The Newton Downtown 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 Newton, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. At the time of its nomination it contained 85 resources, which included 60

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, and 24 non-contributing buildings.

Jasper County Jasper County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. All are named in honor of Sergeant William Jasper, a hero of the Revolutionary War. Five counties share a boundary with a Newton County, named for John Newton John ...

was established by the Iowa Territorial Legislature in 1846, and Newton was incorporated the following year as the county seat. The town grew slowly at first around the Jasper County Courthouse. Businesses largely served the needs of the local farmers as well as the town's residents. The

Mississippi and Missouri Railroad The Mississippi and Missouri Railroad (M&M Railroad) was the first railroad in Iowa. It was chartered in 1853 to build a line between Davenport, Iowa, on the Mississippi River and Council Bluffs, Iowa, on the Missouri River.Dix, John Adams. Speech ...

, later the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, came to Newton in 1867. This changed the town's economy from agricultural-based to manufacturing, and the

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 ...

expanded outward as the community grew. Several washing machine companies established themselves in Newton, most notably Maytag. The emergence of Maytag as a major corporation in the mid-20th century led to the transformation of the downtown area. Between 1951 and 1952, 18 businesses installed new

storefront A storefront or shopfront is the facade or entryway of a retail store located on the ground floor or street level of a commercial building, typically including one or more display windows. A storefront functions to attract visual attention to a bu ...

s, transforming them from their original

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

appearance to a more modern appearance. The modernization continued into the 1960s. Various architects, mostly from Iowa, designed most of the important buildings in the district. The exception was Henry Raeder, a Chicago architect who designed the Hotel Maytag (1926). Most of the buildings in the district, however, were designed by local builder-contractors. All of the buildings are of masonry construction. A majority of the structures housed retail concerns on the main floor with apartments or offices on the upper floors. Other buildings housed banks, restaurants, service stations, the local newspaper, a hotel, and fraternal organizations. Three churches, the Salvation Army, First United Methodist, and First Presbyterian, are located in the district. Government buildings located here include the former city hall, former post office, and county public services. The present county courthouse (1911) is individually listed on the National Register. The courthouse square is the contributing site.

References

{{NRHP in Jasper County, Iowa Newton, Iowa Historic districts in Jasper County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Jasper County, Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa