Waterloo Community School District

The Waterloo–Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in Iowa, anchored by the cities of Waterloo and Cedar Falls. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 163,706 (though a July 1, 2009 estimate placed the population at 164,913). As of the 2010 Census, the MSA had a population of 169,484.

Fire Station No. 2, also known as El Mecca Shrine Club, is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. The city's paid fire department dates from 1904. Prior to that Waterloo was served by private fire companies. Built in 1907, this is the only early fire station left in the city. This building is an eclectic combination of the Renaissance Revival and the Romanesque Revival styles. It was designed by the prominent Waterloo architect John G. Ralston. The decorative elements on the main floor are found in the columns with foliated capitals that support a broad entablature. The second story is primarily brick with lighter stone accents for a polychromatic effect. The building was used as a fire station until 1969 when the city built five new stations. Black Hawk County used the building as an office to issue food stamps. El Mecca Shrine acquired the building in 1976 and converted it into a restaurant and club. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Hotel Russell-Lamson is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. Clyde O. Lamson, a real estate developer, and his wife Lillian Russell Lamson were instrumental in the construction of the hotel. Completed in 1914, it uses their family names for its name. The Chicago architectural firm of Marshall & Fox designed the eight-story Georgian Revival building. It utilizes the base-shaft-capital configuration that is typical for this building type. The base is composed of rusticated Bedford limestone, which extends to the mezzanine level. The shaft is six floors of red brick veneer. It contrasts with the limestone trim. The capital is a rather simple cornice composed of moldings and a row of dentils. From 1919 to 1921 the hotel became the home of the Greater Waterloo Association. It was the result of a merger of four organizations that had worked separately to improve and develop the city. Black Hawk Broadcasting Company established radio station KWWL in the hotel in 1947, and television station KWWL in 1953. Studios for both stations were located in the hotel until 1958. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The 250-room hotel has been converted into a 90-unit apartment building.

The Chicago Great Western Railroad-Waterloo Freight Depot is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. In 1887 the Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City Railroad (CSP&KC) was the third system to enter the city, after the Illinois Central (1870) and the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway (1876). The CSP&KC was the first of the three to put its depots in the downtown area. Initially it built two depots in Waterloo, one on the west side of the Cedar River and one on the east side. By 1892 it had built separate passenger and freight depots along East Sixth Street. That was the same year that the CSP&KC became known as the Chicago Great Western Railroad. In 1903 the railroad built new passenger and freight depots a block south, moving them closer to the city's wholesale houses. The two-story concrete block freight depot was built on a rough limestone foundation. It features round arch freight doors and a simple wood cornice. The concrete block addition on the southeast side replaced a frame gabled structure, but its construction date is unknown. The old brick passenger depot was torn down in 1973, and the freight depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. In 2001 the building, which is owned by the City of Waterloo, was leased to the University of Northern Iowa for its Center for Urban Education (UNI-CUE).

The Waterloo West Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 25 resources, including 22 contributing buildings, and three non-contributing buildings. The buildings are from one to three stories in height, and for the most part are clad in brick. The earliest building dates to 1882 and the latest, as of 2014, to 2000. For the must part they utilize the Victorian, Romanesque Revival, and Italianate commercial styles. Ornamentation is minimal. The buildings are all commercial structures with the exception of the former Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway Depot, designed by the Cedar Rapids architectural firm of Josselyn & Taylor. Several of the buildings housed automobile-related businesses that clustered along West Fifth Street beginning in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Marsh–Place Building at 627 Sycamore St. in Waterloo, Iowa is a six-story building built in 1910. According to its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, it is notable as "a distinctive, virtually unaltered example of the Commercial Style". And it is an "excellent" example of "the three-part base-shaft-capital approach (similar to a classical column) to tall building design.": 5, 8 It is a work of architects Hallett & Rawson. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. In 2011 it was included as a contributing property in the Waterloo East Commercial Historic District.

The Waterloo Public Library is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. The public library was established there in 1896. It operated out of two rented rooms, one on the east side of the Cedar River and other on the west side. The Carnegie Foundation agreed to grant the community $21,000 to build this building and a similar amount for the east side branch on April 11, 1902. Waterloo architect J.G. Ralston designed both buildings in the Neoclassical style. They were both dedicated on February 23, 1906. The single-story brick structure has a projecting entrance pavilion capped with a triangular pediment that is supported by Ionic columns. Also noteworthy are the corner piers that feature bands of brick squares set into the stone. In 1977 voters in Waterloo approved a $3,650,000 bond referendum to renovate the city's 1938 post office and federal building to house the library. The post office vacated the building in 1979 when it relocated. The old library building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It now houses law offices.

The YMCA Building is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. The local YMCA was established in 1868, three months after the city was incorporated. Its first permanent building was built at this location in 1893. As membership expanded they eventually out grew the building, and it was torn down in 1930. The present building was designed by local architect Mortimer Cleveland and his associate D.B. Toenjes. The general contractor was H.A. Maine Construction. The three-story brick structure features decorative elements from the Art Deco mode. The first level has housed commercial firms in the storefronts. An addition was built onto the west side of the building in 1959 to house adult activities. The local YMCA built a new facility and moved from here in 1982. The following year the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been converted into an office building.

Master Service Station, also known as Bennett's Tire & Battery Co., is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. This was one of the first "super service stations" built in the city. Developed in California in the early 1920s, they combined a filling station with other auto-related services. The first one was built in Waterloo in 1928, and this was one of three that opened in 1930. Located on a corner lot, it is a single-story structure that follows an L-shaped plan. The building exhibits both Art Deco (piers) and Spanish Colonial Revival (tower and tile roof). Its original owner, Homer L. Lichty, lost the business to bankruptcy in 1932. The station was acquired by John G. Miller, who constructed the building. Miller sold the station in 1934. Bennett's Tire & Brake Co., a Waterloo Goodyear tire dealer, moved in sometime after that and remained until 1960. The Waterloo Convention & Visitors Bureau is now located in the building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

The Rath Packing Company Administration Building, also known as Adams Store Inc., is a historic Late Gothic Revival building in Waterloo, Iowa. It is a surviving remnant of what was the largest meat-packing plant in the United States in 1941. The plant started in 1891 with hogs, and was "massive". The company was the 5th biggest at the end of World War II, in 1945. In 1966 it was the ninth largest, and it was also the 249th biggest industrial company of any kind in the United States. It closed in 1985.Preservation of the larger complex as a historic district was sought, but was not obtained, as the specialized industrial buildings rapidly deteriorated.The administration building, completed in 1925, is unlike all other buildings in the plant, in that it was designed by a local architect, who was John S. Hartley (1891/92–1985). It was built by the John G. Miller Construction Company, which had submitted the low bid, $78,496, for the project. An extension was later added by contractor Tom McDonald.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

The Fowler Company Building is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1884 by the city's most successful grocery wholesale business. They continued to operate from here until 1937. The three-story brick structure is an example of Late Victorian commercial architecture with Queen Anne influences. The building features pilasters, corbeling, canted-brick courses, and contrasting stone trim around and between the windows and at the street level. It is capped with an ornate metal cornice that contains pilasters, finials, pediments, floral and circle imagery, and quilted surface textures. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. In 2011 it was included as a contributing property in the Waterloo East Commercial Historic District.

The Waterloo East Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 36 resources, including 28 contributing buildings, and eight non-contributing buildings. The city of Waterloo was established in the early 1850s. Its first settlers started developing the west side of the city before crossing the Cedar River and developing east side. The first Black Hawk County Courthouse was built on the east side in 1856 and East Waterloo Township was created two years later. As industry began to develop along the river, and the arrival of the first railroad in 1861, the commercial district on the east side began to grow. Also on the east side of town was the terminus of the streetcar-turned-interurban system. By 1900, the city became one of the primary wholesale and retail centers in northeastern Iowa. In 1911 the Black population increased significantly as workers, primarily from Mississippi, moved into town to work for the Illinois Central Railroad. The following year the saloons in town were closed and bootlegging, gambling, drugs, and prostitution started to increase in the area surrounding the central business district. All of these developed put together created the atmosphere of the downtown commercial district. For the most part, the commercial buildings in the district are constructed of brick and are two to three stories in height. There are also several taller multi-story buildings located here, and they represent the "high water mark in the district’s physical development." All of the buildings follow the styles popular at the time of their construction, including Italianate, Neoclassical, and Commercial. Architects who have buildings in the district include John Bartley, John T. Burkett, Howard B. Burr, Mortimer Cleveland, George Ellis, Hallett & Rawson, Emile G. Jehle, Josselyn & Taylor, Joseph C. Llewellyn, John G. Ralston, Fred G. Shaw, and Clinton P. Shockley. Fires in the 1920s and 1950s impacted the appearance of the district as most of the fire-damaged were given stylish new facades. Several other buildings were given updated facades in the 1940s and the 1950s. The buildings that do not contribute to the historic integrity of the district had their facades resurfaced in more recent decades. The Fowler Company Building (1884) and the Marsh-Place Building (1910) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.