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Phase 1 Historical and Architectural Report 1837-1955 Survey Area Overview, view southwest across the Couler Valley from the north end of Marquette Place Photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7,2000 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: James E. Jacobsen History Pays! Des Moines, Iowa January 15,2002 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Credits and Acknowledgements: This project has been funded with the assistance .of a matching grant-in-aid from the State Historical Society of Iowa, Community Programs Bureau, through the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966; the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Department of the Interior. This project received Federal funds from the National Park Service. Regulations of the U.S. Department of the Interior strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination in Federally Assisted Programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility operated by a recipient of federal assistance should write to: Director, Equal Opportunity Program, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1849 C Street NW, D.C. 20240 Cover Photo Credits: Upper photo, Dubuque, 1858 by W. J. Gilbert (Dubuque: Frontier River City, p. 156) Lower photo, "Dubuque Forward," designed by Miss Isbelle Seipple, winner of the first prize poster entry, senior division, "Made In Dubuque" poster contest, Dubuque Business, May 1930, p. 6. 2 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY --The Architectural And. Historical Resources of Duhuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: INTRODUCTION: This is Phase I of an intensive architectural and historical survey of the entire City of Dubuque. Phase I was a two-part project: the frrst being the identification and development of historic contexts and property types for the city; while the second was conducting an intensive level survey and evaluation of properties located in the Washington/Jackson/Elm Street area north of the central business district. Phase I was completed in 2000. Phase II covered the Rhomberg/Eagle Point neighborhood, which is immediately to the east of the Phase I survey area. The Phase I survey area comprises a 31-block primarily residential that occupies the floor of the Couler Valley. Blufflines rise some 150-200 feet along the east and west sides of the valley. To the west, the bluff line is broken up by the presence of two major drainages, these being marked by Kaufmann Avenue, at the west end of East 22nd Street, and Diagonal Street, which centers between the west ends of East 26th and East 25th streets. The survey area is primarily residential in nature, but it also contains examples of commercial, industrial, educational, and religious properties. Survey Area Neil!hborhood Name: The general area name is the Couler Valley, although this is a much larger physical feature. The valley continues well north of the survey area terminus. Historian Lyon states that the area north of 20th Street was known as "Frogtown" because of its poor drainage. The Victor Gruen report labeled the survey area the "north end." Others occasionally use this term in reference to the Eagle Point/Rhomberg area. The Gruen North End encompasses six smaller neighborhoods; 22nd Street, Broadway, Comiskey, Holy Ghost, 30th Street and Sacred Heart. Only 22nd Street and Comiskey lie within the Phase I survey area. Absent a compelling area name, the Phase I survey area will remain unnamed in this report. Plat: The basic plat of the area takes the form of elongated blocks having a north/south orientation. Each block is bisected in that same direction by an alleyway. Lot widths vary with the platting but lot depths measure 100 to 100 feet for the most part. The four blocks south of East 20th Street and west of Jackson Street were part of the original town plat and are square-cut, measuring 220 feet east/west and 256 feet north south. Each block is bisected by a 20 foot-wide alleyway and includes ten rectangular lots (100-foot depth, 51.2-foot width). The East Dubuque Plat extended the original plat east from Jackson Street and north to East 20th Street. The plat used the same street widths (64-foot widths) and block/lot dimensions as the original plat. Edwin and J. L. Langworthy developed the East Dubuque Plat and filed it on August 4, 1853. L. H. Langworthy's Addition comprises the survey area between East 20th Street and East 24th Street. North of East 22nd Street this plat consists of four double-long blocks which stretch unbroken between East 22nd and East 24th streets. Just one block, that between Jackson and Washington streets, has an alleyway. South of East 22nd Street, the plat consists of eight blocks. The blocks between Central and White streets are half-width and alleys bisect only the central four blocks. Elm and Washington streets narrow to just 40 feet north of East 22nd Street but the other streets retain the standard 64-foot width. Between East 24th and East 25th streets, the blocks located west of Jackson Street represent an amalgam of small and conflicting plats. A number of lots front northward onto East 25th Street in this area, an exception to the general rule of a strict east/west lot orientation. East of Jackson Street is the L. S. Langworthy's Boulevard Plat (filed May 31, 1873), now known as Comiskey Field. The plat, between Jackson and Washington, provided 46 25-foot wide parcels, the only plat in the survey area to do so. East of Washington, the next block was divided into 24 lots (50xl00 feet). Between East 24th and East 25th streets, the survey area comprises the Davis Farm Addition (plat filed August 5, 1853) to the west of Jackson Street, and Edward Langworthy's Addition (plat filed October 1, 1856), east of Jackson Street. Elongated double-long blocks link these two cross streets and each block is turned to the west at its midpoint to accommodate the constrictive lay of the valley floor. The Davis Farm blocks are narrower without alleys and lots run 180 feet between cross streets. Lots in both additions are broader than are those below East 24th Street. Lot widths are fairly irregular however. 3 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Historical Contexts: Five Dubuque historic contexts were identified and developed during Phase I: Frontier City on the Mississippi River, 1833-1858 The Key City, 1859-1893 Fitful Growth and Maturation, 1893-1910 An Era of Stability, 1910-1955 The Architecture of Dubuque, 1833-1955 Frontier City on the Mississiooi River 1833-1858: The earliest settlement and development within the survey area dates to the early 1830s when brothers Lucius and Edward Langworthy made their earliest substantial lead strikes along what is now Kauffmann Avenue in Langworthy Hollow. Mining, settlement and shipping developed along an east/west axis to Eagle Point, following what became Rhomberg Avenue. The town of Eagle Point was platted in 1849 and the first area developments were filed in 1848 (L. H. Langworthy's) and 1853 (Davis Farm). Linkage southward and the evolution of a north/south arterial along Couler Avenue (now Central) therefore came somewhat as an after thought to the area. From the earliest time a host of suburban attractions and destination points were located along Couler Avenue. Most notable were the many beer gardens. The Western Brewery had its gardens at Julien and Delhi, the Glab gardens adjoined that brewery on Couler, and the shooting park had its gardens as did Stewart-Union Park. One of the more notable gardens was Tivoli Gardens, located north of Kauffmann and west ofCouler, and they adjoined the Schmid brewery at the streetcar barn location. Lucius Hart Langworthy had his frame mansion in an oak grove immediately north of the gardens. His house dated to the early 1830s. The Tivoli Gardens were in operation by the early 1850s built and operated by John Schaffner. He was succeeded by Richard Cox (1860-63), Joseph Zugenbuehler (1863-76) and John Krayer (1876-closure). The gardens were known as Centennial Gardens as of 1884. Schaffner built a Greek Revival style residence (shown below) that survived into the 1930s. The gardens were increasingly reduced as housing developments infilled the area south of 23 rd Street and the house languished behind "a large double decked billboard." Once these were finally removed locals confused it with the Langworthy house, the city's first frame residence, which stood on a nearby rise of ground to the southwest, beyond Frances Street. John Schaffner Residence, Tivoli Gardens, non-extant (1851) (Telegraph-Herald, c.1930s)1 Numerous industrial plants were distributed along Couler Avenue. A. Keiser built a two-story stone vinegar factory near George Zumhofs stone ice house(built 1856) in 1858. The ice house was north of Iowa Brewery, which stood at the upper end of Couler. T. Smith built the "casticated" complex in 1857. Kuntz Friedman and Company built a carriage factory near the National Garden on Couler that same year. Numerous brick and stone business blocks and residences went up that year along White and Couler and the Herald reported "This [Couler] avenue has received a liberal share of the buildings erected this season." One other addition was that of five tenements "at the head of the avenue on I The 1884 Sanborn map shows this house, just south of the Schmid Brewery, set well back from Couler Avenue. 4 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: the prairie." John Heim established a pottery and brickyard at 32nd and Couler in 1867. The plant employed 60-75 hands annually and operated into the 1930s. Bricks from that yard built Washington Junior High, Sacred Heard and Holy Ghost Catholic churches. A review of commercial and industrial listings in the 1858-59 city directory underscores the early dominance of Couler Avenue and the west end of Eagle Point Avenue. Listings included the Jackson Hotel (Couler, between Eagle Point and 19th), a match factory, and two groceries (Herald, March 8,1857; Lyon, p. 196; 1858-59 Dubuque City Directory). Just one property was dated to this contextual period. The Schmid Brothers Brewery and Beer Hall (2327 Central Avenue) .;dates to 1855. Other properties potentially pre-date 1858 but documentation is lacking. The Kev City 1859-1893 The survey area was predominately settled by Germans in the post-Civil War years. Swiss and Luxembourg emigrants also intermixed with the Germans. Historian Randolph Lyons states that Germans first concentrated along White, Washington streets and Central (then Coulter) Avenue, to the west of Iowa Street, between 5th_6th streets and 14th Street to the north up until the 1860s. Thereafter German settlement spread west of Central Avenue and expanded north and northeast up to 24th Street (Lyons, pp. 76, 92, 175). A major impediment to settling in the survey area was the "Grotteloch" a marshy swamp that was fed from springs along Diagonal Street. The drainage accumulated in the area north of 24th Street and west of Jackson Street. White Street terminated at 24th Street for this reason. As of 1873 there was a bridge on Eagle Point Road that was termed the "Couler Bridge." It possibly drained this marsh. The empty blocks evident in the birds eye view below document the effect of this wet area. The term "Frogtown" was locally coined in reference to the boggy conditions of the Grotteloch (ibid., p. 186). Detail, Birds Eye View of the City of Dubuque Iowa, 1872, Augustus Koch Engraver View is to northwest, Contemporary street names added. DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY -- The Architectural And. Historical Resources of Duhuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Couler Avenue was the original "Plank Road" north and its importance from the start as a northern highway (linking to the Sageville Road to the north) is reflected in that early short-term hard surface medium. The mile-long planked roadway was built in 1852 and was purchased by the city in 1854. Even though the valley did not generally infill until after the Civil War Couler Avenue was the focal point of early and prestigious house building. Part of this building activity represented a northward extension of the first bluff front or top house building c.1847. Early houses included those of Timothy Davis and James M. Marsh, both built "up Couler Avenue in the direction of Eagle Point." As of 1860 it was reported There are some of the finest and most promising residences and gardens in our city to be found on the Couler Ave. just above Smith's Brewery. Among these are Mr. Blocklinger's Peter Kiene's, Judge King's and others all located on a natural terrace about halfway between the bottom of the Couler and the top of the bluff. Likely these are in the Broadway area. The first two named were raising grapes (Herald, September 19, 1860; 1880 county history, p. 525; Childs, pp. 122-23). By 1865 Couler Avenue was the location of the Dubuque and T. Schmidt breweries, Conrad Lang's furniture · factory (Couler and 19th), the Union House Hotel and three groceries (Nicholas Palen, Peter Specht and John Fosselman). Two years later a piano factory, a vinegar works, and a crockery plant supplemented these. By 1868 there were two boarding houses (both at 19th and Couler), two boots and shoes makers, a third brewery, a soapworks, a brickyard (Anton Heeb), a candleworks, a confectionery, six cooperages, two beer gardens, five grocers, two meat markets, nine saloons added to the directory listings. This mix and density of intermixed commercial and industrial businesses would persist and increase through the 1870s and thereafter. A postwar flurry of new construction along Couler Avenue took place in 1868. Most notable, the two story Shutzen Haus for the Dubuque Schutzen Geselschaft was built beyond the street railroad terminus. Four other substantial buildings were finished along the avenue, between 18th and 19th streets that year (Herald, December 13, 1868). Sustained large-scale construction was reported in the area each year between 1872 and 1876. The Herald noted at year's end 1872 "The march of building improvements advanced to the northern precinct of the city, around the machine shops and round house of the river railroad company. That portion of the city makes a heavy figure in our showing." William Springborn built a greenhouse complex on Couler between 26th and 27th streets in 1873 and Franz Ludescher's fine new grocery/saloon, built in 1876 opposite his old place on Julien Avenue, was rated "an adornment to the street." The first driving park, located "up the Couler" was opened in August 1874. White Street, between 17th and Eagle Point Road, was the site of at least five new buildings in 1871, 1873. The Cabinet Maker Association built their new factory at Washington and 18th in 1871, a three story building valued at $2,000 (Herald, November 24, 1872; November 9, 1873; National Democrat, June 29, 1876; Oldt, p. 175). The 1880 county history links the arrival of the Illinois Central Railroad in 1855 with stimulating German settlement in Dubuque: The Germans began to come in and take upland for farms, gardens, etc. Manufacturing interests now regarded as valuable. Couler Avenue was built up by the German element that toiled in the workshops and saved their profits to be invested and lost in the financial crash impending... (1880 county history, p. 530). The 1872 depiction shown above clearly indicates that initial development first infilled an elongated corridor defined by the bluffs west of Couler, Washington Street to the east, and 24th Street to the north. Central (Couler) Avenue from the start was a mixed-use arterial and included commercial, industrial and residential land uses. There are no churches or schools apparent as yet. The fire station with belfry is at 18th and Central and the frame German Congregational Church is immediately west of the firehouse on the side of the bluff. There is a large property with a grove of trees located on the northwest comer of East 22nd and Jackson streets. A major drainage parallels Elm Street to the south. Just visible at the lower (southeast) comer is the Milwaukee Railroad roundhouse and shops. These yards employed many in the area. Brick buildings predominated in this early construction phase and even today, the southwest 6 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: quadrant of the survey area is predominantly of brick, while frame buildings are most numerous, particularly in the' northern half of the survey area. The congested character of the 1872 image shows that a great deal of building had predated that date. A number of streets in the survey area were renamed over time: Original Name Present Name Coulter Avenue Central Avenue Eagle Point Road East 22nd Street Lake Garfield Sanford Street East 24th Street The principal German cultural institutions were located to the south of the survey area and the Shooting Park was north of the city, out Central Avenue. A series of large German-owned breweries located along the west side of Central Avenue. Later in the 19th century the survey area experienced an intensification of its German identity, most notably with the construction of the Saengerbund Auditorium in 1896. This massive frame hall mirrored the then-popular "corn palaces" with its ornamentation. This $6,000 temporary exhibit hall housed the "German Day" events of October 16, 1902, described as "the grandest spectacle ever witnessed in Dubuque." The regional event featured a 13-block long parade. The hall was demolished soon after this event, the operating cost exceeding the resources of the Saengerbund organization. The hall stood at the end of the brick paving on Couler Avenue, the intersection of Eagle Point and Couler avenues (Dubuque Enterprise, September 28, October 12, 19, 1902; June 11, 1904; John Pate). Saengerbund Auditorium, Southeast Corner Kauffman and Central avenues St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, East 21 st and Elm streets, view southeast (burned by arsonist, fall 2000, photo by Mary Loney, December 2000) DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, view southeast (Dubuque County Historical Society) Protestant German church congregations were formed as railroad expansion and nearby industrial growth fostered neighborhood growth in the Couler Valley and in nearby Rhomberg to the northeast in the 1880s and 1890s. Catholic parishes predominated in nearby Rhomberg where St. Mary's Parish produced two offspring parishes, Sacred Heart (1879) and Holy Ghost (1896). In the Couler Valley St. John's Lutheran Church located its St. Peter's mission church at 20th and Elm streets in 1885. That congregation was holding its services in English by 1909 and was independent of its mother church as of 1911. The church relocated to Grandview Avenue in 1958 and its new church at 3200 Asbury Road in 1962. The Immanuel Congregational Church used the bluff side frame church at 18th Street for 20 years before building a new edifice at the southwest corner of 18th and Jackson streets in 1887. St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church relocated its frame building to the northwest corner of East 20th and Jackson streets in 1878. A new building followed in 1890 and a school wing in 1925 (Lyon, pp. 218,390-91,396-97). German Congregational Church (non-extant) Viewed northwest from 18th Street and Central Avenue, this church was prominently placed above and west of the Central Avenue fire house (Wilkie, p. 325) DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Other Protestant German churches clustered immediately southwest of the survey area around Jackson Park. These, as of 1884, included the German Presbyterian Church at Iowa and 1 ih streets. The imposing Gothic style German Theological School was atop the bluff across the street to the north from this church. The German Methodist church fronted on Clay (now Central Avenue) Street between 17th and 18th Streets. Zion Church was built at Jackson and 1 ih streets in 1873. St. Mary's Catholic Church and school were just three blocks south, at 15th and White Streets. St. Patrick's Catholic Church fronted north onto Jackson Park at Main Iowa and 15th streets. Finally, St. Matthew's Lutheran Church (1780 White), first known as St. Matthew German Evangelical Church, was established belatedly in 1907, and had its own building three years later. This apparent dominance of protestant German congregations in the survey area did not translate into parallel dominance in the population. The German community in Dubuque was amazingly homogeneous and church membership does not appear to have divided it (1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps; Lyon, pp. 395-96; Herald, November 9, 1873; interview Bill Meisner, September 12, 2001). The 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps indicate that the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad tracks ran southwest above East 18th Street and turned south and followed Pine Street, accomplishing this turn just beyond the southeast corner of the survey area. Numerous industrial buildings clustered just south of the survey area along East 18th Street. These included Schepple's Flour Mill west of Pine Street and the Dubuque Furniture & Burial Case Company, which straddled Washington Street. Central Avenue was always a key commercial arterial in addition to its residential role. Central was the primary streetcar line link to the shooting park, horse track, and other north Dubuque attractions. The tracks doubled back on Jackson at East 32nd Street, rejoining the Central line along 24th Street. The Linwood Cemetery streetcar dogleg departed Central along East 22nd Street. The Rhomberg line similarly left Central at East 20th Street. The streetcar barns were located on the southwest corner of East 24th Street and Central from the inception of the streetcar service (Wilkie, p. 331). Nicholas Glab's Northern Brewery, southwest corner Central Avenue and Kauffman, early 1880s (Center for Dubuque History, Nagle Collection) As of 1881 Central Avenue north of East 18th Street was far from densely developed. Many lots remained vacant and scattered frame buildings with protective fire breaks remained the rule. The west side of Central was particularly undeveloped and dwellings predominated north of East 19th Street. Brick buildings and brick blocks were the exception. Double dwellings were present, particularly along White and Jackson streets but they were not common. Anton Heeb's Dubuque Brewery (later Glab's, shown above) was operating on Central Avenue. Two blocks north, on the west side of Central, Schmid Brothers & Company Iowa Brewery operated south of the streetcar barn. The two-story beer hall DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: survives at 2327 Central. Dubuque Weiss Beer Company and later. the Artesian Bottling Works used the same site till the stone factory burned in 1945. The streets east of Central and north of East 22nd Street were only partly developed with scattered small houses. The future Comiskey Park was a baseball park (Lyon, p. 402). 1895 Central Avenue, 1895 (Wilkie, p. 297, courtesy of Mrs. Marguerite Trudell Lucey) North Dubuque grew tremendously during 1887 in response to the completion of the Mississippi River highway bridge, the addition of two additional railroads, and the extension of the streetcar service to Eagle Point. The Times predicted the city's most prosperous year yet and added "In the upper portion of the city a grand transportation scene has taken place inside of a year, and no less than 100 new residences are contemplated. As soon as the weather permits lively building will be inaugurated. A notable improvement in the upper end of the city will be the opening of Lake street from Couler avenue to Washington street. A row of tenement houses, it is expected, will be erected upon the new street." By 1884 Couler Avenue had its own hotel, the Union House (1956 Couler, non-extant) (Times, February 27, 1887). Morrison Brothers, first building, view southwest (Courtesy Loras College) 10 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: The cutting through of east/west connector streets, between Couler and Elm, and north of 20th Street, accomplished prior to 1900, made possible numerous new brick corner groceries and saloons. Nothing is known about how this work was accomplished. Pre-existing buildings were moved or demolished and properties such as St. Paul's church suddenly became attractive corner locations. White Street, really an alleyway, was extended north of 24th Street sometime after 1891 and quickly developed with many small industrial shops, notable cooperages, contractor's yards and the like. The 1891 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps documented seven years of growth in the survey area. Some rather remarkable transformations were apparent in the southwest corner of the survey area. Central Avenue and White and Washington streets were considerably more built up in just seven years. There were many more buildings and brick was virtually predominant, reflecting a virtual complete makeover. Of particular note was the cutting through of several cross streets. East 20th Street, then called Lake Street, was cut through between Central and Washington and St. Paul's new church building was suddenly on a corner lot! East 21 st Street, then called Division was also cut through as far west as Jackson Street. The Kauffman Street brewery remained in operation and the map still called it Heeb's although Heeb was by then ten years in his grave. The Iowa Brewery and the Dubuque Street Railway Company Car House remained in operation as well. The west side of Central was still only partly built up. The residential development north of East 22nd Street was denser but apparent vacant lots are likely large garden plots. Intensive lot usage is implied by complex patterns of outbuildings, commonly arranged in a line along one side boundary line. Couler Avenue School stood just east of the intersection of Central Avenue and Diagonal Street. Immediately south of the school was William Springborn's Greenhouse. A new industrial presence was Morrison Brothers Boiler Factory, which occupied the north end of its now extensive yards. The baseball grounds remained at the Comiskey park site, but grandstands now filled the southwest corner of the block (1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps). Comiskey baseball park, pre-World War I, view to southwest (Telegraph Herald photograph) Note gabled houses to west The vast majority of the surveyed historical properties in the Phase I survey date to this very lengthy contextual period. The earliest firmly dated property is 2082 Jackson Street (1863). A small number of properties date to the 1870s. These are 2003 Washington (pre-1872), 2015 Washington (pre-1872), 2027 and 2033-35 Washington (pre-1872), 1846-48 Jackson (1878), 2058-62 White Street (1875) and 2272 Prince Street (1870). Some 43 properties date to the 1880s. A notable example is 1900-02 White Street, the Gabriel Baumgartner Grocery and Union Hall (1885). Twenty-five properties are dated as pre-1891 and many of these are of much earlier date, some pre-dating the 1870s. Notable among these are the Fred Ruh Grocery, 2002 White (1890), St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 2005 Jackson (1890), 2180 Central Avenue (1891), and the Peter Klein building, 2222 Central Avenue (1891). More than half of these properties are found in the East 22nd and Washington Street district. Fitful Growth and Maturation 1893-1910: The massive streetcar system improvements of 1904 transformed the system and service in the Couler Valley. The road beds were completely rebuilt using sawn oak ties and heavier continuous rail joint steel rails were laid. The work progressed from north to south and the parallel lines on Couler and Jackson allowed for uninterrupted service as each was successively torn up and relaid. The Sageville Road, beyond the city limits, received a 40-foot-wide macadamizing and curbs courtesy of the streetcar company. A new line was extended to Nutwood Park, along that road. Most important, the track system was rearranged with new parallel lines and switches to eliminate delays where cars formerly stopped to allow other cars to clear the line before proceeding on. The frequency and speed of service was 11 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: greatly improved. Couler Avenue also gained an entirely new car barn with a brick, stone and terra cotta facade (Enterprise, June 11, 1904). Dominant gable "sawtooth" roof pattern in Phase I survey area (photo by Jacobsen, 2000) Improved car service to the area hastened house construction in the northern reaches of the survey area and further north. The Enterprise reported in the early spring of 1905 that one taking the cars on Jackson Street and around the loop to Couler Avenue, "one can count now ten houses in course of construction." Elm Street was gaining two and a carpenter observed "that work is in progress now on not less than thirty new houses north of Thirteenth street." Many of these houses were being built by large-scale builders such as Chris Voelker Realty (Enterprise, April 29, 1905). Just 14 surveyed properties date to the later 1890s, all being generally dated to post-1891-1902 (the Sanborn map range). A notable property is 2600 Central Avenue (1898), a corner commercial building. Twelve properties are solidly dated to 1900, indicating a large amount of new construction at the turn-of-the century. Most notable is the A. C. Pancratz Grocery, 607 East 22nd Street. Another corner store built that year is 521 East 22nd Street. The Joseph Ziereis Meat Store, 2600 Jackson Street, dates 'to 1903, as does the Union Electric Street Car Company building, 2359 Central Avenue. Its construction followed the notable streetcar worker's strike of that year. One other property, a duplex at 2411-17 White Street, dates to 1902-09. Three surveyed properties date to the final years of this context. Two of these are notable; the Dr. Frank Meyers house and office, 2006 Jackson Street (1909) and the J. J. Grode building at 397 East 20th Street (also 1909). Comiskey Park crowd, 1914 12 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: An Era ofStabilitv 1910-1955: Comiskey Park, at 24th and Jackson, played a central role in Dubuque's love affair with professional baseball. From 1895 until 1927 (or 1914), the field served as the home field for the city's team, affiliated with the Eastern Iowa League (1895), as an independent (1895-99), the Western Association (1899-1901) and the Triple-I League (1901-14), and then the Mississippi Valley League (1922-32). The team was particularly successful in 1895 and 1923. Baseball moved to Petrakis Field on 4th Street in 1927. Charles Albert Comiskey (1859-1931) who played with the Dubuque Rabbits from 1879-82 became the namesake for the field on June 20, 1929. Previously the block was called "Olinger Park" and was privately owned by the Olinger family. The city purchased the park and dedicated it to the noted player. A plaque is being placed on the site of the field by teachers and students of Audubon Elementary School (Telegraph Herald, January 22, 1996; Discovering The History In Our Own Backyard; Lyon, pp. 28-29). John Vachon's Photos of the Couler Vallev: Photographer John Vachon visited several Iowa cities in 1940 and he was particularly fond of Dubuque, where he took over 500 photographs that year. Reflective of the times, Vachon was interested in documenting the struggles of the unemployed and the many victims of the Great Depression. The lower Couler Valley was Vachon's favored venue to taking these photographs. Presumably the area was so deteriorated that its housing was most symbolic of what the photographer was seeking out. It is also true that this area could be easily photographed from the bluffs to the northeast and Vachon could combine his interest in natural photographs with his social comment. Vachon also took photographs in the downtown area, in the "Hoovervilles," and along the bluffs in the southwest part of the older town. He also took contrasting photographs of the wealthy bluff top residents, combining the great houses and Duesenbergs in the same image. John Vachon, Economic Securities Administration Photographer, 1940 (Library of Congress photo) Photo from Marquette Place, view northwest, 1940, (Library of Congress photo) This is a winter view. Note the number oflarger outbuildings present, also the fenced yards east of Elm Street. Old Fulton School (?) visible at left-hand background. 13 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Photo from Marquette Place, due west, Elm Street (double track) in foreground (Library of Congress photo) Photo from Marquette Place, view southwest, Morrison Plant visible right hand background across Elm Street (Library of Congress photo) 14 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY --The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: The rich above and the bottoms below, view northwest from Pinard Street toward 2435 Queen. Note arbors, chicken house, and outbuildings in the foreground. The six houses fronting west on Pinard are an unusual example of repeated side-by-side house plans in Dubuque. View presumably from the west side of the valley, looking northwest(possibly 2037 Jackson in foreground, 2044 White in background) Note the intricate porch balustrade, also the apparent lack of grass. (Library of Congress photo) 15 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Unidentified intersection, likely Couler Valley, view northwest. Note lack of paving, curbing or grass. (Library of Congress photo) IOWA STATE PLANNING BOARD DUBUQUE IOWA 1 MAD SI.lQWING )UjM AND . ~BL!O~TGD AR~A) \ Y AI QlO. Al.il..'-U\T 19H \ 1 / '\ Blighted areas, 1936 Dubuque Comprehensive Plan 16 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY -- The Architectural And. Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: While Vachon nicely documented the housing in the Couler Y:~~e real "slums" of the city were not located there as the 1936 map (see above) indicates. The eastward portion of the downtowliproper was so labeled due to its high densities. . Post-1910 construction, both residential and otherwise, was limited to infilling for the most part. Five surveyed properties date to 1910. Three of these are gable front houses. Contractor Ulrich Willy built his house and construction yard at 2545 Jackson (his workshop also survives). Daniel W. Sullivan built a very early bungalow at 2319 Washington Street. An interesting industrial plant was the Lorenz Family Wash Services, 1856-66 Jackson Street, was built in 1913. It represented the northward expansion of the commercial/industrial downtown to the south. House builder Chris Voelker was building strings of his gable front houses throughout the survey area. While his frame houses have been resided, a string of concrete block houses and a comer storefront at 2401-15 Jackson and 2404 Jackson Street, date to 1910-16. The three-story Hoefflin Motor Car Company building, 1944 Central Avenue, built in 1914, was demolished during the course of this survey project. An unusual two-story Craftsman style garage, 2421 White Street, was built in 1915. Another Craftsman style example, the F. C. Henkels House, 2539 Jackson Street, was built in 1917. Finally, the extensive shops of Morrison Brothers Manufacturing Company, 834 East 24th Street, were erected in 1918. Nine surveyed properties post-date 1920. Numerous duplexes and apartments dominate this group and these were documented because they were of brick or concrete construction and therefore were unaltered. This list includes 2517 White Street, a late duplex (1915-25), the Fulton Arms Apartments, 2535 Central Avenue (1920), a duplex at 2513-15 White Street (1919-25), and the Stone Ridge Apartments, 2555-65 Central Avenue (1923). Two concrete bungalows were 2429 White Street (1924) and 2485 White Street (1924). Chris Voelker built three concrete block houses/duplexes at 2578-2588 Central Avenue (1915-25). The Classical Revival style First Evangelical United Brethren Church, 2501 Jackson, dates to 1928. Finally, the Modeme style Fulton School, 2540 Central Avenue, dates to 1938. The Architecture of Dubuque.. 1833-1955: The following vernacular descriptive summary and typology is repeated in the multiple property document. Excerpts, as they relate directly to this survey effort, are included in this report. Vernacular Cottage/House/Commercial Types: Vernacular architecture is defined in this typology as "nonacademic architecture." This range of recognized house types was most strongly influenced in its design by the realities of regional climates, the availability of (or the processing of) building materials, and by ethnic or other cultural/traditional values. Certain house types emerged to dominate regional and even national architecture and examples of these commonly accepted types are found in most communities. These local applications of type are commonly reinterpreted by those who built them. As a class or type, these house/cottage forms largely address the working class spectrum of residences although this is not exclusively the case. Most of the nationally accepted vernacular types defined below have little application to Dubuque's urban vernacular architecture. Dubuque vernacular types are therefore appended to this section. The architectural context speaks broadly to the long-term dominance of this vernacular architecture and its significance in light of that dominance. Dubuque's vernacular architecture represents an intermixing of Southern Upland (David Anderson terms it Midland American Backwoods Culture") and Continental European, principally German, Swiss and Luxembourgian building traditions. The Southern Upland is first dominant in fairly pure forms (log houses in particular) but then found expression in the more permanent early brick houses and business blocks, representing a localized interpretation of urban commercial design and the various national architectural styles (Anderson, p. 13). Little is known about Irish influences on vernacular architecture in Dubuque and very little has survived. Further study is strongly recommended, minimally with regard to linking non-religious Irish cultural organizations with surviving properties. German influence on the local vernacular also lacks any formal investigation and the Phase I survey is perhaps the first formal study of the German vernacular. Dubuque's vernacular properties can be divided into two classes, residential and commercial/industrial. The latter is expressed in the forms of comer commercial storefronts and combination residential/workshop/storefront properties. The residential properties can be divided into two groups, the earlier examples which pre-date 1870 and those which post- 17 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY --The Architectural And. Historical Resources of Duhuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: date that year. The cutoff is arbitrary but the survey results hint at distinctively different vernacular characteristics. One difference is in scale with earlier buildings being a single story high. There is evidence that these were intended to be increased by adding a floor and by elongation. The following general characteristics describe almost all of the surviving vernacular buildings in the Phase I survey area: · raised limestone foundations, probably the best material to ward off subsurface moisture, elevated due to flash flooding, present even on the earliest concrete block houses, dominant through World War I. Very rare is complete stone construction, found only in earlier years. · front gable absolutely predominant, due in large measure to the narrow building lots in Dubuque · use of a rear comer recessed and elongated side porch, normally south-fronting, paired on double houses, as high as the building. Double-decker full-width rear porches also very common. · use of broad clapboard on earlier examples, narrower clapboard in pre-World War I examples. · transom above entryway, especially common between 1890s and World War I. · predominance of side-hall ground plan, with right-hand entryway strongly favored over the left-hand side. · double-wall brick construction, dates to 1870s-80s, apparently a hollow-wall building technique for insulation purposes, indicated by lack of rowlock courses in exterior brickwork. · the use of rounded upper window sash-either upper sash have been uniformly replaced or a rounded blank infilled the space between the sash and lintel. · elongated narrow plans · the avoidance of the hip roof form in residential plans · a decided preference for two story plans in lieu of single story or story and a half high plans · the absence of front porches of any size or shape on gable front plans · steeply pitched gable roofs, usually without front or side dormers · preference for decorative finials above porch entryways · preference for double houses with centered pair of entryways, entryways never on exterior walls · preference for centered cross gables and single or paired attic lights in all gable end walls. These characteristics incorporate those developed by Lawrence Sommer. He listed a nearly universal preference for brick, rectangular plans, symmetrical/classical proportions (of Greek Revival derivation, focusing principally on gable treatments and dentils along eaves lines), dominance of single and story and a half plans, entrances on gable ends or sides, rear additions or L-shaped cores, a preference for gable roofs, plain chimneys, two story comer recessed porches. He proposed the same window lintel/arch evolution as is defined below. Sommer remained stylistically focused even when he looked for vernacular attributes, but he did determine that "perhaps more important than different styles in establishing the city's character, were the unifying elements of similar scale, mass, color and materials found on hundreds of local buildings. Sommer also saw material, technological and physical influences, which favored the persistence of the local vernacular .. . the nature of available materials, construction technology, economies and the size of most city lots produced constraints that resulted in similarity of building scale. This was particularly true in so far as height was concerned. A four or five story structure was about as high as could be effectively served using only stairways (Sommer, pp. 75, 80). Gable Front (pre-1850-1930+ ): Also termed the "Open Gable," or "Gambrel Front." The two defining characteristics are a front gable roof (as opposed to a side gable) and a gable end house entrance. The type ranges from one room and a side hall in width to two rooms and a central hall (three to five bays). Generally the overall plan is a rectangle with its shorter dimension fronted to the street. The housing literature is silent with regard to this commonplace type and even Schweitzer and Davis fail to identify to acknowledge it. The diminutive size and early date of these cottages (c.1890-1920) hints that this very small cottage form was already well established in the public's tastes when the bungalow form appeared. 18 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Dubuque gable fronts can be divided on the basis of their height and their breadth of plan. Single story and story- and-a-half plans are few and far between in Dubuque. The Phase I survey identified just four of the former and six of the latter. Most of these examples postdate 1900. 2304 Jackson Street (pre-1884) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) The example shown above typifies the single story gable front cottage type in Dubuque. Wooden lintels are combined with brick walls. Originally the cottage had a side entrance, the present entry wing is of later date. The plan is extremely narrow. At least some single story brick cottages were built with the intention of adding a second floor. One example of this incremental plan is found at 2310 Jackson Street, where the brick color difference on the side wall clearly marks the addition. One-story front gable cottage, 2552 Jackson Street (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) This is the frame version of the single story gable front cottage form. The core plan is rectangular with a centered south gabled wing. Note the transom above the entry. 2461 Central Avenue (1890) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) 19 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: An example of the story and a half gable front cottage is shown above. A'broader plan (24x46) note the rare use of stone lintels on a side wall and the rear side porches. This is a rectangular core plan with a centered south wall dormer. An earlier although altered example is found at 2272 Prince Street. 2082 White Street (1863) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) The example shown above is the earliest known Phase I survey area example of a two-story gable front house plan (23x33). Built entirely of stone, the designer employed flat stone lintels. Note the transom over the entry and the symmetrical arrangement of three openings on each level of the fayade, along with a centered round-arched attic light. Virtually every gable front vernacular property employs a side hall plan (refer to side hall type below), usually with the entrance on the right-hand side of the fayade. 2401 Queen Street (1880) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) This second example of the same type illustrates another early stone lintel form and hints that the original upper sash had rounded tops. Note the absence of any front porch, the elaborate surviving chimneys and the rear recessed porches. 20 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: 2510 Washington Street (1900) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) This frame version of the two story gable front house type has a very narrow elongated plan (16x30). The transom remains. Fewer window openings are distributed over the narrow fayade and there is no vertical alignment. The gable front is ornamented with wood shingles and is often pedimented. Clapboard is narrow with corner boards. A three- sided bay substitutes for the centered south-facing wing and the rear corner porches remain in use. 2525 Jackson (c.1910) (photo by Jill?- Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) This example of the type illustrates the commonplace elimination of one upper level fayade window above the stairway. The fenestration is otherwise symmetrical and true to the vernacular tradition. The porch and rear side wing postdate the original construction. 21 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY -- The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: This property exemplifies the broadest version of the two story gable front house type (24x35). The porch is a concrete block replacement c.1915. The upper level center door is likely an alteration. 2226 Jackson Street (pre-1884) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) The above example illustrates the largest scale achieved by the two story gable front in Dubuque. The dimensions of this duplex are of the scale that is commonly associated with German vernacular building, broad and deep. This fayade has likely been updated with window replacement but it is of early origins and the porch is authentic in its scale. and detail. Side Hall Plan (c.1830-1880): This subtype provides a category for side gable and hip roof houses/cottages that are not front gables. The plan is usually two rooms deep and a single room wide and has a side hall. These cottages are mostly a single story or story and a half in heIght. In Dubuque the two story side gable house plan also almost always uses a side hall plan and the vast majority of these occur in a double house arrangement. The double house could be built incrementally and one excellent example of a half-double house that failed to gain its mate is found at 308 East 22nd Street. Two-story house examples are not normally included under this vernacular category but Dubuque's vernacular types require a section for side gable house plans. 2307 White Street (pre-1884) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) The above example of a single story side gable cottage form (hall and parlor room arrangement) was originally constructed as a cooper's shop. The use of brick window arches indicates a very early building date. 22 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: 2052 Jackson Street (pre-1884) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) This is another early side gable plan example of a story and a half cottage plan. Also a hall-parlor floor plan arrangement, the porch is a later addition. 2509 Broadway Street (photo Sommer, p. 80) 1212 Elm Street shown above has 2/2 lights and semi-elliptical rounded window arches (Sommer, p. 78). 504 22nd Street represents a more traditional plan orientation to the street front. This example is strongly influenced by the Italianate Style in its window treatment and the classical porch is of much later date (Sommer, p.80). 23 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: 2255-57 Central Avenue (1884) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) This double house frame example of the side gable house type offers a rare instance where the original clapboard remains visible. Frame double houses are far less common than are their brick counterparts. The porch is a larger version of what was originally designed for the house. The plan measures the standard 32x30. Of 17 measured double houses, 11 measured 32 feet in width, with a 28-30 foot depth. 2339-43 Washington Street (1880) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) The above example shows the more commonplace brick double house (32x30) with the best example of the original porch profile and scale. Note the "wrap around" stone lintels which incorporate the arch and the rectangular spring stones. Note also the in-wall end chimneys, the raised stone foundation and the paired entfyways with transoms. 2523 Central Avenue (1892-1909) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) 24 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: German vernacular surveys in Ohio have linked that culture with large squarish building plans. The example shown above depicts a very immense double house plan with a centered cross gable. 2058-62 White Street (1875) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) The White Street property shown above is the best approximation of the frame tenement that was commonly being built in the city after the Civil War. This tri-plex plan (51x32) has been resided and the porch canopies replaced but it is a rare surviving frame example of a common Dubuque type. 1212 Elm Street (photo Sommer, p. 78) The "courtyard house" is a special vernacular side gabled house type in Dubuque. Two examples survive today and it is probable that other examples, particularly of frame construction, have been lost. This unusual vernacular feature appears to have distinct European roots. The other example is found at 1989-1915 Central Street. 2082 Jackson Street, 1863 25 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: I-House (c.1850-1890): This two-story type is defined as a side gabled house although it does occur as a story and a half. Associated particularly with the states of Illinois, Indiana and Iowa, the plan is two rooms and a central hall across and a single room in depth, so it is basically two rooms over two rooms. The type can range from three to five bays, substituting a side front entry for the central one in the shorter versions. 2108 Jackson Street (c.1900?) (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) The example shown above is unusual in that it has a single centered entrYWay and a full array of five openings on each level of the fac;ade. These denote the pure I-House fac;ade. The building is of early date given the flat stone lintels. It was apparently deepened in plan following its initial construction. T-Plan (c.1860-1920): This type is defined by it's "T" footprint rather than its roof elevations. The roof ridges of its parts can be uneven. The "T" is sometimes symmetrical with a wrap around porch on the three exposed sides of the stem of the "T" infill the plan, or it is asymmetrical with a L-shaped porch along the front and one side of the projecting wing. The plan can orient with its projecting wing being set either towards or parallel to the street. 2531 Washington Street (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) The example shown above offers a rare instance of this type in the Phase I survey area. The side entrance on the "upright" or front portion identifies this as being other than a side gable plan. 26 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Glossary of Historical and Contemporary Photographs: East side Central Avenue viewed southeast from East 22n Street, c.1891 Note the corner gaslight, the double streetcar tracks and the lack of paving (Center for Dubuque History, Olinger-Mulgrew Collection) Present-day view (photo by James Jacobsen, April 21, 2000) Fifth storefront right from corner with bold parapet line survives 27 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY -- The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: East side of Central Avenue viewed to north from East 2211 Street, c.1891. (Center for Dubuque History, Olinger-Mulgrew Collection) Present day view (photo by James Jacobsen, April 21, 2000) Sixth building from right and side-gabled store in left rear survive. 28 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Unidentified Catholic Parade, c.late 1880s, view nQrthwest from East (Center for Dubuque History, Photo #4119) Same view today, photo by Jim Jacobsen, taken March 7, 2000 29 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: c.1884-85 overview looking east from Seminary Hill (Shelby Street), St. Paul's Church is in center of image (Center for Dubuque History, Photo #8878) Present day view, photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000 (Fence to left changes the camera angle southward) 30 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: c.1884-85 view from present day Heeb Street, northeast across Kauffman (foreground) and Central Avenue Both of the double houses along Kauffman survive, this view cannot be replicated due to trees and houses now in the foreground (Center For Dubuque History) c. 1884-85 stereoscopic view looking east across Central Avenue from Heeb Street (Seminary Hill) The contemporary view is too obstructed by brush, however of the buildings in the foreground do not survive. (Center for Dubuque History, ~hoto #1501) 31 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: c. 1884-85 stereoscopic view looking east across Central Avenue from Heeb Street (Seminary Hill) (Center for Dubuque History, Photo #1500, all buildings in foreground do not survive) Anton Heeb Brickyard, 3211 and Central Avenue, view west, c.1870s (courtesy Loras College) 32 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY -- The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: c. 1884-85 stereoscopic view looking northeast across Central Avenue from Heeb Street (Seminary Hill) Eagle Point visible in background, Dubuque Brewery in left foreground (Center for Dubuque History, Photo #1499) Present day view of Photo #1499 shown above, photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000 33 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: General Descriptive Observations. Phase I Survey Area: The Couler Valley residences are primarily of frame construction and foundations are most commonly of local limestone. Brick construction accounts for perhaps 10-15 percent of the total. It is surprising that there is so little all- stone construction. Just one example was found. The range of vernacular types found in the survey area is described in Section F and the eligibility recommendations appear in Section H of this report. What is particularly striking about the residences in the survey area is their density, shallow setbacks and the occasional off-square siting or massing of some buildings. A few quaint examples survive. 2531, 2535 Washington Street (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) 2540 and 2538 Jackson Street (photo by Jim Jacobsen, March 7, 2000) In this example, the north side wall of2538 Jackson is actually in line with the south side wall of2540 Jackson (left). The entry to the rear wing of 2540 is gained by the sidewalk, which runs across the front yard of 2538. 34 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY -- The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: 2562 Washington, view northeast, property includes both frontages center and left in "U" plan (photo by James Jacobsen, April 21, 2000) One distinctive streetscape feature along Washington Street, between 15th and 19th streets, is a series of circular landscaped traffic diverters. These were built in 1975 to prevent truck traffic from using that street (Lyon, p. 474). Phase I Methodology: The present survey and multiple property development project represents a renewed municipal effort on the part of the City of Dubuque to update its historic building inventory and to organize that inventory within the context of a multiple property documentation form. The multiple property document format puts the architectural heritage of Dubuque into more codified order and the document for the first time attempts to identify the salient historical contexts which best describe and explain the city's historical development. The staff of the Dubuque Community Development Department developed a five-phase historical survey plan to complete the city's historical/architectural inventory and the first two phases of this plan were accepted for completion by the City Council in 1999. Phase I, the survey of the lower portion of the Couler Valley, funded with a Certified Local Government grant, was awarded to historic preservation consultant Jim Jacobsen (d/b/a History Pays!). Phase II, the survey of the Rhomberg or North Dubuque residential district, was funded using Housing and Urban Development Funds, and the contract was awarded to consultants Jim Jacobsen and Molly Myers Naumann. This second phase will begin work once the multiple property document is sufficiently well developed. Additional refinement of the multiple property document is envisioned for the second contract. The Phase I survey effort had the stated goal of documenting only those properties or districts which appeared to merit National Register of Historic Places eligibility recommendations. Completed individual historical inventory forms and photographs documented individually eligible properties or district groupings. - Bruce Kriviskey's (see below) 1978 mapped survey findings necessarily guided the present survey. Kriviskey prepared no site forms and did no historical research for the Phase I survey area but he did prepare key-coded survey maps which identified a range of significance levels, all of which were architecturally based. Planning staff prepared a baseline survey map that was derived from the Geographic Information System. This map depicted individual building outlines as well as street names and building addresses. Kriviskey's findings were copied onto this base map and the resulting map guided the present survey. The consultant made a preliminary visit to Dubuque in early January 2000. The Phase I survey area and the city in general was generally inspected and the consultant otherwise focused on identifying useful historical sources and becoming familiar with the several research facilities. The actual field survey work was completed during a second visit in early March. The consultant walked each north/south main street in methodical order, evaluating each property and taking photographs as he proceeded. Each photograph was entered in a photographic log and each documented address 35 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Du1uque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: ...,......~~~.~ was entered on a copy of the ftrst page of the state historic inventory form. Key descriptive notes were taken, particularly of those features which might be missed in evaluating just the photograph. Any historical information was also recorded (building dates or names on pediments, historical advertising on side walls, information gleaned from conversations with owners). Phase I Survey area (darkened properties were intensively surveyed and grayed areas denote identifted historic districts Several patterns became quickly apparent. First and most important, Kriviskey was forced even in 1978 to focus his attention on any building that was not hidden beneath replacement siding, that is to say brick or concrete block buildings. Second, the passage of 20 years had worsened the situation and many buildings which Kriviskey favored were either lost or had been sided. Third, most of the buildings were collectively of historical interest but very few warranted individual National Register consideration. District clusters consisted of sizable fragments, mostly being focused on commercial nodes which occurred at street corners or in the southern third of the survey area. There were a number of impressive commercial blocks however. 36 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Du1uque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: The field approach be default turned to updating Kriviskey's good efforts rather than sticking to searching for eligible properties. The latter course would have produced but a handful of inventory forms and no justice would have been done to the neighborhood's still impressive vernacular properties. Kriviskey had an excellent eye for significance and the findings of this survey very much mirror his recommendations. Still the documented properties focus unduly on brick commercial and residential properties and many anomalies, particularly concrete block houses, are over emphasized perhaps. Rare examples of stylized home designs, particularly Queen Anne and Craftsman, are also strongly represented. The many hundreds of vernacular residences which were not documented are still collectively of historical merit. Given the city's topography, only the Phase I and Phase IT residential areas offer examples of Dubuque's vernacular houses in a flat land setting. Similar houses are found throughout the city above the bluffs, but these are scattered and intermixed with houses from later periods. The best chance for vernacular districts is found on these flat valley floors. Replacement siding has transformed these into look-alike boxes devoid of any detailing or uniqueness. To document one was to document all. What remains impressive is the density, juxtaposition, and occasionally the orientation of these houses. Surviving examples of once typical detailing, house orientation, and original appearance were documented, but much has been lost or obscured. Virtually every frame house still retaining its original clapboard exterior was documented. Exceptions were due to the loss of integrity due to porch removal, window reduction, or other alterations. Following the completion of the field survey work attention was focused on documenting the survey area in general and the key individual properties. Project resources hardly allowed for preparing over a hundred survey forms, let alone documenting each and every building exhaustively. Resources were consequently targeted to individually eligible or district clusters. Historical research first focused upon identifying a means of accurately dating the surveyed properties. Clearly many of the Phase I survey area properties are of a later date than might be generally assumed. This is to say building dates after the 1880s with construction continuing up through the First World War. If anything can knowingly be said about the evolution and derivation of vernacular house designs then accurate building dates are the starting point. The earlier vernacular survivors can be sorted out through this dating process. Early historical photographs offered some hope and a number of these were found, mostly taken from Seminary Hill to the west. Unfortunately most of the Couler Avenue/Central Avenue buildings shown in the foreground of these images have been lost. The images compress the depth and it is detective's work to figure out which house is on which street and which house still survives. The 1872 Birds Eye view is the earliest depiction of the survey area. The same problem of matching buildings is encountered and the question of accuracy is a major one. The drawing is useful in that it shows the extent of development in the survey area as of that date. City Assessor cards were made available by courthouse staff and these provide estimated building dates for each property. These are more accurate for the later buildings but the dates at least offer minimal (no later than) building dates. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps are ideal for dating buildings within ten-year age ranges but the earliest map is dated 1884 and the subsequent map 1891, reflective of a high rate of city growth. The next map however, is dated 1909 and is too late to be of use in dating vernacular properties. City directories survive from the late 1850s but street address guides appear only by 1907. A number of buildings, both commercial and residential are referenced in the broad array of secondary Dubuque historical sources. These references describe and confirm the heavily German ethnic background of the survey area. 37 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of DulJUque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: Master Listing of Documented Properties, Phase I Dubuque Survey: Each district or cluster is assigned a site number as is each property. . Evaluations are based on visual examination of photos (second roll of film yet undeveloped so had no evaluations yet for roughly one-fourth of the properties. District properties appear in frrst column while individual properties appear in the second column. 260 237 Further research recommended 349 238 ~ 397 (1. J. Grode Jr.) 239 National Register Eligible (see 300-400s under Washington-E. 20tll district below) (see E. 22nd-Wash. Dist. Below) 521 242 National Register Eligible 607 (A. C. Pancratz) 243 National Register Eligible 834 (Morrison Bros.) 244 National Register Eligible 9-11 245 Further research recommended 1805 (Fire Station) 246 National Register Eligible 1800's Central Avenue 247 National Register Eligible 1812 248 1824 249 1826/28 250 1838 251 1842 252 1850 253 1856 254 1876 255 1800's Central Avenue 256 National Register Eligible District Property: Individual Property Site Number: Evaluation: 1879 257 1889-95 258 1913-15 259 1919 260 1959 261 1965 262 1944 263 Demolished 2095 264 Further research recommended 2130-34 265 National Register Eligible 2129 266 2133 267 2180 268 National Register Eligible 2222 269 National Register Eligible 2243 270 Further research recommended 2255-57 271 Further research recommended 2327 272 National Register Eligible 2306 273 National Register Eligible 2310-12 274 Further research recommended 2400 275 National Register Eligible 23?? (Key Line) 276 Yes, historical Significance 2461 277 Further research recommended 2499 278 National Register Eligible 2540 (Fulton School) 279 National Register Eligible 38 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Du1uque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: 2535 (old Fulton 280 National Register Eligible School) 2555-65 (Stone 281 Further research recommended Ridge Apts) Concrete Block Houses, 282 Further research recommended 2500's Central 2578 283 2582 284 2586 285 2590 286 2600 287 Further research recommended 1845 288 1855 289 2055 290 1815 291 National Register Eligible 1856-66 292 Further research recommended 1846-48 293 1800s-1900s Jackson 294 National Register Eligible 1885 428 Individually eligible, best small commercial property in survey area 1889 295 1903 296 1905 297 1913-17 298 1920 299 1930-32 300 1946 301 1949 302 2005 (St. Paul's) 303 Further research recommended 2006 304 National Register Eligible 2024-26 305 2044 306 Further research recommended District Property: Individual Property Site Number: Evaluation: 2045 307 2052 308 2070-72 309 Further research recommended 2282 409 National Register Eligible 2100s Jackson 310 Further research recommended 2102 311 2108 312 2109 313 2111-13 314 2113 316 2123 317 2131 318 2135-37 319 2139 321 2214 323 2226 324 2255-57 325 2265-67 326 2266 315 2304 327 2310 328 2350-52 332 Concrete Block Houses, 333 Further research recommended 39 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Du1uque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: 2400's Jackson-White 2401 334 2409-11 335 2413 336 2415 337 2404 White (list twice) 338 2421 (garage) 339 2501 (1 st Evang. Ch.) 340 Further research recommended 2525 341 2539 342 2545 343 National Register Eligible 2561 344 National Register Eligible 2568 345 National Register Eligible 2600 346 National Register Eligible 2601 347 National Register Eligible ~2268 348 2272 349 2401 350 ~2412 351 National Register Eligible 1866 352 1896 354 1938 355 2000s Washington 356 Further research recommended 2003 357 2005 358 2015 359 2027 360 2033-35 361 2043 362 2049 363 2051 364 District Property: Individual Property Site Number: Evaluation: 2057 366 2061-65 369 2010 368 Further research recommended 2061-65 369 Duplicate site sheet, also in district 2076-78 370 Further research recommended Washington and East 371 22nd streets (East 22nd Street) 215-17 374 301? 375 305 376 306 377 308 378 310 379 311 380 312-14 381 317-19 382 321-23 238 National Register Eligible 400 239 National Register Eligible 2162 387 2172 388 2201-03 389 40 DUBUQUE-THE KEY CITY--The Architectural And Historical Resources of Dubuque, Iowa, 1837-1955 Phase I Historical and Architectural Survey Report: 2209 391 2219 392 2222 393 2226 394 2227 395 2234-36 396 Further research recommended 2238 397 2241 398 2319 426 2329 427 2339-43 320 2349-51 322 2510 399 Further research recommended Brick Grouping, 1900s 400 National Register Eligible 1902 401 1908 402 1922 403 1938 404 2002 (Fred Rub, 405 Further research recommended 1890) 2018 406 2050 407 2058-62 408 2227 410 2244 411 National Register Eligible 2281 412 2301-05 353 2307 413 2326-30 414 2345 415 2411-1 7 417 2421 (garage only) 422 2429 418 District Property: Individual Property Site Number: Evaluation: 2485 419 2513-15 420 2517 421 The summary Phase I survey area map appears at the head of this section. The sheer size of the area precludes the inclusion of addresses or site numbers but the properties list can be generally correlated with the surveyed properties. Blackened properties were individually documented and shaded areas denote district-level documentation. 41