Younker Brothers Department Store
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The Younker Brothers Department Store is a historic building located in downtown
Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
,
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 2010.


History

Younkers Younkers Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded as a family-run dry goods business in 1856 in Keokuk, Iowa. The retailer had evolved over more than 150 years to include a presence in locations throughout Iowa ...
was founded in
Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...
in 1856. They opened their first store in Des Moines in 1874 and moved their headquarters to Des Moines in 1879. Their flagship store moved to this location in November 1899. The original Tea Room opened in 1913 and was replaced in 1927. The building installed the first
escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...
in Iowa, known as the "electric stairs", in this building in 1939. Younkers closed their downtown Des Moines location on August 12, 2005. Part of the building was destroyed in a fire during the early morning hours of March 29, 2014, that caused the upper floors of the building to collapse. At the time of the fire, the building was undergoing renovation into 120 apartments and retail space. While no cause of the fire has been announced, the
ATF The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...
had ruled out
arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
as a possible cause following an investigation shortly after the fire. Demolition of the eastern part of the building began a short time later. In August 2014, the Alexander Company, a
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
-based developer, announced plans to continue with the ongoing renovation and restoration of the western half of the building. The revised plans call for adding 14,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor of the building, creating 60 apartment units on the remaining floors, and renovating the historic Tea Room, which was spared during the fire.


Architecture

The building is seven stories tall and rises above the ground. It was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm of
Liebbe, Nourse & Rasmussen Liebbe, Nourse & Rasmussen was an architectural firm in the U.S. state of Iowa. They designed Kromer Flats built in 1905. It designed courthouses, commercial buildings, and residences. Several are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic ...
in the
Commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
style.


References

{{Historic Des Moines structures


External links


SAH Archipedia Building Entry
Buildings and structures in Des Moines, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Des Moines, Iowa Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Commercial architecture in Iowa Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places