Gordon–Van Tine Company Historic District facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Gordon–Van Tine Company
Historic District |
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 Location in Iowa
Location in the United States
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| Location | 736 Federal & 737 Charlotte Sts., Davenport, Iowa |
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| NRHP reference No. | 100000718 |
| Added to NRHP | March 7, 2017 |
The Gordon–Van Tine Company Historic District is a special group of buildings in Davenport, Iowa. It's also known as the U.N. Roberts and Company Buildings. These buildings are important because they were once home to a company that made "kit homes." Imagine ordering a house from a catalog, and it arrives in pieces, ready for you to build! This place was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. This means it's recognized as a really important historical site in the United States.
Contents
What Was the Gordon–Van Tine Company?
The Gordon–Van Tine Company started in 1907. It was part of a bigger lumber company called U.N. Roberts. At first, they sold building materials to people who were constructing homes.
By 1910, they began to offer house plans. Soon after, they became one of the first companies in the United States to sell "pre-cut" houses. This meant all the wood pieces for a house were cut to size. They were then shipped to the customer, ready to be put together.
Customers could pick from many different house designs. They could also choose how their house would look inside and out. The wood for these homes came from company mills. These mills were in places like Davenport, Iowa; Chehalis, Washington; and St. Louis, Missouri. They also got wood from lumber yards in Louisiana and Mississippi.
How Many Homes Did They Sell?
The company sold about 54,000 homes under its own name. They also provided wood for another 20,000 homes. These were for the Montgomery Ward company. Montgomery Ward sold similar "Wardway homes" starting in 1917.
While they were famous for houses, Gordon–Van Tine also sold plans and materials for barns. They made other farm buildings too. The company stayed open until 1946. It was then sold and closed down. This happened just as many new homes were needed after World War II.
What Are the Buildings Like Today?
Two of the main buildings in the historic district have been turned into apartments. One is a four-story brick office building. It looks more fancy than the other. The factory building was next door and had five stories.
The old office building now has 15 apartments. The larger factory building holds 98 apartments. There are also shops and businesses on the ground floor. Work to fix up these buildings began in 2000. The big project, which cost $35 million, was finished in the summer of 2019.
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Office building
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Factory building
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737 Charlotte St.
Gordon-Van Tine's St. Louis Connection
Gordon-Van Tine said they had a big lumberyard in St. Louis, Missouri. This lumberyard didn't use the Gordon-Van Tine name. It was first called Funck Lumber. Old lumber journals show that Gordon-Van Tine used this yard. The U.N. Roberts lumber company, which owned Gordon-Van Tine, also owned Funck Lumber.
In 1916, Gordon-Van Tine offered its first "Ready-Cut" homes catalog. That same year, the Funck Lumber Company in St. Louis started making "ready-cut" houses. This was a big boost for their business. Their sales tripled in 1918 and 1919.
Later, the Funck Lumberyard changed its name to Goodfellow Lumber. This happened when its president, George W. Funck, retired. The lumberyard was located at 5700 Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis. Old city guides and newspapers show ads for the company at this spot.
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Cover of the 1916 Gordon-Van Tine Ready-Cut Homes catalog
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Side-by-side images of a kit model offered in the Gordon-Van Tine 1921 catalog, and an advertisement by Goodfellow Lumber Company, showing the same model
Explore Gordon-Van Tine Catalogs Online
You can find many old Gordon-Van Tine catalogs online. They show all the different homes and other items they sold.
Houses
- 1916 Gordon-Van Tine's Standard Homes (not ready cut)
- 1916 Gordon-Van Tine's Ready-Cut Homes
- 1916 Gordon-Van Tine Company's Ready-cut Summer Cottages
- 1921 Gordon-Van Tine Homes 4e
- 1921 Gordon-Van Tine Homes 8e (listed incorrectly as 1920)
- 1926 Gordon-Van Tine Homes (on Archive)
- 1927 Gordon-Van Tine Homes Plan-cut homes
- 1929 (?) World's Greatest Sale of Homes
- 1931 Gordon-Van Tine Plan-Cut Homes
- 1936 Book of Homes Gordon-Van Tine Company
- 1936 Gordon-Van Tine Economy Homes
- 1941 Book of Homes Gordon-Van Tine Co.
Other Structures
- (no date) Gordon-Van Tine Ready-Cut Garages
- 1918 Barns--Photographs and Letters, Gordon-Van Tine Co.
Building Materials
- 1918 Building Material Gordon-Van Tine Co.
- 1923 Building Material Sale Spring 1923 Gordon-Van Tine Co.
- 1931 Building Material Gordon-Van Co.
- 1938 Building Materials Gordon-Van Tine Co.
