The Hampton Double Square Historic District is a historic district located in Hampton, Iowa, United States. It has been 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 ...

since 2003. At the time of its nomination it contained 43 resources, which included 28 contributing buildings, two

contributing sites 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 ...

, 10 non-contributing buildings, one non-contributing site, one non-contributing structures, and on non-contributing object. with The town of Hampton was laid out by H.P. Allen, who was the county surveyor, in June 1856. The original plat was eight blocks by eight blocks in the shape of an “L”. Near the center of the “L” was the two-block, or double, square. While many

county seats A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

in Iowa have a courthouse square, the double square is a rarity. Four double squares were platted in Iowa, but only those in Hampton and Sidney survived their early period of development. Estherville's square was platted as a four-block square, but its development created a double square instead. Hampton has the only symmetrical double square plan in the state. The double square exemplifies the two primary functions of a public square, both commercial and public development. The district's period of significance is from 1856, when it was of platted, to 1935 when the last public building was constructed. Building usage is largely commercial with a few public/government buildings, and the Congregational Church. The buildings are largely two stories tall and constructed of brick in the styles that were popular at the time. Many of the commercial blocks are

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 ...

in design. The

Franklin County Sheriff's Residence and Jail The Franklin County Sheriff's Residence and Jail is a historic building located in Hampton, Iowa, United States. The combination sheriff's residence and jail was the most common type of detention facility built by Iowa counties from the 1840s t ...

(1880), the Franklin County G. A. R. Soldiers' Memorial Hall (1890; Edward Carl Keifer), and the

Franklin County Courthouse Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral div ...

(1891; T. D. Allen) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

Hampton, Iowa Italianate architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Iowa Historic districts in Franklin County, Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Iowa {{FranklinCountyIA-NRHP-stub