Harlan Courthouse Square Commercial 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

Harlan, Iowa Harlan is a city in Shelby County, Iowa, along the West Nishnabotna River. The population was 4,893 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Shelby County. History Harlan was platted in 1858. It was named for one of Iowa's earl ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. 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 1994. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 54 resources, including 38

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 ...

, one

contributing site 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 ...

, one

contributing object 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 ...

, 13 noncontributing buildings, and one noncontributing object. with Cross-shaped in plan, the historic district covers most of the city's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

in the original town plat. Most of the buildings are two-story, brick, commercial buildings. Commercial

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 ...

and Queen Anne styles are dominant. The

Shelby County Courthouse Shelby County Courthouse may refer to: * Shelby County Courthouse (Illinois), Shelbyville, Illinois * Shelby County Courthouse (Indiana), Shelbyville, Indiana * Shelby County Courthouse (Iowa) The Shelby County Courthouse in Harlan, Iowa, Unite ...

(1893) is a stone

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

structure. The courthouse square block and the four surrounding half blocks and rear alleys constitute the contributing site. The Soldier's Monument on the square is the contributing object, and the POW/MIA Monument is the noncontributing object because of its more recent construction.

References

{{NRHP in Shelby County, Iowa Harlan, Iowa Historic districts in Shelby County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Shelby County, Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Italianate architecture in Iowa Queen Anne architecture in Iowa Romanesque Revival architecture in Iowa