Winterset Courthouse Square Commercial 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

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It 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 2015. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 82 resources, including 74

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 ...

, seven noncontributing buildings, and one noncontributing object. 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 ...

in the original town plat. Most of the buildings are two-story, brick, commercial buildings. The commercial Italianate style is dominant, with Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Neoclassical styles included. The Madison County Courthouse (1878) is a Renaissance Revival structure designed by

Alfred H. Piquenard Alfred H. Piquenard (1826-1876) was an American architect. Born in France, he studied at Paris' Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures before emigrating to the United States as part of the Icarian movement. After leaving the Icarians, he began wor ...

. Most of the buildings are brick construction, but four were constructed using locally quarried

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 ...

. The stone buildings include the courthouse, the White, Munger and Company Store (1861), and the Sprague, Brown, and Knowlton Store (1866), all of which are individually listed on the National Register. The period of significance for the district is 1861 to 1965 when most of the buildings were constructed. Unlike many historic downtowns in Iowa, Winterset replaced its initial frame buildings with masonry buildings because of economic prosperity, and not because of fires. In addition to Piquenard, other architects of note who contributed buildings in the district include

William Foster William Foster may refer to: People Arts *Will Foster (fl. 1990–), keyboardist for English rock band The Tears * William C. Foster (1880–1923), pioneer of cinematography * William D. Foster (1884–?), African American film producer * Willi ...

(Crawford/Jefferson Block, 1873; Schwaner/Centennial Block, 1876), L.W. Foster (Madisonian Building, 1872; City Hall Block/Jones & Tidrick, 1875), Joseph S. Blake (Firemen's Hall/City Hall/Light Plant, 1888, 1889, 1923), Frank E. Wetherell (Bevington Building/Masonic Temple, 1914 remodel), and

Louis A. Simon Louis Adolphe Simon (1867–1958) was an American architect. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Simon was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following a tour of Europe, he opened an architectural office in Baltimore, M ...

(U.S. Post Office, 1935).

References

{{NRHP in Madison County, Iowa Winterset, Iowa Buildings and structures in Madison County, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Madison County, Iowa Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Italianate architecture in Iowa Queen Anne architecture in Iowa Romanesque Revival architecture in Iowa