HomeMy WebLinkAbout52-01564_118 S DBQ_CommercialBlgSite Inventory Form State Inventory No. 52-01564 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 Commercial Building
other names/site number Blackstone Building
2. Location
street & number 118 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) 65 Lot(s) N45' of Lot 5
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)
02E05 COMMERCE/TRADE/hardware 70 VACANT/NOT IN USE (storefront)
01B DOMESTIC/multiple dwelling (upper floors) 01B DOMESTIC/multiple dwelling (upper floors)
7. Description
Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) Materials (Enter categories from instructions)
05C LATE VICTORIAN/Second Empire foundation 04 STONE
walls 03 BRICK
roof 08A ASPHALT/shingle
other 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 118 S. Dubuque Street Site Number 52-01564
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
02 ARCHITECTURE 1881 check if circa or estimated date
Other dates
05 COMMERCE ca. 1890 - mansard roof floor added
Significant Person Architect/Builder
(Complete if National Register Criterion B is marked above) Architect
Builder
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 10/2017
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 52-01564
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 1
Commercial Building Johnson
Name of Property County
118 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
7. Property Description
This three-story commercial building was built sometime between 1879 and 1883 when fire insurance maps first
depict the building replacing an early pair of smaller buildings. Property transfer records show the property
changing hands in 1881 after being owned for more than 15 years by the same owner. This makes it likely that the
building was constructed after the transfer (between 1881 and 1883). The building was first constructed with two
stories and sometime between 1888 and 1892 the third floor, with its character-defining mansard roof, was added.
A building with the same footprint appears in all subsequent fire insurance maps (Svendsen, 2001).
The upper level of the front façade has six evenly spaced windows with stone sills and decorative metal window
hoods. The sash are 1/1 double-hung windows. The ca.1890 third story mansard roof has two pair of pedimented
dormers symmetrically placed. Each has a semi-circular arched window with a small transom above a narrow 1/1
sash. During a rehabilitation of the building completed in the 1980s, a cornice was reinstalled separating the
mansard roof plane from the brick façade. The change in the quality of the brickwork along the upper wall
suggests that a cornice, likely metal, was originally in place when the building was two-stories. The new cornice
has widely spaced brackets set beneath a projecting continuation of the asphalt shingled mansard roof. The current
storefront was also installed during the 1980s. It has a recessed entrance to the upper level apartments at the left
with a recessed double-door entrance centered on the building front. The storefront’s multi-part design has large
plate glass windows with wood paneled upper and lower bulkheads and a wide architrave separating the first and
second floors. A segmental arched transom is above the entrance and a polychromatic paint scheme gives the
building a period feel. Paint was removed from the brick walls during the 1980s rehabilitation. Other changes
include a conversion of the upper floors from storage space to apartments 12 apartments during World War II
(Svendsen, 2001).
In 2017, the building stands without significant alteration from that previously described. The storefront is
currently vacant, but the upper story apartments appear to be occupied.
Image 01. View looking SE across S. Dubuque Street (Ped Mall)
(Image by AKAY Consulting, April 2018)
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01564
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 2
Commercial Building Johnson
Name of Property County
118 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
Image 02. View looking east across S. Dubuque Street (Ped Mall)
(Image by AKAY Consulting, Apri 2018)
8. Statement of Significance
This commercial block is a moderately well-preserved example of a Late Victorian commercial building form that
was once common in downtown Iowa City – the Second Empire or Mansard style. Today the form is rare in the
downtown, this building being the only remaining example. Although relatively recent, the first floor storefront is
a sympathetic design. Because the façade alterations represent a non-historic alteration (the materials appear to
represent a nearly wholesale replacement of the historic), the integrity of materials is significantly diminished.
Further, without an evaluation of the interior, consideration of individual eligibility cannot be made. The building
is without question a significant historic resource representative of a vanishing architectural type. Further, the
building has been associated with the history of Iowa City’s downtown commerce since its construction in
ca.1881. As a result the building is considered a contributing resource to a potential downtown historic district
under both Criteria A and C. Further evaluation of the building interior should be undertaken to consider the
potential for individual eligibility under Criterion C.
Historical Background
Prior to the Civil War this property was owned by J.K. Corlett who operated his carriage and wagon
manufacturing business from several smaller buildings previously erected on this site. This building was likely
built soon after Corlett sold the property to Edmund Shepherd in 1881. Fire insurance maps indicate that a
hardware store occupied the building in 1883; in 1890, that business was Moore, Westcott & Co. In 1892 Edmund
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01564
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 3
Commercial Building Johnson
Name of Property County
118 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
Shepherd transferred the property to Willis Shepherd. The following year city directories list the hardware
business as adding a wholesale line to its trade, which may have provided a reason for the addition of the third
floor. In 1895 Shepherd sold the building to J.M. Rosenfield. In 1901 the building was occupied by Bruce Moore
and George Seydel, hardware (2017). Ownership apparently stayed in the family until ca.1918 when Francis Kane
bought it. According to local historian Irving Weber, Kane had his harness and carriage business located here at
the turn-of-the 20th century but city directories provide a conflicting record of occupants of 118, 120, and 122
during these years. The 1906 fire insurance map does show a harness shop in the building with storage on the 2nd
floor (2017) Weber states that the Bijou Theatre, a small vaudeville house, operated here briefly and city
directories in 1915 show the Princess Theatre run by E.C. Houser was located at 120 and a confectionery run by
John Dennis and Charles Profferes was at 118. By 1919 William A. Gay & Co., a meat market, was at 120 and
Fabian Soriben had a cleaning and pressing business next door (Svendsen, 2001).
In 1924 according the Weber, John and Letha Piper started a shop at 122, which specialized in roasting and
blending coffee. Their business added peanuts, popcorn, and candy by 1930. During the 1930s the Gay meat
market continued at 120 and the Sanitary Dairy Shop operated from 118. During the 1940s the meat market
continued and a beauty shop opened at 118. The Pipers leased the entire building in 1940 and established 12
apartments known as the “Piper Apartments” on the upper floors with ownership remaining in Kane family
members. The meat shop moved from this location in the 1950s and the beauty shop, then Blackstone’s Beauty
Shop, expanded. In 1972 the building was sold to Roland Smith. Piper’s Candies closed in ca. 1980 and the
Blackstone Beauty Salon closed before the new owner, Dean Oakes, remodeled the building in the 1980s.
The building is currently owned by the Moen Group. Now referred to as the Blackstone, the building has retail
space on the first floor (currently vacant) and 11 one-bedroom apartments on the upper stories.
Figure 01. Fire Insurance Map – 1879
(Source: Sanborn Company Fire Insurance Maps, 1879.)
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01564
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 4
Commercial Building Johnson
Name of Property County
118 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
Figure 02. Fire Insurance Map – 1883
(Source: Sanborn Company Fire Insurance Maps, 1883.)
Figure 03. Fire Insurance Map – 1892
(Source: Sanborn Company Fire Insurance Maps, 1883.)
By 1892 the third floor with its mansard roof (indicated by the dotted line) had been added.
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01564
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 5
Commercial Building Johnson
Name of Property County
118 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
Image 03. Historic Image – ca.1972
(Source: State Historical Society of Iowa.)
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.
Sanborn maps, 1874, 1879, 1888, 1892, 1899, 1906, 1912, 1920, 1926, 1933, and 1933 updated to 1970.
Weber, Irving. Irving Weber's Iowa City - Volume 1. Iowa City, Iowa: Iowa City Lions Club, 1976, pp. 73-74.
2017: References
Iowa City Public Library. Digital Photograph collection. http://history.icpl.org.
State Historical Society of Iowa. Iowa City. Photograph Collection.
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. “52-01564.” Iowa Site Form, 2001.
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historical Society of Iowa Site Number 52-01564
Iowa Site Inventory Form Related District Number
Continuation Sheet
Page 6
Commercial Building Johnson
Name of Property County
118 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City
Address City
11. Additional Documentation
Assessor: 009+1010377008
Latitude/Longitude: 41.659480, -91.532445
Parcel Map – 2017
LINNCOLLEGE
Black-
hawk
Park
DUBUQUEWASHINGTON
110 227221223118 207-219307 229124
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