Ottumwa City Hall is the official seat of government for the city of

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. The building originally served as a post office and federal courthouse. It is part of the Central Park area, which includes: Ottumwa Public Library,

Wapello County Courthouse The Wapello County Courthouse in Ottumwa, Iowa, United States, was built in 1894. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. The courthouse is the fourth buildin ...

and St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church. The building 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 1976.

History and architecture

The

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style building was designed by

United States Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an United States federal executive departments, executive department. The departme ...

architects under the direction of

James Knox Taylor James Knox Taylor (October 11, 1857 – August 27, 1929) was Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1897 to 1912. His name is listed '' ex officio'' as supervising architect of hundreds of federal buildings ...

. It replaced a smaller building that was used as the post office on the same site since 1890. The three-story, U-shaped structure was built between 1910 and 1912. It rises to a height of . The exterior is composed of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

limestone. In addition to be a fine example of the Renaissance Revival style in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, this is one of the few buildings in Ottumwa clad in stone. with . The first floor features a limestone facing tooled in horizontal striations and arched windows. Decorative features include stone

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...

s, paneling,

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s, and Iconic

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s. The building is capped with a green tile

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

. The building housed the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

and the United States Courthouse until 1964. The following year the first floor of the building was altered for use by the city as its city hall. Much of the original architectural details remain on the second and third floors. The interior features a white marble staircase with brass handrails. The floors in the corridors on the second and third floors are

terrazzo Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...

with white marble borders.

References

{{NRHP in Wapello County, Iowa Government buildings completed in 1912 Renaissance Revival architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Ottumwa, Iowa Post office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa City and town halls in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Wapello County, Iowa 1912 establishments in Iowa

History and architecture

See also

References