 214 E løff..""''' 1':1......--. -.
(contribtlting, rhoto 18) .n~.!. vu'II..,I~t~d ;.. 1888. ButI.ef-4he-·
churches erected :On_œserveJOts.sauth.aOIIe..parR. Ibë. MMIIðdi$t
Protestant-Chtirch Slut the l:)ftiV8f58Iist Ohttreltt;·,are RJ.n II .R~ --;;
Before the turn of the 20"' century, a fifth church wasbuî1t â10ng
Jefferson Street. The Congregational Church (contributing, Photo
#7, NRHP) was constructed at 30 North Clinton Street on a non-
reserve lot in 1868. Located at the east end of the Jefferson
Street Historic District, the church faced Capitol Square.
The presence of these fiye churches in the 19"' century helped to
attract and retain homeowners in the blocks fronting on Jefferson
Street. The role of these churches in the social structure of the
neighborhood is born out by an examination of memberships in
several of the church-sponsored organizations of St. Mary's
Roman Catholic Church at the turn of the 20"' century. The 1897
city directory shows nine separate socilities sponsored by the
church. That yeàr, three of the leaders of the Young Ladies' Society were residents of the District While leaderS of two
men's societies had their homes here as well. Among the most involved were the five members of the John and Catherine
Sueppel family (425 E. Jefferson Street, contributing, Photo #3) who served as leaders in four separate organizations.
,,-
Despite city park's prominent location as the front yard of the town's first churches, it remained largely an unimproved
feature during its first half century. The block was never formally landscaped. Instead it contained a collection of native
grasses that was rarely cut or maintained. Historic photographs show a horizontal rail fence surrounding the park in the
post-Civil War years. Public celebrations were regularly held here, and it likely functioned as an informal gathering spot for
visitors to the downtown and students at the nearby academies and university. Public scales were maintained at the
southwest corner of the park at the intersection of Iowa Avenue and Dubuque Street giving rise to the regular practice for
many years of weighing and selling hay at this intersection. The park along with the prominent spires of the Congregational
'Gerald Mansheim, Iowa City: An Illustrated Histof}' (Norfolk, Virginia: The Downing Company), 1989, p. 58.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
11
Jefferson Street Historic Dístrid
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
Church, the first Methodist Episcopal Church (non-eJdant), and SI. Mary's Roman Catholic Church stand out on the 1868
Bird's Eye View of Iowa City that appears below. Approximate boundaries of the District are shown.
In 1890 the city council authorized transfer of the city park block to the State of Iowa for use in conjunction with the State
University of Iowa. It was thought at the time that such a move would discourage talk In the Iowa General Assembly of
moving the University to Des Moines - an ever present concern in Iowa City. Whether the transfer of the park was actually
the cause that achieved the desired effect or not, SUI was not moved.
The transfer of park property completed in 1890 was not favored by all Iowa Citians. After SUI made plans to build a new
Chemistry and Pharmacy Building on the site but before its construction, women parishioners at SI. Mary's Catholic Church
from Bird's Eye VIew of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa, 1868
(from the State Historical Society of Iowa - Iowa City)
"-
N
protested the building's construction because Of the planned felling of trees. Iowa City historian Irving Weber has
described the event as Iowa City's first protest. After a brief delay, the bishop of the Dubuque Diocese interceded and the
women withdrew so that the work could proceed.
During the decade following the property transfer, seyeral SU I buildings were constructed in the former park block. The
Chemistry-Pharmacy Building (non-extant) was built at the northeast comer of Dubuque Street and Iowa Avenue in 1890
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
12
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
and the Homeopathic Hospital (non-extant) was constructed at the southeast comer of Jefferson and Dubu~ue streets in
1894. The first section of the Uniyersity Hospital (portions extant), was erected east of Linn Street in 1897.5 In 1899 the
building complex extended across the vacated Linn Street right-of-way and into the east half of the former park block. Once
SUI redeveloped the park with buildings to house classroom and hospital space, this section of the campus became a
permanent barrier between the North Side and the downtown. Though the former park site has strong historical
associations with the deyelopment of the neighborhood, it is excluded from the Jefferson Street Historic District because of
integrity issues including the construction of several modem class room buildings, the completion of major additions to the
former University Hospital, and razing of portions of the Hospital.
A third historically important open space located near, but not within, the Jefferson Street Historic District was Center Market
near the east end of the District between Jefferson, Market, Van Buren, and Johnson streets. The impact of this block-
square market on the development of the surrounding neighborhood was significant In Iowa City's early years, its platting
allowed a large parcel of ground to be retained in public ownership while serving a succession of public uses. Like city park,
Center Market remained unimproved during its early years. Located several blocks east of three Market Street breweries
and one block east of the north/south route of the Military Road along North Gilbert Street, Center Market was not well
positioned to attract commercial development around its perimeter, however. Modest residences ringed the block instead as
a result
As Iowa City's school age population grew at the end of the 19'" century, a specific ciYic purpose was determined for the still
vacant Center Market block - the construction of public schools. Beginning in 1885 a series of school buildings (aU non-
extant) were erected on the block and successively used for various grade leyels. The first building, the Grammar School,
was erected at the northwest comer of Johnson and Jefferson streets in 1885 and converted to the 2nd Ward Elementary
School in 1903. It was reused as the Administration Building for the Iowa City School District in the early 1920s. The
second building, Iowa City's first high school, was built in 1891 at the northeast corner of Van Buren and Jefferson streets
and was conyerted to use as a grammar school in 1903. The same year, the third building -Iowa City's second high school
_ was constructed at the southwest corner of Johnson and Market Streets. It was converted to Central Junior High School in
1939. In ca. 1915 a fourth and final building was added to the former Center Market block at the southeast comer of East
Market and North Van Buren streets. All of the buildings in the former Center Market block had been razed by the time it
was acquired for construction of a parking ramp in the 1980s.
The presence of this succession of public school buildings along with three Catholic schools - St. Agatha's, St. Joseph's,
and St. Mary's - in and near the Jefferson Street Historic District, tended to reinforce the residential use of the District in
the decades preceding and following the turn of the 20'" century. Proximity to the schools also saw a number of teachers
residing in apartment buildings, private homes, and boarding houses along Jefferson Street.
Politics and government on the territorial and state levels figured prominently in Iowa City between 1839 and 1857.
T erritoriallegislative assemblies between 1841 and 1845 and state assemblies between 1846 and 1857 brought politicians
together to write three state constitutions, to adopt laws including the Code of 1851, to levy taxes, to make expenditures for
the public good, and to create a state university headquartered in Iowa City. This last act determined the future course of
~e Original Town Plat on page 8 shows this strip of land as a school reserve. In 1841 the Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association
of Iowa City organized and applied to the Territorial Legislature to use this reserve for building a school and library. The Association
completed a two-story brick building (non-extant) along the east side of Linn Street north of Iowa Avenue in 1842 but when the
Association failed to comply with the tenms of the legislative grant, the property reverted to the State of Iowa. The Mechanics' Hall had a
succession of uses including Iowa City's first public school in 1853, the first building for the State University of Iowa (1855-1858), SUI's
Nonmal Department (1860), and a men's donmitory for SUI (1866). In ca. 1871 the Mechanics' Hall was converted to a 2O-bed hospital
managed by the SUI Medical Department with nursing provided by the Sisters of Mercy. In 1885 the Sisters of Mercy established a
separate hospital and the building was vacated.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
13
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
events in Iowa City more than any other development and is more fully described in the historic context for the "University
of Iowa (1855 -1940)" contained in the "Historic Resources of Iowa City" MPS. As the historic context points out, howeyer,
the economic benefits of the enabling legislation for the State University of Iowa were slow to be realized as growth of SUI
during its first decades was erratic. As a result, property owners in the blocks most closely positioned to SUI's grounds on
Capitol Square saw the greatest benefit early on. Among those most favored were property owners along East Jefferson Street
Residences housed SUI professors and staff members while apartment buildings and boarding houses were filled by students
and junior faculty. Real estate sales appear to have been steady with Johnson County Property Transfer Records showing
frequent sales. City directories both before and after 1900 confinn the occupancy of many houses by families or widows with
one or more children attending SUI as well.
The 1890s ushered in a period of expansion for SUI in tenns of enrollment, faculty, and physical plant. Construction of
several Uniyersity buildings in the fanner city park block along East Jefferson Street was among the first projects to be
completed. Under the successive presidencies of Charles Schaeffer (1887-1898) and George MacLean (1899 -1911), a
comprehensiye plan for the development of the campus was implemented. Architect Henry Van Brunt successfully
advocated the use of the Beaux-Arts Style for the design of four major new buildings to flank Old Capitol, the fonner
territorial capitol on Capitol Square. The plan was completed between 1902 and 1924 and Capitol Square was given a
new name - the 'Pentacresf (NRHP).
At the same time that plans for the Pentacrest were taking shape, disaster struck elsewhere on Capitol Square. In 1901 the old
Medical School Building that stood south of Old Capitol was struck by lightning and destroyed by the ensuing fire. In the
aftennath, two new buildings for the SUI Medical School were constructed in the 100 block of East Jefferson Street - the
Hall of Anatomy (SUI Building #19, Photo #12, contributing) at 119 E. Jefferson Street and the Medical Laboratory Building
(SUI Building #18, contributing, Photo #13) next door at 121 E. Jefferson Street. Both were constructed in 1902.
Sanborn maps show the Hall of Anatomy originally included an embalming area on the ground level, a lecture hall on the
second floor, a dissecting laboratory on the third floor with tiered seating ringing the north wall, and a cremating area in the
attic level. The building also housed a 10Q-ton freezer for cadaver storage. Built at the same time as the Hall of Anatomy,
the Medical Laboratory Building was constructed immediately to the northeast. Sanborn maps show that it originally included
classrooms on the ground level, a lecture hall with classrooms and offices on the second floor, and a clinical laboratory and
general laboratory the third floor. The Medical School's surgery department was located in another freestanding building to
the southwest (non-extant). In 1928 both the Medical School and the SUI Hospital reloeated to the west side of the river
following completion of the $4.5 million General Hospital. The former Hall of Anatomy and Medical Laboratory Building
continued uses in the human sciences with the Hall of Anatomy variously called the Human Anatomy Laboratory and the
Biology Building Annex. The Medical Laboratory Building was renamed the ZOOlo~y Building and later, the Biology Building.
Both buildings received substantial rehabilitations shortly before the turn ofthe 21 century. Joseph Hall Bodine (1895-1954)
was among the distinguished zoologists and biologists to occupy offices in the fanner Hall of Anatomy and Zoology Building.
Bodine was notable for his contributions to the physiology and biochemistry of embryonic development and as head of the
Zoology Department at SUI beginning in 1929.
Construction of the Hall of Anatomy and the Medical Laboratory Building along Jefferson Street came at the end of a decade
that had seen considerable growth in the SUI Medical School. As was noted earlier, both the Homeopathic Hospital (non-
extant) and first sections of the SUI Hospital were constructed in the former city park site in 1894 and 1897 respectively.
The need for two hospitals arose due to a disagreement between homeopaths and allopaths regarding medical privileges.
The original SUI Hospital was in the hands of the allopaths and consisted of three sections built in a U-shaped plan. The
center section and the southwest wing were completed in 1897 with other wings added in 1908, 1912, and 1914. Two years
later in 1916, new hospital procedures regarding infectious diseases saw construction of the last major SUI Medical School
building on the east campus - the SUI Isolation Hospital (contributing, Photo #14) located at 325 E. Jefferson Street. The
building was free standing at street level but connected to the main hospital by underground tunnels despite its name.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
14
Jefferson Street Historic Distrid
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
Continued growth in the SUI Medical School and the SUI Hospital programs after World War I brought another wave of
change to the Jefferson Street Historic District. In 1924 construction began on a new 7ao-patient hospital and medical
school on the west side of the Iowa River. The project was completed in 1928 with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation
matched by the Iowa General Assembly. Soon after the new hospital complex opened, the Isolation Hospital was
abandoned. A 1-story wing (non~xtant) was constructed to the south replacing several residences previously used as
housing for nurses. The building complex was renamed the Music Building and served in this capacity until 1972. It was
subsequently used as art studios and in 2003, during completion of this nomination, stood vacant.
While public open spaces, churches, schools, collegiate buildings, and hospitals were being established along Jefferson
Street from the 1850s through the 1920s, several phases of residential development took shape along the street. The first
generation of dwellings included mostly small frame structures located either close to the street or with random setbacks.
The earliest view of dwellings in the District is found in the 1868 Bird's Eye VIØW of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa
reproduced on page 11. The map shows one and two-story houses widely spaced along the length of Jefferson Street with
denser clusters on the south side of the street between Clinton and Dubuque streets and on the north side between Gilbert
and Van Buren streets. Only one of the nearly two dozen residences depicted here survives in the District in 2003 - the
William Bostick House at 115 N. Gilbert Street (contributing, Photo #1, NRHP). Constructed in 1850, this two-story brick
house stood one lot to the south when it was built as a private residence for the Bostick family. It served as Iowa City's city
hall from ca. 1875 to 1882 while the new city hall was being constructed. Then, it resumed domestic use when Mary Rohret
and her husband George, a retired farmer acquired it. The couple lived here until George's death when Mary had the house
moved about 100 feet north to its current location on Gilbert Street in ca. 1909 before constructing a new family residence.
.
Industrial and merchant families built nearly a dozen houses still standing in the Jefferson Street Historic District. The most
important industrial family in the neighborhood was the Englerts, who owned a brewery and ice business in Block 59 that
fronted on Market Street one block north of Jefferson Street. Members of the Englert family eventually owned three houses
in this block. The oldest was a large frame house built in the Queen Anne Style for John and Magdalena Englert in ca. 1885.
It originally stood next to the Englert-owned City Brewery that faced Market Street immediately north of where the house
stands today. City Brewery was one of three breweries between Gilbert and Dubuque streets along Market Street that
thrived during the late 19" century. Sanbom maps from the period document the move of the house to the present site at
320 E. Jefferson Street (contributing, Photo #2). The Englerts resided in this house before and after it was physically moyed
in 1910 to accommodate business expansion. Nearby Englert family houses included the Clarence and Marie Englert
House at 324 E. Jefferson Street and the Mollie Englert House at 119 N. Gilbert Street. Employees of the two other Market
Street breweries, the Graff Union Brewery and the Dostal Great Western Brewery, also resided in the District at the turn of
the 20" century.
Merchant families in the Jefferson Street Historic District included seyeral grocers, a meat market owner, several clothing
and shoe store operators, a jeweler, and a hardware storeowner. John and Catherine Sueppel were among the most
prominent. The couple and their large family lived in a spacious Queen Anne Style house built in 1876 at 425 E. Jefferson
Street (contributing, Photo # 3). John had immigrated to the United States from Germany and held a number of ciYic
positions after arriving in Iowa City, including city treasurer for two years and county treasurer for four years. He and his
family were active members in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church located just two blocks west of the family home.
Sueppel's professional life saw him own and operate a successful grocery business while also serving as secretary-treasurer
for the George Hummer Mercantile Company. After John's death, his wife Catherine took over operation of Sueppel's
Grocery while continuing to operate her own business - Catherine Sueppel Clothier and Furnisher. By 1918 the Sueppel
House was occupied by the next generation, son Francis and his wife Mary. Francis Sueppel served as secretary of the
Iowa City Electric Railway Company, the Mississippi Valley Electric Co., and the Rundell Land Improvement Co., an
important local real estate development company. Sueppel family members held the property until 1936.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
15
Jefferson Street Historic Distrid
Name of Property
Johnson County. JA
County and State
Another social pattern that was observed in several instances in the Jefferson Street Historic District in which recently
widowed women construct major family residences in the neighborhood. Justine Mueller, widow of Adam Mueller, bought
the property at 420 E. Jefferson Street (contributing, Photo #4) in 1904, commissioned an architect to design a house for the
lot a short time later, and had a house built for herself and her four children the following year. Adam had been a partner in
Mueller Brothers Shoes in downtown Iowa City. After Justine's death, her daughters Mary and Margaret owned the family
house until 1956. One worked as a bookkeeper for Mueller Brothers Shoes and the other was a schoolteacher.
In a similar case, Mary Rohret tackled an even larger homebuilding project following the death of her husband George
Rohret, a retired farmer and carpenter. The Rohret family had previously lived in the two-story brick dwelling located at the
northwest corner of Jefferson and Gilbert streets. When a new house was planned in 1908, the former residence was
moved to the north half of the lot (115 North Gilbert Street) to make room for a modem American Four-Square house.
Construction dates for single-family houses in the Jefferson Street Historic District indicate that most dwellings were built
during the decades immediately before and after 1900. This pattern is typical of other North Side neighborhoods and may
reflect general growth in Iowa City during the period. In the case of East Jefferson Street, however, it likely reflects the
expansion of the State University of Iowa's east campus in the blocks immediately adjacent to the District. Five major
buildings connected to the SUI Medical School and SUI Hospital were constructed between Clinton and Gilbert streets
between 1894 and 1916. Fifteen new houses were completed in the District during the same period with fiye more
completed during the early 1920s.
Another important housing trend during these years responded to the growing need for rental housing, more particularly _
student housing. Along East Jefferson Street this need was met in a variety of ways. Nursing students, for example, were
housed in the former Robert and Julia Hutchinson House at 318 E. Jefferson Street (contributing). From ca. 1911 through
ca. 1920 the building served as the SUI Nurses Home and by 1926 was described in city directories as the SUI Obstetrical
Home. Located directly across the street from the SUI Hospital and SUI Isolation Hospital, the house was officially
converted to apartments in 1947.
The establishment of rooming houses and boarding houses for SUI students was repeated throughout the District. The
Chase Rooming House was operated by Marie Chase, a widow, at 22 North Gilbert Street (contributing) in the years
immediately preceding and following World War I. During this period the University established informal but strict policies
about such establishments restricting rooming houses to same-sex boarders. A variation on this restriction applied to the
location of sorority and fraternity houses. The former were located in neighborhoods east of the downtown while the latter
were located on N. Dubuque and N. Clinton streets or west of the river. Several houses functioned as sorority houses in the
Jefferson Street Historic District through the years, the largest example constructed at 430 E. Jefferson Street (contributing).
Its design was that of an oversized American Four-Square with a private apartment for the owners, Janet and Henry Kohrt.
The Kohrts served as house-parents during its early years when it was leased to members of the Phi Rho Sigma Sorority as
an annex to the main sorority house located a block away at 505 East Iowa Avenue. Another sorority house was located
across the street at 431 E. Jefferson (contributing) beginning in the 1920s. Originally built as a private residence for Laura
and William Foster, it was used as the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority House and the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority House after
World War I.
The largest example of rental housing in the District was the former Park House/St. Agatha's Seminary (contributing, Photo
#9) at 130 E. Jefferson Street. After St. Agatha's Seminary closed here in 1909 the building became a women's dormitory.
Beginning in 1918, the building was conyerted to flats and renamed for proprietor Albert Burkley as the Burkley Place
Apartments. The demand for apartments continued to be brisk after World War I and Burkley added a separate new
apartment building to the north at 115 N. Dubuque Street (contributing) named "Burkley Place North.' Together the two
buildings had nearly 40 flats. Prior to World War II, SUI junior faculty and staff as well as downtown employees occupied
buildings such as these. Student use of such apartments was a post-war phenomenon.
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National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
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Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County IA
County and State
By the time the Jefferson Street Historic District was fully developed by the late 1920s, the neighborhood consisted of a mix
of middle and upper income households in owner -occupied and rental houses and apartments. Students at the State
University of Iowa, especially medical students, nursing students, and music students filled rooming houses and apartment
buildings. Infomnation in the list below has been gleaned from biographical histories, city directories, obituaries, and other
sources and provides a sampling of the District's residents, their occupations or professions, business affiliations, and the
location of the houses they occupied. Dates shown are for estimates for building construction:
East Jefferson Street
104 E. Jeffelson St., Newman Catholic Center, 1988 (St. Mary's Convent wing originally bui~ ca. 1930)
119 E. Jefferson StISUI Building #19, Hall of Anatomy (Biological Sciences Ubrary), 1902
121 E. Jefferson St/SUI Building #18, Medical Laboratory Building (Zoology Bldg./Biology Bldg.), 1902
130 E. Jefferson St., Park House/St. Agatha's Seminary, 18521ca. 1875
214 E. Jefferson St., First Methodist Episcopal Church (First United Methodist Church), 1908
220 E. Jefferson St., St. Mary'a Rectory, 1891
230 E. Jefferson St.. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 1867/1907
302 E. Jefferson St., Hugh & Josephine McCabe, retired, ca. 1925
306 E. Jefferson St.. Mary. Thoman, ca. 1925
318 E. Jefferson St., Robert & Julia Hutchinson, carpenter and city marshall, ca. 1875
320 E. Jefferson St., John & Magdalena Englert, owner, City Brewery, ca. 1885
324 E. Jefferson St., Joseph & Lena Weiss, occupation unknown, 1940
325 E. Jefferson St./SUI Building #20, State University of Iowa Isolation Hospital, 1916
328 E. Jefferson St., Mary Rohret, widow, 1911
403 E. Jefferson St., Dionysius Speidel, partner, Speidel Brothers Clothing Store, 1905
404 E. Jefferson St., St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1926
405 E. Jefferson St., Thomas & Martina Brown, proprietor, Clinton Street Smoke House, 1906
409-411 E. Jefferson St., Andrew & Mary Beermaker, occupation unknown, ca. 1883
413 E. Jefferson St., Beermaker rental house, ca. 1892
415 E. Jefferson St., Mrs. FA Lucas, widow, ca. 1868
420 E. Jefferson St., Justine Mueller, widow, 1905
424 E. Jefferson St., David & Isabell Abrams, shoe dealer and grocery store owner, 1893
425 E. Jefferson St., John & Catherine Sueppel, owner, Sueppel's Grocery and Catherine Sueppel
Clothier and Fumisher, 1876
428 E. Jefferson St., Warren & Anna Irons, no occupation, ca. 1921
430 E. Jefferson St., Janet & Henry Kohrt, / Phi Rho Sigma Annex, 1924
431 E. Jefferson St., Foster, Laura & William, no occupation/Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority House & Zeta Tau Alpha
Sorority House, ca. 1894
North Dubuque Street
115 N. Dubuque St., Burkley Place North Apartment Building, ca. 1925
North Gilbert Street
22 N. Gilbert St., Hugh & Margaret Smith, partner, Smith & Cilek Hardware Store
24 N. Gilbert St., Thomas Moore, no occupation, ca. 1905
114 N. Gilbert St., Joseph & Ludmila Barborka , retired jeweler, 1901
115 N. Gilbert St., Wm. Bostick, ca. 1850 and later, George & Mary Rohret, retired farmer
119 N. Gilbert St., Mollie Englert, widow of George Englert, owner, City Brewery, ca. 1900
120 N. Gilbert St., Alois & Esther Smith, brewmaster, Iowa Brewing Co. (former Dostal Brewery), ca. 1908
125 N. Gilbert 5t., Jacob & Sarah Goldberg, grocery store owner, ca. 1922
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
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Continuation Sheet
Section Number
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Jefferson Street Historic District
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North Van Buren Street
21-25 N. Van Buren St., Unnamed House. ca. 1875
109 N. Van Buren SI., William Graf, proprietor, Graf Bottling Works, 1920
117 N. Van Buren SI., John Messner, partner, Messner, Koza & Co., meat market, ca. 1911
The Architecture of the Jefferson Street Historic District:
The mix of residences, apartment buildings, churches, and collegiate buildings in the Jefferson Street Historic District
provides a representative sampling of architectural styles and vernacular forms typical of late 19" and early 20" century
neighborhoods in Iowa City. At the same time, this mix of institutional architecture and domestic building stock provides a
blend of architectural scale, materials, and designs that is rare within Iowa City.
Architects of local and regional prominence are identified with several individual buildings within the District while builders
and carpenters associated with many of the vernacular buildings remain
unidentified. Good examples can be found of Greek Revival, ltalianate, Queen
Anne, and Colonial Reyival style residences as well as well preserved examples of
vernacular forms such as the American Four-Square. Religious buildings include
fine examples of Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, French Second Empire, and
a mix of Tudor Revival and Collegiate Gothic designs while collegiate buildings are
designed in the Classical Revival and Italian Renaissance ReYival styles. A
discussion of the architecture of the District begins with an examination of seyeral
architect-designed buildings.
Churches and SUI owned buildings comprise the major architectural commissions
in the Jefferson Street Historic District. The earliest building designed by an
architect in the District is believed to be the Congregational Church at 30 N. Clinton
Street (contributing, Photo #7, NRHP). A design for the church was commissioned
in 1867 from Gurdon P. Randall (1821-1888) of Chicago. Randall had apprenticed
in the offices of Asher Benjamin of Boston before moving west in 1856. His 34-year
practice specialized in schoolhouses, churches, and courthouses throughout the
Midwest. The same year that he designed the Congregational Church in Iowa City,
he published A Handbook of Designs, Buildings. The Madison County Court House
in Winterset, Iowa was cDmpleted the same year also but was destroyed by fire in
1875. The Union Park Congregational Church completed in Chicago (1869 and
1871), was among his other church designs· It is pictured to the right, its front
façade a nearly identical, but reverse, image of the Congregational Church in Iowa
City." (see Photo #7)
The Congregational Church is a well preserved example of the Gothic Revival Style
of architecture found in religious buildings throughout the country after the Civil War.
This building is an example of the side-steeple church form. It has an asymmetrical fror
F'IfSf Baptist c<mgrega1ionaJ Church,
60 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago
"wesley I. Shank, Iowa's Historic Architects: A Biographical Dic60nary, (Nevada, Iowa: University of Iowa Press), 1999, p. 201.
7Photo by Stephen Beal from Chicago Landmarks Web Site, available at http://www.cLchi.iI.uslLandmarks/F/FirstBaptisl.html.
Accessed on November 5, 2003.
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County and State
containing an octagon broached spire ornamented with small gabled windows located at the northwest comer of the building
facing Clinton and Jefferson streets. The front façade incorporates a smaller turret on the southwest corner that originally
terminated in a pinnacle. The Gothic design's distinctive fenestration includes pointed or lancet arched windows in singles,
pairs, or trios. The building has a stone foundation and the masonry walls are constructed of a locally produced reddish
brown brick. Stone belt courses extend around the building between the raised basement and first floor and at three points
around the tower. Brick pointed arches are inset in the walls of the tower as well. Facing the Pentacrest, the Congregational
Church provides a dramatic landmark at the west entrance to the Jefferson Street Historic District.
First Methodist Episcopal Church, undated8
The First Methodist Episcopal Church
stood on al10ther church reserve lot West of St. Mary's Church and Rectory. After several fires and partial reconstructions,
the buildini;j wàs destroyed in 1906 in a fire that threatened conflagration in the densely deyeloped ~eighbort'tood. two years
liter Ii teplacement church bUilding was completed at 214 E. Jefferson Street (contributihd" Photo #8),. rhèlugh no specific
atch(ieèt has been identified for the replacement building that appears at the aboye, it is possible that the contractIng firm for
t~ij church, SHeets & Freyder, also served as architect. This long-standing Iowa City building firm traCed ilS rdOts to the
Cé~nity shops of J.M. Sheets and partners Bernard Gesberg and August Hazelhorst in the mid-19th centUry. 1'rre r\1.én
E\Yelllualij merged operations as Sheets & Co. and became noted for their millwork production and contraCting $ef'iitl;¡s.
l!Iusihess listings in city directories from before the turn of the 20th century through the 1920s listed the firm with "ârchilècts"
ås well as various builder specialties. Frank X. Freyder apparently served as the firm's architect. The firm completed
construction and/or design contracts on a number of major commercial and institutional buildings including at least fOtJr Other
Iowa City churches. One of these, the German Methodist Episcopal Church (non-extant), was located at the southeast
comer of Gilbert and Jefferson streets.
¡; ,.' .,¡....~ .
~~~;"., ,
~/,.<,:~
'-"~""'"
rt'r, :<:~~~~f
'1 ~_~ ;::,"':~.
'~~~
-
. ~ -.. -~~.
Architects for other churches in the District
are not as clearly identified. St. Mary's
Roman Catholic Church at 230 E.
Jefferson Street (contributing, Photo #11)
with its Romanesque Revi¥al-Style center
steeplefoTm was ''''JU,lt>dly <1~!\¡lIed by
Father Emonds, p..dnr..1 th.. "h, or,," at the
time or ih:t vulu::tbu\.fLiull irr-1ae&a. The
building'sJarge..footpt fnnk ÄiIv~e of
the churchreserve-iot1t occ~l!iell ~'" vite
the park. Like the' Cðogn¡gatltirial'Gllt(¡t,J.,
it was constructed of reddish brown brÌètÍ
with limestone trim. Its imposing church
steeple centered on the front façade was
one of three that marked the skyline of
East Jefferson Street by the turn of the 20"
century. When a rectory was added next
door at 220 E. Jefferson Street
(contributing, Photo #10) in 1891, it was
also designed in the Romanesque Revival
Style.
·Photo from Gerald Mansheim, Iowa City: An lIIusll8led Hislol}' (Norfolk, Virginia: The Downing Company), 1989, p. 59.
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National Park Service
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Section Number
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Jefferson Street Historic Distrid
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
At a quick glance, the massive side-steeple form and rusticated limestone walls of the 1908 First Methodist Episcopal
Church suggest that the building is a Richardsonian Romanesque design. Closer examination identifies the church as an
example of the Late Gothic Revival Style that was gaining national popularity on college campuses at the turn of the century
such as Bryn Mawr, Princeton, West Point, the University of Chicago, and Duke University. Gothic pointed arches in the
three entrance bays and the stained glass windows in the tower and sanctuary combine with steeply pitched gable roof
peaks, crenellated towers, decorative roof ridge crestings, and tall chimneys to give the church its distinctive Gothic design.
As was noted previously, growth of the State University of Iowa Medical School and related hospitals transformed a near1y
three-block stretch of the south side of Jefferson Street beginning in the decade of the 1890s. The University employed
architect that oversaw that change was the Des Moines firm of Proudfoot & Bird and its successor, Proudfoot, Bird &
Rawson. The firm was headed by William T. Proudfoot (1860-1928) and George W. Bird (1854-1953) when it relocated to
Des Moines in 1896. Harry D. Rawson (1873-1934) joined the firm in 1910. During the first decades of the 20'" century, the
firm became established as ·Iowa's preeminent early-twentieth-century architectural firm... noted for the high quality of their
architectural design, their high level of professional competence, and the large number of completed commissions.·9
Among Proudfoot and Bird's best known SUI commissions are the four academic halls on the Pentacrest that surround Old
Capitol- Schaeffer Hall (1902), MacBride Hall (1908), MacLean Hall (1912), and Jessup Hall (1924). The four Bedford
stone buildings were designed in the Classical Revival Style with Beaux-Arts elements. When fire claimed the SUI Medical
School Building that also stood on Capitol Square as Schaeffer Hall was nearing completion, SUI turned to Proudfoot & Bird
to design a new Medical Laboratories Building (SUI Building #18, contributing, Photo #13) and Hall of Anatomy (SUI Building
#19, Photo #12, contributing) along the south side of the 100 block of East Jefferson Street The two buildings were
completed between 1902-1904 and also featured the use of Bedford stone in their Classical Revival designs.
Further to the east along Jefferson Street, a complimentary set of hospital buildings was designed by Proudfoot and Bird for
the University. The main hospital was designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival Style with red and buff colored brick
combined with limestone trim and a red clay tiled roofs to achieve a less academic aesthetic. The main hospital and a series
of additions (either non-extant or located outside of the District) were constructed between 1897 and 1914. Construction of
the SUI Isolation Hospital in 1916 required a freestanding building, which was located at 325 Jefferson Street (contributing,
Photo # 14). Rendered in the same Italian Renaissance Revival Style and polychromatic materials, its exterior remains
largely unaltered in 2003.
The third architect identified ¡with buildings in the Jefferson Street Historic District was Orville H. Carpenter of Iowa City.
Though at least three other Duildings designed by Carpenter are already listed on the NRHP, most of what is known about
his life and professional career has been uncovered only recently by historian and Iowa City Historic Preservation
Commissioner Richard Carlson. Examinations of local newspapers and issues of American Contractor magazine for the
years 1897-1908 and 1897-1930 respectively have identified at least three residences designed by Carpenter in the
District: 10 The buildings span the period 1905-1907 and their designs demonstrate the transition between late Queen Anne
Free Classic designs and American Four-Square plans that Carpenter's work was undergoing at this time.
Orville H. Carpenter (1865-1938) was born and grew up in rural Camanche in Clinton County, Iowa about 70 miles east of
Iowa City. He attended public schools and one or more business colleges before beginning a career doing survey work for a
civil engineering company in western Iowa in 1885. During the next decade he traveled extensiyely, working for ·some of the
largest architectural firms in Buffalo, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other large cities.'" It is not known whether or not
9
Shank, p. 127.
10Richard Carlson, Iowa City Historic Preservation Commissioner, Email interview reo study of Iowa City buildings as recorded in
Iowa City newspapers, 1897-1908, and study of O.H. Carpenter buildings, 1897 -1930, November, 2003.
"Richard Cartson, Iowa City Historic Preservation Commissioner, ·Orville H. Carpenter (1865-1938), Iowa City Architect,"
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Carpenter received any formal training in architecture or engineering. By 1895 he had returned to Clinton County where he
was apparently working as an engineer, architect, or both.
In late 1898 Carpenter moved to Iowa City to open an architectural practice. A published account of his work in The
Commercia/ Megazine in 1898 featured photographs of five completed residences in Iowa City suggesting that his work had
likely commenced in Iowa City sometime before he made the decision to relocate there. The dearth of professional
architects in Iowa City at the time was a likely factor in drawing Carpenter to Iowa City. This was coupled with the fact that in
Clinton County, seyeral competent architects already had established practices and the local economy was experiencing a
decline. Carpenter appears in city directory business listings from 1899 through 1936.
A comprehensiye reyiew of local newspapers underway in 2003'2 has identified at least three residences designed by
Carpenter in the Jefferson Street Historic District. They include the Justine Mueller House at 420 E. Jefferson Street
(contributing, Photo #4), the Falk Rental House at 403 E. Jefferson Street (contributing), and the Thomas and Martina Brown
House next door at 405 E. Jefferson Street (contributing). The Mueller House is the earliest completed in ca. 1905 and is
also the most elaborate of the three residences. It is a well preserved example of a variation of the popular late 19" century
Queen Anne Style that Carpenter used for many of his early Iowa City residential designs. Its solid, hipped-roof mass
incorporated classical elements such as a keystone arched Palladian window in the attic gable, modillion style porch
brackets, heavy turned balusters, and paneled columns. As such, the house typified other late Queen Anne "Free Classic"
residential designs by Carpenter in Iowa City.
The other Jefferson Street houses by Carpenter are examples of the American Four-Square plans that he frequently
designed in the years leading up to and following World War I. The Falk House and Brown House are two of the earliest
Four-Squares that Carpenter is known to have designed. Both feature typical elements of this form incorporated in
Carpenter plans including hipped or pyramidal roofs, attic dormers, wide hipped roof front porches, and large double-hung
sash in singles and groups. Three other a.H. Carpenter residences near the Jefferson Street Historic District are
individually listed on the NRHP - the Benjamin F. and Bertha (Horack) Shambaugh House built at 219 N. Clinton street in
1902 and moved to 430 N. Clinton Street in 2002, the Arthur Hillyer Ford House completed in 1908 at 228 Brown street, and
the Emma Harvat and Mary Stach House at 332 E. Davenport Street completed a decade later in 1918. The Shambaugh
House is an example of the Free Classic Queen Anne form favored by Carpenter for his earlier designs while the Ford
House is an example of the Mission Style. The Harvat-Stach House is an eclectic blend of Colonial Revival, Georgian
Revival, and Prairie School. At least eight Carpenter houses have also been identified in the proposed Gilbert- Linn Street
Historic District located several blocks north of the Jefferson Street Historic District.
a.H. Carpenter's architectural career included more than residences such as those documented in and around the Jefferson
Street Historic District. Commercial and institutional projects including downtown business blocks, fraternal halls, and
schools were among his work in Iowa City and in southeast Iowa. Carpenter's architectural practice continued through the
1920s and early 1930s though examples of his work became more rare, perhaps due to his age. In 1938 he died while
continuing to reside in Iowa City.
As was noted earlier in this section, much if not most of the domestic building stock in the Jefferson Street Historic District
was constructed without the benefit of custom, archi!ect-designed plans. The presence of only a handful of professional
architects in Iowa City during the 19" century contributed to the dearth of professionally designed dwellings along Jefferson
Street. Newspaper advertisements of builders at the turn of the 20" century promoted the idea residences constructed by
design/build firms. This idea was further encouraged by the tradition in American homebuilding that saw house designs
frequently spring from sources other than architects. In some cases, popular house plans passed from generation to
November 18, 2003 draft; ·O.H. Carperrter," Daily/owa Stata Press (Iowa City, Iowa), Special Edition, May 31,1899, p. 6.
12Richard Carison, Iowa City Historic Preservation Commissioner, Email interview re: study of Iowa City buildings as recorded in
Iowa City newspapers, 1897-1908, and study of O.H. Carpenter buildings, 1897 -1930, November, 2003.
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generation embellished with ornamentation and design features of their richer, architect-designed cousins. In other
instances, the favored forms of individual carpenters or masons were modified based on stylistic trends of the day and built
for new customers.
In the Jefferson Street Historic District. examples of each of these homebuilding trends can be identified. The three houses
identified as O.H. Carpenter designs are evidence of the presence of professionally designed dwellings in the District.
Although specific architects have not been identified for other houses such as St. Mary's Rectory at 220 E. Jefferson Street
(contributing, Photo #10) or the Sueppel House at 425 E. Jefferson Street (contributing, Photo #3), it is likely that
professionals contributed to their designs.
Two dwellings are examples of the adaptation of a popular house plan passed down from generation to generation. Both the
William Bostick House at 115 N. Gilbert Street (contributing, Photo #1, NRHP) and the Robert and Julia Hutchinson House
at 318 E. Jefferson Street (contributing) are examples of the adaptation of the I-House form. In both cases the two-story,
side-gabled houses were constructed of brick but in the earlier Bostick House built in 1850, the building incorporated Greek
Revival Style windows, arches, and entrance treatment In the Hutchinson House built about fifteen years later, the same
house form incorporated the robust ornamentation of the Italianate Style for cornice brackets and porch trim. Robert had
first settled in Iowa City in 1839 soon after its founding working as a carpenter and joiner. He was credited with erecting the
town's first log house. During the California gold rush he went west but returned a few years later no richer for the trouble.
Hutchinson's experience as a carpenter likely encouraged him to chose a house form that was both pleasing and flexible.
Other houses constructed in the Jefferson Street Historic District drew inspiration from architectural styles and vernacular
forms that swept the country from the 1880s through the 1920s. Homebuilders for these houses turned to pattern books and
design catalogues that were readily available from local lumber companies. After the turn of the 20" century, residents may
have turned to manufacturers of pre-cut houses such as Aladdin Homes, Montgomery Ward, Sears Roebuck and Company,
and Iowa's own Gordon-Van Tine Company. Another source of vernacular home designs were the plans offered through
plan services such as the Home OWners Service Institute or pattern books published by Ray Bennett, Gustav Stickley,
Herbert C. Chives, the Radford Architectural Co., or Harris, McHenry & Baker.
The case of the Gordon-Van Tine Company headquartered in Davenport, Iowa is worth examining. The company advertised
nationally selling construction materials to builders beginning in 1906. By 1910 the company offered house plans and were
among the first companies in the country to offer fully pre-cut houses. The company's catalogues allowed the homebuyer to
select from among dozens of floor plans, finishes, design features, and equipment choices. The Gordon-Van Tine Company
knew of the brisk market for residential construction in other Iowa communities before and after World War I regularly
placing advertising in local newspapers and sending uaveling salesmen throughout the state.
The most popular vernacular house form in the Jefferson Sueet Historic District was one frequently promoted by the
Gordon-Van Tine Company - the American Four-Square. Ten separate buildings using this form were built in the District in
the years leading up to and immediately following World War I. The Gordon-Van Tine Company included 18 separate plans
in the American Four-Square house form in its 1923 catalogue seeking to capture the interest of homebuilders with such
descriptive phrases as "An Impressive Colonial Home: "A Big 6 Room House at a Low Price: "A Big Square Home - Four
Bed Rooms," "Substantial Two-Story Home: "An Every Popular Home of Fine Proportions: "Impressive Home - A Space
and Money Saver: "A Substantial Seven Room House: and" A Square House with Big Comfortable Rooms. .13
13117 House Designs of the Twenties, Gordon-Van Tine Co., (New York: Dover Publications, Inc. and Philadelphia: The
Athenaeum of Philadelphia), 1992. (reprint of Gordon-Van Tine Homes, originally published by the Gordon-Van Tine Co., Davenport,
Iowa, 1923), pp. 37, 52, 66,81,82,86,87, and 99.
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As noted above, the American Four-Square was the most common house form in the Jefferson Street Historic District.
Common characteristics included a two-story, three-bay configuration; hipped roof of various pitches; hipped, shed or gable
attic or wall dormer(s) on one or more façades; porches generally extending across the entire front facade; asymmebically
placed entrance door (common); a cottage window on first floor (common); double-hung windows or groups of windows on
upper floors and secondary façades with either 1/1,411, 511 or 611 configurations; belt courses separating first and second
floors; and differing materials on each leyel (common).
The typical plan for a Four -Square featured four rooms on the first floor usually including an entrance hall with stairs to the
second floor, a cased opening between the living room and dining room, and a spacious kitchen. The upper level contained
a bathroom and either three or four bedrooms. Examples in the District were built for a range of budgets with the smallest
examples containing less than 700 square feet per floor, moderate examples sized from 800 to 900 square feet, and a few
large houses containing more than 1,000 square feet per floor.
Although the use of pattern book houses in the Jefferson Street Historic District has not been documented, the presence of
10 examples of the American Four-Square form makes it likely that one or more were the result of catalogue or pattern book
selections.
Contributing and Non-Contributing Resources:
The Jefferson Street Historic District contains a total of 44 buildings with 41 contributing primary and secondary buildings.
Of these, 22 are key or individually significant (21 primary and 1 secondary). The balance of the District includes 1 non-
conbibuting primary building and 2 non-contributing secondary buildings. Five buildings are listed on the National Register of
Historic Places: the Congregational Church in 1973, the Park House/St. Agatha's Seminary in 1978, SI. Mary's Church and
SI. Mary's Rectory in 1995, and the William Bostick House in 1996.
Integrity requirements used to determine contributing and non-contributing designation for both primary and secondary
buildings in the Jefferson Street Historic Disbict were deyeloped using National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the
National Register Criteria for Evaluation. Individual building evaluations were consistent with local standards further refined
as a part of surveys and multiple property documentation forms completed in 1992-1994 and 1999-2000 listed below
· "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa MPS," prepared 1992, listed NRHP 1994
· Amendment to "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa MPS" for "Architectural and Historical
Resources of Original Town Plat Neighborhood (Phase II), 1845 -1945," prepared 1999, listed
NRHP 2000
· Amendment to "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa MPS" for "Architectural and Historical
Resources of Iowa City Central Business District, 1855 - 1945," prepared for the Iowa City Historic
Preservation Commission 2000 (not submitted to the National Park Service)
By definition, historic disbicts are collections of buildings that when considered as a group rather than individually possess a
sense of time and place. They may haye a shared building type, style, form, or material. They have a common period of
significance that may extend over a few years or decades. They consist of contiguous properties or multi-block areas with
relatively few intrusions. Integrity for individual buildings as well as the setting as a whole should be high. The Jefferson
Street Historic District meets these requirements.
Individual buildings were evaluated and ranked according to one of three designations: 1) key conbibuting, 2) contributing or
3) non-contributing. For single or multi-family buildings (including sorority houses, rectories, conyents, rooming houses, and
apartment buildings) to be designated as "key contributing," they had to be substantially unaltered and retain their original
appearance in shape, proportions, and roofline. Principal façades had to remain intact and largely unchanged. If synthetic
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siding has been installed it was considered acceptable if the width matched that of the original surfaces and few architectural
features had been compromised by its installation. Original porches were required to be intact, windows had to remain
unchanged except for the installation of metal storm windows, and primary entrances had to remain consistent with the
original design.
Single-family or multi-family buildings designated as "contributing" retain their original form and massing. Examples of
acceptable alterations are as follows. Porches may be enclosed but the original columns remain visible or the enclosure is
easily reversible with little or no damage to the massing and proportions of the original porch. The majority of windows
remain unchanged but if altered, the sizes of window openings conform to those of original openings. Any wings or additions
made to a house are subordinate to the original structure and do not cover significant architectural detailing. For secondary
structures such as garages, changes considered acceptable for contributing status include the replacement of garage doors.
Residential buildings designated as "non-contributing" include all structures built outside of the period of significance - 1850
to 1954. Buildings altered to such a degree that the original structure is no longer readily identifiable are also considered
non-contributing. Examples of significant changes include a change in roofline, porch enclosures of a non-reversible nature,
major additions or modifications of primary façades, and moving of a building outside of the period of significance.
The balance of the buildings in the Jefferson Street Historic District fall into the category of institutional buildings. These
larger buildings include churches, education buildings, and hospitals and were evaluated and ranked according to the same
three designations of key contributing, contributing, or non-contributing. If an institutional building is designated as a "key
contributing" resource, its primary façades are substantially unaltered and retain their original appearance in shape,
proportions, and roofline. A church, for example, retains its original shape and proportions with original window openings,
doors, spires, and other architectural features preserved. Construction materials for foundations, walls, and windows remain
original. The use of modem roofing materials is an acceptable alteration. New additions or wings are considered
acceptable if they are located along secondary façades, have sympathetic design elements, and are constructed of
compatible building materials. Such additions do not preclude a building from being considered a key contributing resource.
In general, modifICations made more than 50 years ago are accepted as part of the historic appearance of a building.
Similar integrity standards apply to other institutional buildings including those built as academic halls and hospitals within
the District. Changes to primary entrances, important window openings, and rooflines result in institutional buildings being
considered either "contributing" rather than "key contributing" or "non-contributing" depending on the leyel of change.
The final issue of building integrity involves moved buildings. National Register standards generally preclude moved
buildings from being considered either key contributing or contributing. The assumption is that a move detracts from a
building's significance by destroying its original setting and context. On the other hand, moves made during the period of
significance are treated as historic alterations if the settings and context are similar to original locations. The moving of
buildings in North Side neighborhoods in Iowa City in the decades prior to Wortd War II has been documented as a common
residential development practice. Building alterations considered acceptable for moved buildings include changes in
foundation materials, changes in porches built after a move, some entrance modifications, and some changes in building
orientation. Moves were considered detrimental if they resulted in the loss of significant architectural elements.
A list of buildings in the Jefferson Street Historic District appears on the following page. Buildings are separated into primary
(church, education hall, hospital, single-family house, or multi-family building) and secondary (carriage house or garage). If
no box is marked under the secondary building columns for a particular address, no garage or carriage house is present.
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Jefferson Street Historic District - Contributing and Non-Contributing Resources
# STREET ORlGINAU LONG- DATES PRIMARY BLDG. STATUS SECONDARY BLDG. STATUS ARCH. STYLE-
TERM OWNER(s) Contributing Key Non-Contributing Contributing Non-Contributing YERNACULAR
FORM
30 N. Clinton St. First Congregational 1868 Key Gothic Revival
Church NRHP
115 N. Dubuque St. ~:::.':Iey Place North ca. 1925 C No Style
rtment Buildina
22 N. Gilbert St. Smllh, Hugh & ca. 1910 C Am. Four-Square
MargaretiChase
Roomino House
24 N. Gilbert St. Moore, Thomas ca. 1905 C Am. Four-Square
114 N. Gilbert St. Barbort<a, Joseph & 1901 Key Colonial RevlvaU
Ludmila Cross Gable
115 N. Gilbert St. Bostick, Wm./Rohret, ca. 1850 Key Greek RevivaUSide-
Geome & Marv NRHP Gabled Two-Storv
119 N. Gilbert St. Englert, Mollie ca. 1900 C Gable-Front and Wing
120 N. GilbertSt. Smllh, Aloia & Esther ca. 1908 Key Colonial RevivaVAm.
Four-Souare
125 N. GilbertSt. Goldberg, Jacob & ca. 1922 C NC Craftsman!
Sarah Am. Four-Souare
104 E. Jefferson St. Newman Catholic 1988 NC Modem Movement
Center (with St. Mary's (Ilalian Renaissa"';:'O\
Convent wino' Revival convent win
f19 E. Jefferson St Hall of Anatomy 1902 Key Classical Revival
SUI Building #19 (Biological Sciences
Libra';;\
121 E. Jefferson St Medical Laborato/y 1902 Key Classical Revival
SUI Building #18 Building (Zoology
Bldn./8101Oav Bidå"
130 E. Jefferson St. Part< House/St. 1852/ Key Second Empire
:'~~tha's SeminarY ca. 1875 NRHP
214 E. Jefferson St. First Methodist 1908 Key Gothic Revival
Episcopal Church
(First Unlled Methodist
Church)
220 E. Jefferson St. St. Ma/y's Recto/Y 1891 Key Romanesque Revival
NRHP
230 E. Jefferson St. St. Mary's Roman 1867/ Key Romanesque Revival
Catholic Church 1907 NRHP
302 E. Jefferson St. McCebe, Hugh & ca. 1925 C Crattsman/8ungalow
Joseohine
306 E. Jefferson St. Thoman, Ma/y C Side-Gabled Two
StoNlCraftsman
318 E. Jefferson St. Hutchinson, Robert & ca. 1875 Key C ltalianatell-House
Julìa
320 E. Jefferson St. Englert, John & ca. 1885 Key Queen AnnelGable-
Maõdalena Front and Winn
324 E. Jefferson St. Englert, Clarence & 1940 C C Gable-Front and Wing
Marie
325 E. Jefferson St./ SUI Isolation Hospllal 1916 Key Italian Renaissance
SUI Buildino #20 Revival
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
25
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson Countv.IA
County and state
# STREET ORIGINAU LONG- DATES PRIMARY BLDG. STATUS SECONDARY BLDG. STATUS ARCH. STYLE-
TERM OWNER(s) Contributing Key Non-Contributing Contributing Non-Contributing YERNACULAR
FORM
328 E. Jefferson St. Rohret, Mary 1911 Key Am. Four-5quare
403 E. Jefferson St. Falk Rental House 1907 Key Am. Four-Square
404 E. Jefferson St. St. Paul's Lutheran 1926 Key EclecticITudor Revival
Church & ColIAniate Gothic
405 E. Jetferson St. Brown, Thomas & 1906 C Am. Four-5quare
Martina
409- E. Jefferson St. Beermaker, Andrew & ca. 1883 C Side-Gabled Two-
411 MaN StON
413 E. Jefferson St. Beermaker rental ca. 1892 C Side-Gabled Two-
house StON
415 E. Jefferson St. Lucas, FA ca. 1668 C Front-Gabled One
StON
420 E. Jefferson St. Mueller, Justine 1905 Key Key Colonial RevivaV
Am. Four-Sauare!
424 E. Jefferson 8t. Abrams, David & 1893 Key Front-Gabled Two
Isabell StON
425 E. Jefferson St. John & Catherine 1876 Key NC (same Queen AnnelFront-
Sueppel House garage as at 415 Gabled Two Story
E. Jefferson &
21-25 ~~n
Buren
428 E. Jefferson St. Irons, Warren & Anna ca. 1921 C C Am. Four-Square
430 E. Jefferson St. Kohrt, Janet & Henryl 1924 Key Am. Four-Square
Phi Rho Sònma Annex
431 E. Jefferson St. Foster, Laura & ca. 1894 C Queen Anne
William/Kappa Kappa
Gamma Sorority
House & Zeta Tau
Alnha Soro-'¡¡;' House
21-25 N. Van Buren St. Unnamed House ca. 1875 C Front-Gabled Two
StON
109 N. Van Buren St. Graf, William 1920 C Craftsman/Bungalow
117 N. Van Buren St. Messner, John & Mary ca. 1911 Key Am. Four-8quare
Summary:
In summary, the Jefferson Street Historic District is locally significant under Criteria A and C. Under Criterion A it derives
significance from its association with an important era of population growth and intense residential development in Iowa
City's North Side residential areas at the end of the 19'" century and the beginning of the 20'" century. Iowa Citians built
private residences for their growing families while small-scale developers constructed housing to meet the demand of a brisk
rental market during these decades. Jefferson Street's organic development followed this pattern of residential
development.
Additional significance under Criterion A derives from the institutional buildings - both religious and collegiate - that were
constructed along Jefferson Street from the 1860s through the 1920s. The streefs many churches became social centers
for the community and the neighborhood. Growth in importance of the nearby State University of Iowa beginning in the
1890s saw construction of new medical school buildings and hospitals along East Jefferson Street. The resulting mix of
institutional buildings and residences gave Jefferson Street a unique character among Iowa City's neighborhoods.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
8
Page
26
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County IA
County and Slate
Under Criterion C the Jefferson Street Historic District is significant as a representative collection of the architectural styles
and vernacular house forms that appeared in Iowa City neighborhoods from the 1850s through the 19305. The juxtaposition
of 11 different architectural styles and vernacular forms employed for single-family dwellings, rooming houses, apartment
buildings, churches, academic halls, and a hospital testifies to the architectural diversity of the District.
The combination of visual qualities and historical associations gives the Jefferson Street Historic District its distinct
neighborhood identity and significance.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
9
Page
21
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
generation embellished with ornamentation and design features of their richer, architect-designed cousins. In other
instances, the favored forms of individual carpenters or masons were modified based on stylistic trends of the day and buitt
for new customers.
In the Jefferson Street Historic District, examples of each of these homebuilding trends can be identified. The three houses
identified as a.H. Carpenter designs are evidence of the presence of professionally designed dwellings in the District.
Mhough specific architects have not been identified for other houses such as St. Mary's Rectory at 220 E. Jefferson Street
(contributing, Photo #10) or the Sueppel House at 425 E. Jefferson Street (contributing, Photo #3), it is likely that
professionals contributed to their designs.
Two dwellings are examples of the adaptation of a popular house plan passed down from generation to generation. Both the
William Bostick House at 115 N. Gilbert Street (contributing, Photo #1, NRHP) and the Robert and Julia Hutchinson House
at 318 E. Jefferson Street (contributing) are examples of the adaptation of the I-House form. In both cases the two-story,
side-gabled houses were constructed of brick but in the earlier Bostick House built in 1850, the building incorporated Greek
Revival Style windows, arches, and entrance treatment. In the Hutchinson House built about fifteen years later, the same
house form incorporated the robust ornamentation of the ltalianate Style for cornice brackets and porch trim. Robert had
first settled in Iowa City in 1839 soon after its founding working as a carpenter and joiner. He was credited with erecting the
town's first log house. During the California gold rush he went west but returned a few years later no richer for the trouble.
Hutchinson's experience as a carpenter likely encouraged him to chose a house form that was both pleasing and flexible.
Other houses constructed in the Jefferson Street Historic District drew inspiration from architectural styles and vernacular
forms that swept the country from the 1880s through the 1920s. Homebuilders for these houses turned to pattern books and
design catalogues that were readily available from local lumber companies. After the turn of the 20'" century, residents may
have turned to manufacturers of pre-cut houses such as Aladdin Homes, Montgomery Ward, Sears Roebuck and Company,
and Iowa's own Gordon-Van Tine Company. Another source of vernacular home designs were the plans offered through
plan services such as the Home Owners Service Institute or pattern books published by Ray Bennett, Gustav Stickley,
Herbert C. Chives, the Radford Architectural Co., or Harris, McHenry & Baker.
The case of the Gordon-Van Tine Company headquartered in Davenport, Iowa is worth examining. The company advertised
nationally selling construction materials to builders beginning in 1906. By 1910 the company offered house plans and were
among the first companies in the country to offer fully pre-cut houses. The company's catalogues allowed the homebuyer to
select from among dozens of floor plans, finishes, design features, and equipment choices. The Gordon-Van Tine Company
knew of the brisk market for residential construction in other Iowa communities before and after World War I regularly
placing advertising in local newspapers and sending traveling salesmen throughout the state.
The most popular vernacular house form in the Jefferson Street Historic District was one frequently promoted by the
Gordon-Van Tine Company - the American Four-Square. Ten separate buildings using this form were built in the District in
the years leading up to and immediately following World War I. The Gordon-Van Tine Company included 18 separate plans
in the American Four-Square house form in its 1923 catalogue seeking to capture the interest of homebuilders with such
descriptive phrases as 'An Impressive Colonial Home," 'A Big 6 Room House at a Low Price," "A Big Square Home - Four
Bed Rooms," 'Substantial Two-Story Home," "An Every Popular Home of Fine Proportions," "Impressive Home - A Space
and Money Saver," "A Substantial Seven Room House," and' A Square House with Big Comfortable Rooms:13
13117 House Designs of the Twenties, Gordon-Van Tine Co., (New York: Dover Publications, Inc. and Philadelphia: The
Athenaeum of Philadelphia), 1992. (reprint of Gordon-Van Tine Homes, originally published by the Gordon-Van Tine Co., Davenport,
Iowa, 1923), pp. 37, 52, 66, 81, 82, 86, 87, and 99.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
10
Page
28
Jefferson Street Historic Oistrid
Name of Property
Johnson County IA
County and State
Gottfried, Herbert and Jan Jennings. American Vernacular Design, 1870 - 1940. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold
Company, 1985.
History of Johnson County, Iowa containing a history of the county and its townships, cities and villages from 1836 to
1882. Evansville, Indiana: Unigraph, Inc., ca. 1973, 1883.
Insurance Maps of Iowa City, Iowa. (New York: The Sanborn Map Company and the Sanborn and Perris Map Company;
1874, 1879, 1883, 1888, 1892, 1899, 1906, 1912, 1920, 1926, 1933. and 1933 updated to 1970).
"Iowa City, Iowa'. The Commercial Magazine, Vol. 1, No.1, (January 1898).
Iowa City, Iowa, Souvenir and Annua/for 1881-82. Iowa City, Iowa: Hoover, Kneedler & Faust, 1882.
Iowa City and Her Business Men; Iowa's Most Enterprising City. Iowa City, Iowa: Moler's Printery, [Date Unknown).
Iowa City, Iowa, a City of Homes. Iowa City, Iowa: Iowa City Commercial Club, 1914.
Iowa Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration. Johnson County History. Iowa City, Iowa: Johnson County
Superintendent of Schools, sponsor, 1941.
Jacobsen, James. "North Side Neighborhood, Iowa City, Iowa'. Draft National Register of Historic Places nomination
prepared for Iowa City, Office of Planning and Program Development, Iowa City, Iowa, 1981.
Keyes, Margaret N. Nineteenth Century Home Architecture in Iowa City. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1966.
Lafore, Laurence Davis. American Classic. Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1975.
McAlester, Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Magnuson, Linda Westcott. "Sheets and Company, an Iowa City Builder/Architect Firm, 1870-1905." Masters thesis,
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1980.
Mansheim, Gerald. Iowa City: An Illustrated History. Norfolk, Virginia: The Downing Company, 1989.
Map of Iowa City, Iowa, with Description of Resources and Natural Resources and Advantages. Des Moines, Iowa: The
Iowa Publishing Co., 1910.
Naumann, Molly Myers. "Survey and Evaluation of the Dubuque/Linn Corridor, Iowa City, Iowa". Report prepared for the
Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission, 1996.
Nash, Jan Olive. "Survey and Evaluation of the Portion ofthe Original Town Plat of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa'.
(contains proposed MPDF amendment for "Historic Folk Housing of Iowa City, Iowa') Draft report prepared for the
Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission, April 1997.
"O.H. Carpenter," Daily Iowa State Press (IoWa City, IoWa), Special Edition, May 31,1899, p. 6.
Perl, Larry. Calm and Secure on the Hill: A Retrospective of the University of Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa
Alumni Association, 1978.
Persons, Stow. The University of Iowa in the Twentieth Century: An Institutional History. Iowa City, Iowa: University of
Iowa Press, 1990.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
10
Page
29
Jefferson Street Historic Distrid
Name of Property
Johnson County IA
County and State
Petersen, William John. "Iowa City- Then and Now." The Palimpsest, Vol. 48, NO.2 (February 1967).
Portrait and Biographical Record of Johnson, Poweshiek and Iowa Counties, Iowa. Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1893.
Richardson, Jim. The University of Iowa. Louisville, Kentucky: Harmony House Publishers, 1989.
Ruger, A. "Bird's Eye View of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa." Chicago: Chicago Lithographing
Company, 1868.
"Semi-Centennial Edition." Iowa City Republican, October 20, 1890.
Shambaugh, Benjamin F. Iowa City: A Contribution to the Early History of Iowa. MA Thesis, University of Iowa,
Published by State Historical Society of Iowa, 1893.
Shank, Wesley I. Iowa's Historic Architects: A Biographical Dictionary. Nevada, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1999.
Stevenson, Katherine Cole and H. Ward Jandl. Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company.
Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1986.
Stromsten, Frank A. "The History of the Department of Zoology of the State University of Iowa" in Bios. Mt. Vernon, Iowa,
March 1950, pp. 8-30
Svendsen, Marlys. "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa". National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property
Documentation Form prepared for the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission, 1992.
Svendsen, Marlys. "Survey and Evaluation of the Original Town Plat Phase II Area" and "Architectural and Historical
Resources of Original Town Plat Neighborhood (Phase II), 1845 -1945," (amendment to the "Historic Resources
oflawa City, Iowa MPS") prepared for the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission, 1999-2000.
Svendsen, Marlys. "Architectural and Historical Resources of Iowa City Central Business District, 1855 - 1945,"
(amendment to the "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa MPS") prepared for the Iowa City Historic Preservation
Commission (not submitted to the National Park Service), 1999-2000.
Weber, Irving. Irving Weber's Iowa Cíty- Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Iowa City, Iowa: Iowa City Lions Club, 1976,
1979, 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1990.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
10
Page
30
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
10. Geographical Data
Verbal Boundary Description:
Within the City of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa:
Beginning at the northwest comer of Block 79 in the Original Town Plat at the intersection of North Clinton Street and East
Jefferson Street; thence south along the west side of Lot 4 to the south property line of the Congregational Church of Iowa
City; thence east along said line approximately 120 feet; thence south approximately 80 feet along the west edge of
University of Iowa campus to the south property line of Lot 3; thence east approximately 80 feet; thence north
approximately 100 feet to the rear wall of the Medical Laboratory Building (also known as the Zoology Building and the
Biology Building); thence east to the east property line of Lot 4 along North Dubuque Street; thence north to the centerline
of East Jefferson Street; thence east along said centerline to a point located approximately 100 feet west of the northeast
comer of Block 60 extended; thence south along said line to a line along the rear wall of the Isolation Hospital Building
(also known as the Music Building); thence east along the rear wall to the east side of North Gilbert Street; then south
along the west side Lot 4 of Block 45 to the north side of the alley; thence east along the north side of the alley to the west
side of North Van Buren Street; thence north along the west side of said street to the south side of the alley in Block 46;
thence west to the east line of Lot 4; thence north along said line approximately 40 feet; thence west aCfOSS North Gilbert
Street to the east side of Block 59; thence north approximately 40 feet; thence west to the west line of Lot 1; thence south
to the south side of the alley; thence west along said alley to the east side of North Clinton Street; thence south along the
east side of said street to the point of beginning.
Boundary Justification:
The boundary for the Jefferson Street Historic District relates to the surviving group of historic resources located along
East Jefferson Street, which is situated midway north and south between the Market Street commercial area and the
central business district. This section of Jefferson Street includes a mix of residential, church, and collegiate buildings that
visually relate the development story of this portion of Iowa City. A nearly two block long stretch of the south side of
Jefferson Street that includes academic halls of the University Iowa is excluded from the District because these buildings
are not part of the period of significance of the Jefferson Street Historic District or, as in the case of the former SUI Main
Hospital, haye been so modified as to no longer qualify for the NRHP. The west boundary of the District along North
Clinton Street was drawn to exclude portions of the adjoining University of Iowa campus that do not relate to the historic
deyelopment of the District. Southwest of the Jefferson Street District, the Pentacrest Historic District (NRHP) and Old
Capitol NHL block are located. The east boundary of the District was established along North Van Buren Street with the
blocks further east noted for their significant loss in building integrity. A key factor in drawing this boundary was the loss of
the former Center Market square as a result of construction of a multi-story parking ramp to serve nearby Mercy Hospital.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
Photooraphs
Page
31
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County IA
County and State
PhotoaraDh Kev for Jefferson Street Historic District: (See Photo Map, page 35)
Shelley McCafferty, and Jessica Hlubek, photographers
1. Bostick-Rohret House, 115 N. Gilbert Street, looking west
2. John & Magdalena Englert House, 320 E. Jefferson Street, looking north
3. John & Catherine Sueppel House, 425 E. Jefferson Street, looking south southwest
4. Justine Mueller House, 420 E. Jefferson Street, looking north northeast
5. Mary Rohret House, 328 E. Jefferson Street, looking north
6. John & Mary Messner House, 117 N. Van Buren Street, looking west
7. Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton Street, looking southeast
8. First Methodist Episcopal Church (First United Methodist Church), 214 E. Jefferson Street, looking northeast
9. Park House/SI. Agatha's Seminary, 130 E. Jefferson Street, looking northwest
10. SI. Mary's Rectory, 220 E. Jefferson Street, looking north
11. SI. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 230 E. Jefferson Street, looking north
12. SUI Hall of Anatomy, 119 E. Jefferson Street/SUI Building # 19, looking north
13. SUI Medical Laboratory Building, 121 E. Jefferson Street/SUI Building #18, looking southwest
14. SUI Isolation Hospital, 325 E. Jefferson Street/SUI BUilding #20, looking northwest
15. SI. Paul's Lutheran Church, 404 E. Jefferson Street, looking northwest
16. Looking northeast along Jefferson Street towards the intersection of Dubuque Street; Park House, First Methodist
Episcopal Church and SI. Mary's Catholic Church visible.
17. Looking west along Jefferson Street from the intersection of Jefferson and Gilbert streets; SUI Isolation Hospital
on south comer and Mary Rohret House on north comer.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
Property Owners
Page
32
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. iA
Counly and State
Property Owners within the East Jefferson Street Historic District
# STREET TITLEHOLDER TITLEHOLDER ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIPCODE CONTRACT BUYER(S)
30 N. Clinton SI. Congregational Church of 30 N. Clinton St. lowaCIIy IA 52245
Iowa Citv
115 N. Dubuque St. Julie K. Hodge 711 S. Gilbert St. Iowa City IA 52240
22 N. Gilbert St. Morrissey Partnership 800 2'" St. Sulle SOOE Coralville IA 52241
24 N. Gilbert St. Morrissey Partnership 800 2"" SI. Sulle 500E Coralville IA 52241
114 N. Gilbert SI. John R. & Enna s~ 1150 Jefferson St. Iowa City IA 52245
Alberhas
115 N. Gilbert St. Steven & Barbara Van Der 509 Brown St. lowaCIIy IA 52245
Woude
119 N. Gilbert St. 122 Building Co. clo Van 509 Brown St. 10waCIIy IA 52245
DerWoude
120 N. Gilbert St. John R. & Enna M. 1150 Jefferson St. lowaCIIy IA 52245
Alberhaskv
125 N. Gilbert St. Stephen M. Baker 927 Duck Creek Dr. 10waCIIy IA 52246
104 E. Jefferson St. Diocese of Davenport 2706 Gaines Davenport IA 52804
119 E. Jefferson St Unìverslly of Iowa
SUI Buildina #19
121 E. Jefferson St Universlly of Iowa
SUI Buildino #18
130 E. Jefferson St. Par1<house LC 711 S. Gilbert St. lowaCIIy IA 52240
214 E. Jefferson St. First Un. Methodist Church 214 Jefferson St. 10waCIIy IA 52245
220 E. Jefferson St. St. Mary's Catholic Church 220 Jefferson St. Iowa City IA 52245
230 E. Jefferson St. St. Mary's Catholic Church 220 Jefferson St. 10waCIIy IA 52245
302 E. Jefferson St. St. Mary's Catholic Church 302 E. Jefferson St. lowaCIIy IA 52245
306 E. Jefferson St. St. MaK~~thOlic Churct>- 1125" Street PI. Coralville IA 52241
clo K ne ProD. Mamt.
318 E. Jefferson St. Marc B. Moen 123 N. Linn St. lowaCIIy IA 52245
320 E. Jefferson St. William L. Dull 320 Jefferson St. lowaCIIy IA 52245
324 E. Jefferson St. Michael N. & Joan M. Hart 848JenniferSt. Madison WI 53703
325 E. Jefferson St.J Universlly of Iowa
SUI Buildino #20
328 E. Jefferson St. Steven & Barbara Van Oer 509 Brown St. 10waCIIy IA 52245
Woude
403 E. Jefferson SI. Morrissey Partnership 800 2"" St. Suite 500E Coralville IA 52241
404 E. Jefferson St. St. Paul's Lutheran Church 404 Jefferson St. lowaCIIy IA 52245
405 E. Jefferson St. Philip Launspach 136 Koser Ave. 10waCIIy IA 52246
409- E. Jefferson St. John O. & Joellen S. 1314 Burry Dr. Iowa City IA 52246
411 Roffman
413 E. Jefferson St. John O. & Joellen S. 1314 Burry Dr. 10waCIIy IA 52246
Roffman
415 E. Jefferson SI. Jane E. & Kevin Deets 4656 Fox Lane NE 10waCIIy IA 52240
420 E. Jefferson St. Steven & Barbara Van Der 509 Brown St. Iowa City IA 52245
Woude
424 E. Jefferson St. W.C. Winkel 424 Jefferson SI. 10waCIIy IA 52245
425 E. Jefferson St. Donna M. Launspach PO Box 1306 Iowa City IA 52244
428 E. Jefferson St. Steven L. Droll 3312 Arbor Dr. lowaCIIy IA 52245
430 E. Jefferson St. Nella V. Cochran 430 Jefferson St. Iowa City IA 52245
431 E. Jefferson St. Donna M. Launspach PO Box 1306 Iowa City IA 52244
21-25 N. Van Buren St. Andrew Small 25 N. Van Buren St. lowaCIIy IA 52245
109 N. Van Buren St. Michael J. Haver1<amp 109 N. Van Buren St. 10waCIIy IA 52245
f17 N. Van Buren St. Ralph D. Ramer & Larry G. 117 N. Van Buren St. 10waCIIy IA 52245
Ramer
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
MaDS
Page
33
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and Slate
Map Showing Location of Jefferson Street Historic District
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
MaDS
Page
34
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County IA
County and State
Sketch Map of East Jefferson Street Historic District
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number
MaDS
Page
35
Jefferson Street Historic District
Name of Property
Johnson County. IA
County and State
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