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First Unitarian Church (Iowa City, Iowa)

1841 establishments in Iowa TerritoryChurches completed in 1908Churches in Iowa City, IowaChurches on the National Register of Historic Places in IowaIowa church stubs
Johnson County, Iowa Registered Historic Place stubsNational Register of Historic Places in Iowa City, IowaReligious organizations established in 1841Tudor Revival architecture in IowaUnitarian Universalist churches in Iowa
First Unitarian Church (Iowa City, Iowa)
First Unitarian Church (Iowa City, Iowa)

First Unitarian Church is a historic building located in the downtown area of Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The local Universalist congregation traces its beginnings to 1841. Their building at Iowa Avenue and Dubuque Street was destroyed in a fire in 1868, and they built a larger building at Iowa Avenue and Clinton Street. In 1881 the Universalists merged with the local Unitarian Society. In their arrangement, the Unitarians paid for the minister while the Universalists owned the church building. The University of Iowa bought their building in 1907 and renamed it Unity Hall for use as a student union. The Unitarian-Universalist congregation dedicated this Tudor Revival building for their use on October 24, 1908. The dedication address was given by Rev. Eleanor E. Gordon, who was the secretary of the State Unitarian Conference of Iowa at the time. Because of their growth and costs to update the old building, the congregation voted in 2015 to build a new structure in near-by Coralville. They sold this building to developer Jesse Allen. It has subsequently been used as a winter shelter for the homeless while plans were made to include it in a new commercial-residential development. The former church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article First Unitarian Church (Iowa City, Iowa) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

First Unitarian Church (Iowa City, Iowa)
South Gilbert Street, Iowa City

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Latitude Longitude
N 41.660944444444 ° E -91.529916666667 °
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Address

South Gilbert Street 10
52240 Iowa City
Iowa, United States
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First Unitarian Church (Iowa City, Iowa)
First Unitarian Church (Iowa City, Iowa)
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Jefferson Street Historic District (Iowa City, Iowa)
Jefferson Street Historic District (Iowa City, Iowa)

The Jefferson Street Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 39 resources, which included 36 contributing buildings and three non-contributing buildings. This section of the city started to develop to its present form in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period the neighborhood was transformed from residential to include churches and buildings associated with the University of Iowa and its hospitals. Both professionals and business owners lived here, along with working-class people. Graduate students, especially those associated with the medical professions, resided in apartment buildings here. Four architecturally significant churches, along with their attendant buildings, are located in the district. The architectural styles of both residential and institutional forms found here are representative of those built in the city from the 1850s through the 1930s. The Gothic Revival, especially for the churches, and Greek Revival styles are particularly evident. Architects of regional and local importance with buildings in the district include Gurdon P. Randall, Proudfoot & Bird, and Orville H. Carpenter. The William Bostick House (1851), Park House Hotel (1852), St. Mary's Catholic Church (1869) and Rectory (1891), and the Congregational United Church of Christ (1869) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Iowa City Downtown Historic District
Iowa City Downtown Historic District

The Iowa City Downtown Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 102 resources, which included 73 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing object, 21 non-contributing buildings, and seven non-contributing objects. Eight buildings that were previously listed on the National Register are also included in the district. Iowa City's central business district developed adjacent to the Iowa Old Capitol Building and the main campus of the University of Iowa. This juxtaposition gives the area its energy with the overlap of university staff and students and the local community. The district was significantly altered in the 1970s by the city's urban renewal effort that brought about the Ped Mall (City Plaza), which transformed two blocks of College Street from Clinton Street to Linn Street and Dubuque Street from Burlington Street to Washington Street. It is the contributing site and the large planters/retaining walls that are original to the project are counted together as the contributing object. There are also several freestanding, limestone planters, five contemporary sculptures, and a playground area are the non-contributing objects. The district mainly contains commercial buildings that were built in the Early Classical Revival, the revival styles of the Late Victorian era, the Chicago Commercial Style, Art Deco, and the Art Moderne styles. Modern architecture was introduced in the urban renewal years when new buildings were constructed and storefronts renovated. Architects of regional and local importance with buildings in the district include Chauncey Lovelace, Iowa City; Proudfoot & Bird and their successor firm of Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson, Des Moines; Dieman & Fiske, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Liebbe, Nourse & Rasmussen, Des Moines; Vorse, Kraetsch & Kraetsch, Des Moines; H.L. Stevens & Company, Chicago; Kruse and Klein of Davenport, Iowa; and J. Bradley Rust, Iowa City. The Franklin Printing House (1856), Trinity Episcopal Church (1871), College Block Building (1883), Boerner-Fry Company/Davis Hotel (1899), Old Post Office (1904, 1931), Paul–Helen Building (1910), Englert Theatre (1912), and Johnson County Savings Bank (1912) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.