HomeMy WebLinkAbout52-01549_6-8 S Dubuque_HamHallSite Inventory Form State Inventory No. 52-01549 New Supplemental
State Historical Society of Iowa Part of a district with known boundaries (enter inventory no.)
(December 1, 1999) Relationship: Contributing Noncontributing
Contributes to a potential district with yet unknown boundaries
National Register Status:(any that apply) Listed De-listed NHL DOE
9-Digit SHPO Review & Compliance Number
Non-Extant (enter year)
1. Name of Property
historic name Ham's Hall (north two-thirds)
other names/site number Deadwood
2. Location
street & number 6-8 S. Dubuque Street
city or town Iowa City vicinity, county Johnson
Legal Description: (If Rural) Township Name Township No. Range No. Section Quarter of Quarter
(If Urban) Subdivision Original Town Block(s) 66 Lot(s) 4, 82'x20' S ofNWcor
3. State/Federal Agency Certification [Skip this Section]
4. National Park Service Certification [Skip this Section]
5. Classification
Category of Property (Check only one box) Number of Resources within Property
building(s) If Non-Eligible Property If Eligible Property, enter number of:
district Enter number of: Contributing Noncontributing
site
buildings 1
buildings
structure
sites
sites
object
structures
structures
objects
objects
Total 1
Total
Name of related project report or multiple property study (Enter “N/A” if the property is not part of a multiple property examination).
Title Historical Architectural Data Base Number
Iowa City Central Business District Study - 2017 UPDATE 52-127
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions) Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions)
02E COMMERCE/TRADE/specialty store 02E COMMERCE/TRADE/Specialty Store
05A02 EDUCATION/academy (upper floor)
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
09F05 COMMERCIAL/Brick Front foundation 03 BRICK
08 MODERN MOVEMENT walls 03 BRICK
roof 17 OTHER
other 15G Synthetic stone/Permastone Narrative Description ( SEE CONTINUATION SHEETS, WHICH MUST BE COMPLETED)
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark “x” representing your opinion of eligibility after applying relevant National Register criteria)
Yes No More Research Recommended A Property is associated with significant events.
Yes No More Research Recommended B Property is associated with the lives of significant persons.
Yes No More Research Recommended C Property has distinctive architectural characteristics.
Yes No More Research Recommended D Property yields significant information in archaeology or history.
County Johnson Address 6-8 S. Dubuque Street Site Number 52-01549
City Iowa City District Number
Criteria Considerations
A Owned by a religious institution or used E A reconstructed building, object, or structure.
for religious purposes. F A commemorative property.
B Removed from its original location. G Less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past
C A birthplace or grave. 50 years.
D A cemetery
Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) Significant Dates
Construction date
05 COMMERCE 1873 check if circa or estimated date
Other dates
ca.1930 - façade
Significant Person Architect/Builder
(Complete if National Register Criterion B is marked above) Architect
unknown Builder
unknown
Narrative Statement of Significance ( SEE CONTINUATION SHEETS, WHICH MUST BE COMPLETED)
9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography See continuation sheet for citations of the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form
10. Geographic Data
UTM References (OPTIONAL)
Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing
1
2
3
4
See continuation sheet for additional UTM references or comments
11. Form Prepared By
name/title Alexa McDowell, Historian
organization AKAY Consulting date 02/2018
street & number 4252 Oakland Avenue telephone 515-491-5432
city or town Minneapolis state MN zip code 55407
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION (Submit the following items with the completed form)
FOR ALL PROPERTIES
1. Map: showing the property’s location in a town/city or township.
2. Site plan: showing position of buildings and structures on the site in relation to public road(s).
3. Photographs: representative black and white photos. If the photos are taken as part of a survey for which the Society is to be
curator of the negatives or color slides, a photo/catalog sheet needs to be included with the negatives/slides and the following
needs to be provided below on this particular inventory site:
Roll/slide sheet #
Frame/slot #
Date Taken
Roll/slide sheet #
Frame/slot #
Date Taken
Roll/slide sheet #
Frame/slot #
Date Taken
See continuation sheet or attached photo & slide catalog sheet for list of photo roll or slide entries.
Photos/illustrations without negatives are also in this site inventory file.
FOR CERTAIN KINDS OF PROPERTIES, INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING AS WELL
1. Farmstead & District: (List of structures and buildings, known or estimated year built, and contributing or non-contributing status)
2. Barn:
a. A sketch of the frame/truss configuration in the form of drawing a typical middle bent of the barn.
b. A photograph of the loft showing the frame configuration along one side.
c. A sketch floor plan of the interior space arrangements along with the barn’s exterior dimensions in feet.
State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Use Only Below This Line
Concur with above survey opinion on National Register eligibility: Yes No More Research Recommended
This is a locally designated property or part of a locally designated district.
Comments:
Evaluated by (name/title): Date:
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01549
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 1
Ham's Hall (north two-thirds) Johnson
Name of Property County
6-8 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
7. Property Description
Ham’s Hall was constructed in ca.1873 as a two-story, brick commercial block (Image 01). At the time of its
construction, the building featured a unified façade with three storefronts and an upper story façade that was
dominated by nine, tall and narrow windows with rounded heads. The upper story was interconnected through at
least 1912, but fire insurance maps suggest that by 1926 the interior connections between the middle and south
bays were closed at both levels; a change in function of the upper story supports a move toward the sub-division
of the building.
Today, the building façade reflects the separation of the north two bays from the south bay. By ca.1930, the north
two-thirds of the building had been renovated; the upper façade is a product of that renovation (Image 02).The
storefront was likewise remodeled in ca.1930 (Svendsen, 2001), though it has since been significantly altered.
The contemporary storefront includes a recessed entrance and display window for the smaller north space and a
major entrance flush with the front façade at the far right for the south space. A curved fixed awning spans most
of the storefront. The upper wall plane is clad in tan brick with a raised course framing the entire front.
Replacement window openings are filled with glass block. The building’s original brick and windows were
replaced when the building was remodeled in ca. 1951 (Svendsen, 2001).
In 2017, the building façade remains as described by Svendsen in 2001. The first story continues to be occupied
by Deadwood (a bar), with the function of the upper story undetermined. This portion of the original Ham’s Hall
(6-8 S. Dubuque St.) is under separate ownership than that of the remaining bay of the original building (10 S.
Dubuque St.)
Image 01. Historic Image: View looking south along S. Dubuque Street from Iowa Avenue – 1894
(Image courtesy of State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City.)
The portion of Ham’s Hall addressed here is indicated – the remainder of the building now functioning
independent of the historical, three storefront block building.
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01549
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 2
Ham's Hall (north two-thirds) Johnson
Name of Property County
6-8 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
Image 02. Historic Image: View looking south along S. Dubuque Street from Iowa Avenue – c.1930
(Image courtesy of State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City.)
This image dating to ca.1930 illustrates the important and dynamic visual interplay between the upper façade and storefront.
While changes to storefronts (such as the one reflected in the building today) are typical of downtown commercial buildings,
because the expression of the ca.1930 modernization relied on the visual interplay of the storefront with the upper story
façade, loss of the storefront makes a significant, adverse impact to the historic integrity specific to this version of the
building – a shame really, because as a whole the alteration was very dynamic.
Image 03. View of the façade (west elevation), looking east across S. Dubuque Street.
(Image by AKAY Consulting, August 2017)
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01549
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 3
Ham's Hall (north two-thirds) Johnson
Name of Property County
6-8 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
Image 04. View of the meeting of the two formerly conjoined sections of Ham’s Hall
(Image by AKAY Consulting, August 2017)
View of the resource adjacent to the remainder of the original Ham’s Hall (10 S. Dubuque St.)
8. Statement of Significance
As noted by Svendsen in 2001, this mid-block commercial building is an example of a late 19th century
commercial block that was significantly later in ca.1930. The character of the ca.1930 façade alteration relied on
the interplay of the storefronts and the upper façade – together creating a dynamic departure from the original
Victorian era character. Because the façade alteration was undertaken well more than 50 years ago it is considered
part of the historic fabric and the building’s historic integrity is evaluated through that lens. The later and
relatively recent alteration of the storefronts altered the ca.1930 character significantly. Alteration of the rhythm
of the upper story fenestration adds to the adverse impact specific to the ca.1930 character. As a result, the
building lacks sufficient integrity to be considered individually eligible. However, through retention of form and
the overall mass of the upper stories, as well as a clear representation as a ca.1930 renovation seen in the materials
chosen and the asymmetrical arrangement of the windows, the building retains sufficient integrity to be
considered a contributing structure in a potential downtown historic district. The significance of the building is
then connected to Criterion A in its historic association with the history of commerce in downtown Iowa City.
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01549
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 4
Ham's Hall (north two-thirds) Johnson
Name of Property County
6-8 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
Historical Background
As originally laid out, Dubuque Street was a major north-south street entering the central business district from
the north. The north half of Block 66 was shown on the Original Town Plat as set aside for churches facing a city
park north of Iowa Avenue. However, the commercial buildings facing S. Dubuque Street broke with this plan
(Svendsen, 2001). Ham’s Hall likely dates to ca.1873, post-dating the fire of 1868 which destroyed much of this
block and pre-dating the fire insurance map published in 1874 when a building of similar dimensions is first
depicted. The original stylistic elements are in keeping with an 1870s construction era.
Figure 01. Fire Insurance Map – 1874
(SOURCE: Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, 1874.)
A building with a similar footprint first appears on fire insurance maps in 1874 (much of the block having been destroyed in
the fire of 1868). The three-bay Ham’s Hall is highlighted; the north two bays accounting for the resource considered here.
As noted, the building was constructed as a three-storefront commercial block; the portion of the building
represented in this site form accounting for two of those three storefronts. Through the years, several businesses
filled the first floor shop spaces and the upper level. Fire insurance maps show the shop spaces held a flour and
feed store (north half) and a butter and egg store (south half) in 1874 and 1879, a flour and feed store in both
spaces in 1883 and 1888, a harness maker (north half) and hardware store (south half) in 1892, a hardware store
(north half) and bicycle shop (south half) in1899, grocery store in a single combined space in 1906 and 1912 with
a dance hall above, hardware store in a single combined space in 1920, and an unspecified retail space in 1926
and 1933 (Svendsen, 2001).
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01549
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 5
Ham's Hall (north two-thirds) Johnson
Name of Property County
6-8 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
City directories confirm the presence of a flour and feed store here in 1875-76 and 1878-79 run by Deits &
Hemmer (Deitz & Hummer). By 1891 Frank Tanner was operating a hardware store at this site – a business that
would evolve into an agricultural implement and carriage repository on the upper level of Market Hall and Ham’s
Hall by 1893-94. Meanwhile, #6 continued as a hardware store run by Thomas Marshall. By 1901, Frank
Tanner’s implement, carriage and wagon business had returned to the lower level of #6. By 1904, Tanner’s
business shared the space with Parsons & Stouffer’s hardware store. The company occupied both #6 and #8 and
listed stoves, tinware, sporting goods (including bicycle repairs), guns, and turf goods for sale. By 1909 # 6 and
#8 was occupied by Barth, Schuppert & Bostwick, grocers. Two years later in 1911, George Barth continued his
grocery trade as a sole proprietor from the same location. Barth’s grocery store was one of 29 operating in Iowa
City in 1911. By 1915 Barth continued from this location with the “Majestic Hall” operating on the upper level.
By 1930 city directories confirm that Karl Kaufman operated a paint store from this location with the “Valencia
Ballroom” on the upper level (Svendsen).
Figure 02. Fire Insurance Map – 1926
(SOURCE: Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, 1874.)
By 1926 the north two bays appear to have been functioning separately from the south bay, with interior openings on the
upper story no longer appearing on the map and the upper story function (a “hall”) relegated to the north bays only. The
change in highlighting marks the separation of the building.
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01549
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 6
Ham's Hall (north two-thirds) Johnson
Name of Property County
6-8 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
9. Major Bibliographic References (2001)
Iowa City city directories.
Property Transfer Records, Johnson County Auditor’s Office.
Tax Assessor’s Records, City of Iowa City Assessor.
Summary Sheet, 6 South Dubuque, Urban Revitalization Act Study Area Survey, 1981.
Sanborn maps, 1874, 1879, 1888, 1892, 1899, 1906, 1912, 1920, 1926, 1933, and 1933 updated to 1970.
2017: References
Iowa City Public Library. Digital Photograph collection. http://history.icpl.org.
Slonneger, Marybeth. Finials: A View of Downtown Iowa City. Iowa City: Hand Press, 2015.
Svendsen, Marlys A. “Survey and Evaluation of the Central Business District.” Prepared for the Iowa City
Historic Preservation Commission, 2001.
Svendsen, Marlys A. “Ham’s Hall (north two-thirds). 52-01549. Iowa Site Form, 2001.
11. Additional Documentation
Full Legal Description: Original Town, Com 40’ S of NW Cor Lot 5 Blk 66; S 44.67’; E 100’; N 44.67’; W 100’
to Beg
Assessor: 002+1010312010
Latitude/Longitude: 41.660851, -91.532958
Parcel Map – 2017