Democrat Building is a historic building located in downtown

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

, United States. It was individually listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983. In 2020 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 dist ...

in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District. The historic newspaper building is now an apartment building known as The Democrat Lofts.

History

The Democrat Building was designed by a prominent Davenport architecture firm of Clausen & Kruse, and it was built in 1923. The firm also designed other historic buildings in Davenport including the Forrest Block, which is next door to the south, the Hibernia Hall, which is next door to the north, the Scott County Savings Bank, Davenport Municipal Stadium (now Modern Woodmen Park),

The Linograph Company Building The Linograph Company Building, also known as the Englehart Manufacturing Company Building and RiverWalk Lofts , is a historic building located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Propert ...

, and the W.D. Petersen Memorial Music Pavilion in LeClaire Park. The building was built for a local newspaper the ''Davenport Democrat'', which was started in 1848 as the ''Democratic Banner''. Its editorial philosophy was in keeping with that of the political party of the same name. Over the years the paper purchased the ''Gazette'' (1887) and the ''Evening Leader'' (1902). The paper was eventually bought by

Lee Enterprises Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 72 daily newspapers in 25 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...

, which published the ''Daily Times''. The merged newspapers became the ''Times-Democrat'' and is now known as the ''

Quad-City Times The ''Quad-City Times'' is a daily morning newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa, and circulated throughout the Quad Cities metropolitan area, including Davenport, Bettendorf and Scott County in Iowa; and Moline, East Moline, Rock Island, an ...

''. The building was sold to ''The Catholic Messenger'', the newspaper for the Diocese of Davenport, in 1956. The building served as their headquarters for a couple of decades. The building also housed a dog training school, a vacuum cleaner salesroom, a dance hall and a specialty store. In 2014, a $6 million renovation turned the building into 21 apartments. The building is considered significant because of its association with newspapers in Davenport, and as an example of the local influence of

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...

, whose work figures prominently in the history of American architecture.

Architecture

The two-storied, freestanding, brick structure with concrete block facing was designed by Davenport architect Rudolph J. Clausen. A historical survey in 1983 indicated that the building utilizes steel in its construction. It was completed for about $300,000. The words “The Democrat” are etched across the top of the building. It bears the stylistic influence of Louis Sullivan's “jewel box” structures that are associated with the work he did late in his career in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. with These influences are seen in the blocking of windows at the center of the highly geometric

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

. The ornamentation of the horizontal band between stories, over the entrances, and along the parapet wall all feature the stylized motifs that are commonly found in his work.

References

{{Historic Davenport structures Commercial buildings completed in 1923 Apartment buildings in Davenport, Iowa Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Davenport, Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa Newspaper headquarters in the United States