Washington Downtown Historic District

Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,352 at the time of the 2020 census.

The Washington County Courthouse in Washington, Iowa, United States, was built in 1887. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 as a part of the County Courthouses in Iowa Thematic Resource. In 2013 it was included as a contributing property in the Washington Downtown Historic District. The courthouse is the third building the county has used for court functions and county administration.

The State Theatre is a historic movie theater in Washington, Iowa. The venue is recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest continually operating movie theater in the world. It opened in 1893 as the Graham Opera House and screened its first film on May 14, 1897, with a cinematograph made in Paris.

The Winfield Smouse House, is a historic structure located in Washington, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Winfield Smouse arrived in Washington in 1867. He was initially involved in retail grocery and hardware. He invested in real estate and he ended up platting and developing five major additions to the city. By the time he died he was considered the wealthiest person in town. The two-story brick houses is a local adaptation of the Prairie School style. The house has subsequently been converted into a restaurant.

The Blair House of Washington, Iowa, formerly used as the town's City Hall, was built in 1881. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The building has served several different functions in its history. It was built as a private residence by a local financier and realtor Winfield Smouse. The Blair family lived here from 1882 to 1891, followed by C.J. Wilson. It then housed the Commercial Club from 1903 to 1926 and they added a gymnasium and club rooms on the south side. The building housed the Washington City Hall from 1926 to 1972. They added a larger front porch, a fire station to the east side of the house and hung the fire bell in the tower. It is one of the few Victorian houses that remains in this area. The 2½ story structure follows an irregular plan. Its exterior is composed of brick and both the main block and the tower are capped with a mansard roof. Des Moines architect William Wagner said the Blair House is a "little gem-a miniature Terrace Hill", a reference to the present Iowa Governor's Mansion.

The Washington Community School District, or Washington Community Schools, is a rural public school district based in Washington, Iowa. The district is mainly in Washington County, with a small area in Jefferson County, and serves the towns of Washington and Brighton, and surrounding rural areas. The school's mascot is the Demons. Their colors are orange and black.

The Kurtz House, is a historic residence located in Washington, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The house was begun by V.W. Andrus in 1867, and completed in 1869 by M. Barratt when Andrus ran out of money. J.F. Kurtz, for whom the house is named, lived here from 1919 to 1943. The two-story vernacular Italianate structure was built with locally made brick. It is capped with a hip roof and deck. Decorative details include wide eaves and a wood cornice that are supported by paired brackets. Brick pilasters separate the bays. A single-story addition was built onto the rear of the house, and the front porch has been removed.

The West Side Residential Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Washington, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. At the time it was studied for the State of Iowa it contained 255 resources, which included 184 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing structure, one contributing object, and 68 non-contributing buildings. Some of the numbers could be adjusted up for the National Register nomination as the park required further study. The historic district is a residential neighborhood on the west side of town with houses that were built from the 1850s to the 1960s. The oldest house in the district was constructed in 1856, and eight of the houses were built after 1969, the cut-off year for inclusion as a contributing property. All of the houses are single family dwellings, and most of them are frame construction. Nine of the houses are brick or stucco. They range in height from single-story to two-story structures. The district is noteworthy for its large collection of Victorian styles from the 1880s to the 1900s, but there are also a number of American Foursquare, American Craftsman, and bungalows in the neighborhood as well. The Joseph Keck House (c. 1860) and the Frank Stewart House (1894) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The contributing site is Sunset Park, which was developed by prominent residents who lived in the neighborhood in the early 20th century. It sits to the west of the residential area. The Alexander Young Cabin (1840) was relocated to the park in 1912, and it is individually listed on the National Register. A marker that commemorates the park's original donor is the contributing object. A section of West Washington Boulevard is paved with brick and it is the contributing structure.

The Joseph Keck House, is a historic building located in Washington, Iowa, United States. Joseph Keck was a native of Pennsylvania who was trained as a carpenter and eventually became a banker. He married Elizabeth Jackson in 1844. Her family owned the property the house was built on. The Kecks lived in a small house that had been built here previously. Once he received the title to the land in 1855, Keck had this house built sometime in the mid to late 1850s. The two-story brick house is a well preserved, example of French mansard residential architecture. Other architectural styles represented in the house include the Gothic balustrade and vergeboard, the Greek Revival acroterion and finial, and the Italianate porch arcade. The house was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 2018 it was included as a contributing property in the West Side Residential Historic District.

The Frank Stewart House, also known as the Marian Stewart Bailey House, is a historic building located in Washington, Iowa, United States. Frank Stewart was a successful eastern Iowa businessman who was also involved in community affairs. Among other responsibilities, he served as a Park Commissioner in Washington. His only child, Marian Stewart Bailey, also held that position. The house is a two-story, frame, Queen Anne with an asymmetrical design. The structure follows a simple cross-gable plan, but the facade projection is offset. Both gables of the main facade feature decorative millwork of diagonal patterns. There is also a wrap-around porch on the main floor with several porches on the second floor. The house was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. In 2018 it was included as a contributing property in the West Side Residential Historic District.

Woodlawn Cemetery Gates and Shelter is a historic building and structure located in Washington, Iowa, United States. They were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. Originally named City Cemetery, Woodlawn was established southwest of the city limits in 1840. Jonathan H. Wilson donated the land. The first interment occurred in December of that year and the first headstone was erected the following year. The Washington Improvement League was established in 1915. They raised funds for civic improvements, most of which benefited the cemetery. The entrance gates, and fence were completed in 1917 and the shelter house was completed in 1926. They were both executed in the rather rare Egyptian Revival style. The fence and gates feature six obelisk posts and three iron gates. The posts are composed of river rock and capped by a square concrete slab with a flat pyramid top. The shelter house is a square clay tile and stucco building with stone obelisks at the corners.

The H.A. Baxter Coal Company Historic District, also known as C.E. Phillips Coal and Grain and Freshwaters Coal and Supply, is a nationally recognized historic district located in Washington, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. At the time of its nomination it contained six resources, which included four contributing buildings, one contributing structure, and one non-contributing structure. By 1910 there were five businesses in Washington that sold coal to retail customers. All of them sold coal in conjunction with at least one other commodity. Henry A. Baxter was a dealer in coal, grain, and building materials. Baxter bought a grain elevator, no longer extant, on this site in 1903. He then had new buildings constructed in the 1910s and 1920s. Baxter was the only coal dealer in town that operated a coal elevator. Baxter died in 1929, and his company continued to operate through the 1930s. It became the Palmer Coal Company and Bush Coal Company in the early 1940s. Howard F. Freshwaters bought the property in 1945. Freshwaters Coal and Supply operated here from 1945 to 1959. Coal usage declined through the 1950s as natural gas replaced it for heating buildings. In 1959, Freshwaters Feed and Grain Company moved to this location from downtown. They continued to offer coal for sale into the early 1970s, and they were the last business in Washington to do so. The contributing buildings include the brick office building (1912), the concrete block delivery stables (c. 1912), the concrete block/stucco garage (c. 1922), and the frame/metal feed warehouse (c. 1940). The concrete coal elevator (c. 1920) is the contributing structure. The non-contributing structure is a metal grain bin (1972).