The White, Munger and Company Store is a historic building located in

Winterset, Iowa Winterset is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Iowa. The population was 5,353 at the time of the 2020 census. Winterset is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. It is the birthplace of actor John Wayne. History Winterset ...

, United States. Built in 1861 by Evan V. Evans who owned the property the building sits on, it is an early example of a

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

commercial building. with The two-story structure is composed of locally quarried

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 ...

and rubble stone. It features a

false front False or falsehood may refer to: *False (logic), the negation of truth in classical logic * Lie or falsehood, a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement *false (Unix), a Unix command * ''False'' (album), a 1992 album by Gorefest *M ...

that hides the

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

roof, a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

with a bracketed stone

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and

cornice return In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. The

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 ...

has subsequently been altered. White, Munger and Company operated a

woolen mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods s ...

east of town, and this store was associated with the mill. The building was individually 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 1987, and it was included as a

contributing property 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 distri ...

in the

Winterset Courthouse Square Commercial Historic District Winterset Courthouse Square Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Winterset, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. At the time of its nomination ...

in 2015.

References

Commercial buildings completed in 1861 Winterset, Iowa Vernacular architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Madison County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Madison County, Iowa Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa Western false front architecture {{Iowa-struct-stub