The Red Oak 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 Red Oak, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. At the time of its nomination it contained 104 resources, which included 73

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 ...

, eight

contributing objects 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, 15 non-contributing buildings, six non-contributing objects, and one non-contributing structure. 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 ...

. It is a flat area of land in an otherwise hilly region. The district is centered on Fountain Square, a public green space around which the town had been platted in 1857. A second public square was added in 1890 for the Montgomery County Courthouse after Red Oak won a special election to move the county seat from Frankfort. The district contains a mix of attached commercial buildings and free-standing government, commercial and light industrial buildings. The courthouse (1891),

Red Oak Firehouse and City Jail The Red Oak Firehouse and City Jail is a historic building located in Red Oak, Iowa, United States. The Red Oak Fire Company was formed in 1876 and a shed was built to house its equipment. The present Late Victorian style brick structure was built ...

(1898/1901), and the

Red Oak Public Library The Red Oak Public Library is located in Red Oak, Iowa, United States. Andrew Carnegie accepted the city's application for a grant for $12,500 on November 27, 1906. The Chicago architectural firm of Patton & Miller designed the Tudor Revival struc ...

(1909) are all individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the buildings are two-part commercial blocks that reflect the styles and materials that were popular when they were built. The single-story buildings are generally one-part commercial blocks or roadside commercial buildings. Fountain Square is the contributing site and all of the contributing and non-contributing objects are located there, generally as war memorials or park elements.

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External links

Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Iowa Historic districts in Montgomery County, Iowa Red Oak, Iowa {{MontgomeryCountyIA-NRHP-stub