The Fifth Street Bluff Historic District is a nationally recognized

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

located in

Ottumwa, Iowa Ottumwa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,529 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. Located in the state's southeastern section, the city is split into northern and southern halves b ...

, United States. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1998. At the time of its nomination it contained 67 resources, which included 40

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, three

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, and 24 non-contributing buildings. with

History

As Ottumwa grew in the mid to late 19th century many of its wealthier citizens built houses on the bluff overlooking the town and the

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Na ...

Valley below. By doing so they were able to move away from the swampy river bottom and were able to capitalize on the view. Construction began in this part of the city in the 1850s. There were, however, three main periods of development: the 1860s, the 1890s, and the 1920s. Prominent citizens who built homes on the bluff included George Morrell of John Morrell & Company, F.W. Simmons of American Mining Tools Company, G.C. Janney of Janney Manufacturing, J.W. Edgerly who was a wholesale druggist, J.H. Merrill who was a wholesale grocer and Judge H.B. Hendershott. Construction in the area was largely concluded by 1930.

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

, Queen Anne, and

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

are the most popular architectural styles that are found in the district. In 1895 the streets were paved with

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

s and lined with

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

Architecture

Because of its location along a bluff, the area is primarily residential and has had little in the way of commercial development. It contains some of the best examples of several architectural styles in the city, and the largest concentration of architect-designed houses and buildings. Nine different architects contributed designs to the district including Ottumwa architect George M. Kerns,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

architect F.R. Comstock, Davenport architect

Edward Hammatt Edward Hammatt (September 8, 1856 – August 24, 1907) was an architect in the United States. He designed several notable buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Biography Edward Seymour Hammatt was born in ...

, and the

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

architectural firm of Fisher & Lowrie. Historic churches in the district include First Baptist and Trinity Episcopal. The contributing structures include the brick streets, stone retaining walls, and an iron fence. The

Foster/Bell House The Foster/Bell House is an historic building located in Ottumwa, Iowa, United States. The original house on the property was the home of Judge H.B. Hendershott built in 1862. He sold the property to Thomas D. Foster in early 1890s. He was the c ...

and the Jay Funeral Home are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

{{NRHP in Wapello County, Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Historic districts in Wapello County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Wapello County, Iowa Buildings and structures in Ottumwa, Iowa Tudor Revival architecture in Iowa Italianate architecture in Iowa Queen Anne architecture in Iowa