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Motor Mart Building

1912 establishments in IowaBuildings and structures in Sioux City, IowaChicago school architecture in IowaCommercial buildings completed in 1912Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
Iowa building and structure stubsNational Register of Historic Places in Sioux City, IowaNorthwest Iowa Registered Historic Place stubs
Motor Mart (Sioux City) from SW 1
Motor Mart (Sioux City) from SW 1

The Motor Mart Building, also known as the Commerce Building, is a historic building located in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. It was built by Ralph A. Bennett, who was the owner of Bennett Auto Supply Company. The structure was designed in the style of the Chicago school by E.J. Henriques of the C.F. Lytle Company of Sioux City, who also built the structure. It was initially designed to be two stories tall, but the plans were changed and two more floors were added. It was designed to display, repair and provide parking for automobiles. It was also the first building in Sioux City to incorporate the flat slab system of framing of Claude A.P. Turner, and it was one of the first reinforced, poured concrete buildings in the city. The exterior of the concrete frame structure is clad with glazed brick over common brick infill. The building features terra cotta decorative elements. A.L. Galinsky bought the building in 1919 and converted it into an office building. Its name was changed to the Commerce Building at that time. The Roof Garden was added above the fourth floor from 1921 to 1923. It is a gabled structure covered with stucco. Large Palladian windows line the side walls. The structure housed a ballroom that hosted a variety of social events, and where many big bands played. Lawrence Welk played an early concert here. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Motor Mart Building (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Motor Mart Building
Nebraska Street, Sioux City

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Latitude Longitude
N 42.496055555556 ° E -96.403222222222 °
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Bluebird Flats

Nebraska Street 520
51101 Sioux City
Iowa, United States
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bluebirdflats.com

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Motor Mart (Sioux City) from SW 1
Motor Mart (Sioux City) from SW 1
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Lewis System Armored Car and Detective Service Building
Lewis System Armored Car and Detective Service Building

The Lewis System Armored Car and Detective Service Building, also known as the Bell Tire and Rubber Company (Service Company) and Sioux City Tent and Awning, is a historic building located in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. F.A. Martin and Richard Nash, who owned the property, had this two-story brick commercial building constructed in 1929. KB Construction (Federation Construction Company), who built the building, occupied the second floor. Bell Tire and Rubber Company was the first business located on the first floor from 1930 to 1933. A few other businesses occupied the space until Sioux City Tent and Awning was located here from 1937 to 1941. The following year Lewis System moved in and remained until 1969. The second floor was converted into apartments about 1950. The Lewis System, Inc. was established in 1919 and incorporated in 1922 by Harry Lewis, who grew up in St. Louis and was in the United States Army before he became a railroad detective and moved to Sioux City. By 1930 the company grew to 111 employees and had offices in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Omaha, Nebraska, Chicago, and Kansas City, Missouri. A large portion of their business was in retail crime, but they also provided security guards for business firms, security checks, and security alarms. After Harry's brother Paul joined him in the late 1930s they added the armored car division. That division opened offices in Des Moines, Waterloo, Fort Dodge, and Cedar Rapids in Iowa and in Sioux Falls. Harry Lewis served as the company president until his death in 1951, and Paul took over from him and continued until his death in 1957. The company was sold to Samartick and Company of Omaha and they operated the business here until 1969. Wells Fargo Armored Car Service took over the building in 1970 and remained here until 1996. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

Sioux City Free Public Library
Sioux City Free Public Library

The Sioux City Free Public Library is a historic building located in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. The library was located in a section of the Municipal Building, no longer extant, between 1892 and 1913. It had outgrown the space when the Library Board contacted Andrew Carnegie in 1910 about providing the funding for a new library building. Their request was initially turned down. They chose to work with New York City architect Edward L. Tilton, an architect preferred by Carnegie, in place of local architect William L. Steele who was working with the board previously. Local resident George Murphy donated the property for the new building. Meanwhile, Tilton designed the two-story brick Renaissance Revival building. On April 8, 1911, Carnegie approved the project and donated $75,000 for the building's construction. The new building was dedicated on March 6, 1913, and it is considered "an excellent early twentieth century example of the architectural development of library planning and design." It was Tilton's only building in Iowa. Plans were made to enlarge the building in 1938, but the bond issue failed. The library remained in its cramped quarters until 1989 when it moved into a former bank building downtown. Ownership of the Carnegie building was transferred to a group of investors in 1996 who transformed it into apartments. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places the following year.

T.S. Martin and Company
T.S. Martin and Company

T.S. Martin and Company, also known as Karlton's, Fishgalls & Cameo, is a historic building located in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. It is an L-shaped structure that fronts both Fourth Street and Nebraska Street. It was occupied by one of three locally owned department stores from 1894 to 1919. The buildings on Fourth Street were originally built in 1885. T.S. Martin and Company itself dates from 1880 when Thomas Sanford Martin opened a dry goods store in rented commercial space. He first acquired 515-517 Fourth Street in 1885, which he leased to a clothing store, and his brother Louis opened T.S. Martin and Company Shoes by leasing 519 Fourth Street the same year. Local architect William McLaughlin was hired to renovate 515-17 Fourth and neighboring 519 Fourth Street, and T.S. Martin and Company moved their whole operation in 1894. In 1901 they hired another local architect, Henry Fisher, to design an annex along Nebraska Street. The three-story building completed in 1902 features Beaux-Arts styling that includes a roof-line knee wall, and a cornice with acanthus leaf brackets and decorative swags. Martin's acquired 521 Fourth Street, a mirror image of 519 Fourth Street, in 1904. In 1911 they hired yet another local architect, William L. Steele, to design a completely new facade to unify 515–517, 519 and 521 Fourth Street. Designed in the Prairie School mode, it features white terra cotta, long decorative bands of terra cotta details of foliage and geometric patterns, and Chicago-style windows. After T.S. Martin and Company moved into a new six-story building across Nebraska Street, no longer extant, in 1919 this facility was divided into multiple storefronts and occupied by a variety of commercial enterprises. The 515-517 portion of the Fourth Street facade was covered with a wood face and its cornice removed, before it was significantly altered to its present appearance. T.S. Martin and Company was bought by The May Department Stores Company of St. Louis in 1948. It was the last locally owned department store at the time. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.