The Polk County Homestead and Trust Company Addition 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 Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 86 resources, including 48

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 ...

, 11

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 ...

, 18 non-contributing buildings, and nine non-contributing structures. The end of the 19th century saw the rise of the

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 ...

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

s around Des Moines. This was a period of economic growth for the metropolitan area. The largest of these suburbs was North Des Moines. It was connected to Des Moines by way of three streetcar lines, which added to its attractiveness. Local real estate investors established the Polk County Homestead & Trust Co. to develop the northern portion of North Des Moines in partnership with the Prospect Park Improvement Company. This area was platted in 1884. Polk County Homestead & Trust Co. bought this property from the Prospect Park Improvement Company, and the two advertised the addition together. The streets, alleys, and large town lots of the plat are laid out on a grid, which differs from the surrounding area's curvilinear streets and irregular lots further north and more erratic development to the south. The historic district's period of significance is 1886 when the first house was built, to 1945 when some of the single-family dwellings were converted into multi-family dwellings. The addition is dominated by the Late Victorian and Colonial Revival styles. The Queen Anne style was popular in this middle and upper-middle-class neighborhood before the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

. Five houses are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Lowry W. and Hattie N. Goode House (1886), the

Chaffee-Hunter House The Chaffee-Hunter House is a historic building located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Built in 1886, the single family dwelling is named for its first two residents, Henry L. Chaffee and Edward H. Hunter who bought it from Chaffee in 189 ...

(1886), the Dr. John B. and Anna M. Hatton House (c. 1887), the Dr. Anna E. and Andrew A. Johnstone House (1887), and the William A. and Etta Baum Cottage (1891). The former Norman Wiles Seventh-day Adventist School (c. 1925) is the only institutional building in the historic district.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Des Moines, Iowa Historic districts in Des Moines, Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa {{DesMoinesIA-stub