Historic Preservation

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Website Links

Here are a few Web sites that offer information on historic preservation. These sites are not under the control of the Ottumwa Historic Preservation Commission. We are not responsible for the accuracy or appropriateness of the content. 

• National Trust For Historic Preservation A private, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving historic buildings and the neighborhoods and landscapes they anchor. Check out their weekly quiz.
• National Parks Service

• National Register of Historic Places
• Contacts, Tax Credits, and Other Assistance
• Tools for Learning
• National Register Publications
• National Register Information System - look up historic places by state and county
• National Center for Preservation Technology and Training - online resources including research, education, grants, and Internet sites
• Preservation Briefs

• Historic Architecture Tour of Huntington County, Indiana - Learn about architectural building styles.
• Wisconsin Barn Preservation Related Links

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How much do you know about historic preservation and Ottumwa history? Here's a fun quiz to test your knowledge.

1. To be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a property normally must be at least how old? Answer
   a. 50 years old
   b. 100 years old
   c. 150 years old
2. If your property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, . . . Answer
   a. you cannot alter its exterior without first submitting a renovation plan.
   b. you can do whatever you want with the listed property if you haven't received Federal funds for renovation.
   

A Brief History of Wapello County, Iowa

by Tom Quinn, Past President of the Wapello County Historical Society

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Early Indian History
Early Settlements

Agency
Eldon
Eddyville
Blakesburg
Chillicothe
Kirkville
Ottumwa

Early Commerce

Ottumwa's history has revolved around the Des Moines River. The river drew early native people's and settlers. It provided a means of transportation before the railroads.

The Des Moines River also created a division in the community. It was a natural barrier inhibiting free access from one side of the banks to the other. Bridges were built to unite Ottumwa. Ottumwa's nickname is "the City of Bridges."

Engineers from the Iowa State Highway Commission designed the bridge project. The Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin began excavation for the substructure in early 1935. Construction was completed in 1936. On May 28, 1936 the Jefferson Street Viaduct was dedicated in ceremonies presided over by Iowa Governor Clyde Herring and Ottumwa Mayor Edwin Manning. A crowd of about 15,000 people were on hand for the bridge's official opening.

The Jefferson Street Viaduct has five arched deck truss spans, riveted Warren deck truss, and supported above the Des Moines River on tapered concrete pedestals. It is technologically noteworthy as an uncommon application of deck truss technology in Iowa.

The Jefferson Street Viaduct was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Below is an old picture postcard showing "new viaduct" across the Des Moines River.

Wapello (1787-1842), for whom the county was named, was a chief of the Foxes, and second in command to Keokuk of the federated tribes of the Sacs and Foxes. He realized the changes that the white man could bring, and tried to lead his people in friendship and peace.

Born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in 1787, Wapello was one of many Native Americans who were moved farther, and farther west with the signing of each new treaty. He was at Rock Island, Illinois when Fort Armstrong was built shortly after the War of 1812. In 1829 he moved his village to the Muscatine slough on the west side of the Mississippi River. Following the signing of the treaty after the "Black Hawk War" in 1837, over a million acres of land in eastern Iowa was ceded to the U.S. At this time Wapello and his people traveled westward and settled along the banks of the Des Moines River just south of the present town of Ottumwa. Here he became a fast friend of the Indian Agent, General Joseph M. Street, who had followed a similar geographic pattern to reach Wapello County. The two men worked together to create a peaceful coexistence.

General Street suffered ill health from the time he arrived at the Iowa Agency, and died there in 1840. He was buried at the Agency, and land was given by the Indians to the wife of their dear friend, to sustain her and her family. Wapello expressed the desire to be buried near his friend when he too died. In 1842, Wapello died while on a trip along the Skunk River, and he was laid to rest at the side of his loyal white friend, General Joseph M. Street. Today their graves, and those of Mrs. Street, their children and Major John Beach (son-in-law of Street, and Street's successor as Indian Agent), have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Chief Wapello Memorial Park just east of Agency, Iowa. 

Henry Hobson Richardson - Architect

Few architects have made such important contributions to the field that a style has been named for them. Henry Hobson Richardson is such a man. His interpretation of the Romanesque style with its heavy massing and highly textured materials, has become known as Richardsonian Romanesque.

Richarson (1836-1888) was born in Louisiana. Following his graduation from Harvard, he studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, becoming only the second American to be formally trained in architecture. Returning to the U.S. he set up practice in New York with Charles Dexter Gambrill. In 1872 a massive fire destroyed much of Boston's downtown. One of the buildings lost was Trinity Church. Richardson won the competition to design and build the new church. Started in 1873, the massive stone building with its round arches, polished columns, and towers, was completed in 1877. Trinity Church firmly established Richardson as an architect of note. In the following ten years he designed approximately 50 buildings, most in this same style. Though the style remained the same, he designed a variety of different types of buildings, including libraries, train stations, residences, and commercial buildings. In each you can see the rich texture of the material (stone), and the rhythmical pattern of the openings (round arches). It is these characteristics which have been borrowed by architects across the country and used to create such buildings as the Wapello County Courthouse in the Richardsonian Romanesque style.

Building designed by Richardson include:

Foster and Liebbe - Architects

William Foster (1842-1909) and Henry F. Liebbe (1851-1927) formed a partnership in 1883 in Des Moines, Iowa and continued to work together until 1898. They specialized in the design of public buildings, including ten county courthouses in Iowa, a number of college and university buildings for the State of Iowa, and the Hospital for the Insane in Clarinda, Iowa. They also designed a number of churches, schools, and large residences. Foster became interested in the design of opera houses, and began to build and manage these. When he left the architectural partnership in 1898, he devoted himself entirely to the operation of opera houses.

Among the buildings designed by Foster and Liebbe are:

Smith and Gutterson - Architects

Oliver O. Smith (1868-1916) and Frank A. Gutterson (1872-1901) formed a brief partnership from 1898-1901 with offices in Des Moines, Iowa. Before and after that period Smith was in partnership with a number of other well known Iowa architects. Like Foster and Liebbe, Smith and Gutterson apparently specialized in public buildings.

Buildings designed by Smith and Gutterson include:

• Des Moines, Iowa Public Library
• Des Moines, Iowa Historical Memorial and Arts Building (Old State Historical Building)
• Ottumwa, Iowa Public Library
• Owatonna, Minnesota Public Library

For more information on Oliver O. Smith and/or Frank A. Gutterson, see:
Shank, Wesley I., Iowa's Historic Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999.

Casimir I. Krajewski - Architect

Casimir Ignatius Krajewski (1893-1949 or later) was born in Poland. He opened an office in Dubuque, Iowa in 1927 and worked there until about 1940 when he moved to Chicago. Not many buildings have been identified as his work. The only one listed in Shank's book is St. Mary's of the Visitation in Ottumwa.

For more information about Casimir Krajewski see:
Shank, Wesley I., Iowa's Historic Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999.