Sherman Hill Historic District facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Sherman Hill Historic District
|
|
1623 Center Street (1884)
|
|
 Location in Iowa
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Roughly bounded by Woodland Ave., 19th, School, and 15th Sts. Des Moines, Iowa |
|---|---|
| Area | 80 acres (32 ha) |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 79000926 |
| Added to NRHP | January 25, 1979 |
The Sherman Hill Historic District is a special old neighborhood in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It is one of the very first neighborhoods built outside the city center. People started building single-family homes here around 1880. Later, between 1900 and 1920, more apartment buildings were added.
This historic area covers about 80 acres (about 32 football fields). It has 210 buildings and is bordered by 15th Street to the East, High Street to the South, Martin Luther King Parkway on the West, and School Street to the North. The district has been recognized as an important historical place since 1979. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contents
History of Sherman Hill
Sherman Hill got its name in the early 1970s. It was named after Hoyt Sherman Place, a historic home in the neighborhood. In the early 1870s, a Des Moines banker named Hoyt Sherman built his large brick house, called a "palazzo," on a hill. It overlooked the city center.
Other local developers, like Talmadge Brown, James Savery, and W.C. Burton, followed him. They planned streets and divided land into lots. This was the start of the first of seven smaller areas that now make up the district. For 40 years, new buildings were added. These included fancy Victorian mansions, simple square houses, and small cottages. After 1900, apartment buildings were also built.
Sherman Hill has the most homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s in Des Moines. Because of the different styles and sizes of homes, people with various income levels have lived here over the years.
Changes Over Time
Most of the different building styles in Sherman Hill were set by the end of World War I. Over the next 30 to 35 years, the homes started to get old and worn out. Wealthier residents began to move to newer neighborhoods. At the same time, more people moved into Sherman Hill. Larger homes were often changed from single-family houses into apartments for many families.
By the mid-1900s, the neighborhood had many abandoned or run-down houses. In the early 1960s, some cheap, not-so-nice apartment buildings were constructed. However, in the late 1900s, the decline slowed down. The city, neighborhood residents, and new people moving in became interested in saving the historic buildings. This effort helped to preserve the area.
Famous Residents of Sherman Hill
The most successful years for Sherman Hill were from about 1880 to just after 1900. During this time, many important Des Moines business people chose to live there.
- Hoyt Sherman was a lawyer, banker, and local politician.
- Henry Scholte Nollen was an insurance executive. His grandfather founded the Dutch community of Pella, Iowa.
- Samuel Saucerman was a real estate developer. He helped build a part of the city northwest of Drake University.
- Aaron Younker lived here around 1900. With his brothers, he started the Younkers department store chain.
- Lafayette Young was the publisher of the Des Moines Capital. This was one of the city's main newspapers at the time.
- Robert S. Finkbine was the Superintendent of Construction for the Iowa State Capitol building.
- T. Fred Henry was a well-known African American musician and band leader.
- Henry Wallace lived in Sherman Hill from about 1893 to 1910. He worked to improve farming and edited a magazine called Homestead. With his sons, he started Wallace's Farm and Dairy, which became a major national magazine. His son, Henry C. Wallace, became the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. His grandson, Henry A. Wallace, was also Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, and U.S. Vice President.
Architecture in Sherman Hill
Sherman Hill is a 15-block area located northwest of downtown Des Moines. It is mostly a neighborhood with homes. However, it also has two small groups of commercial buildings. One is in the northwest corner, and another is along its southern edge. The streets are laid out in a grid pattern, running north to south. The land in the district goes up and down, and the sizes of the building lots vary. There are many trees, but no public parks.
Types of Homes
Houses built in the 1880s and early 1890s were made of either brick or wood. After 1900, brick was mostly used for commercial buildings or apartment complexes. There are only two brick houses from this later period.
Larger homes in the district show different architectural styles. These include French Château, vernacular Italianate, Queen Anne, and Eastlake. There are also three Victorian Italianate row houses built in 1887. Many houses do not have one clear architectural style. Instead, they are grouped by their size, shape, and roof style. These include houses known as "hipped box" homes, "gabled-roofed" homes, and "cottages."
Apartment Buildings and Double Houses
The apartment buildings built in the first 20 years of the 1900s are three or more stories tall. They have a simple, straight shape with flat fronts. Special details are usually found around the doorways, along the roof edges (called cornices), and around the windows.
There are also several "double houses" from the same time. These are like two homes built side-by-side. They look similar to the apartment buildings, but many have windows that stick out from the wall. All the double houses are two stories high, and many have front porches.
Kingsway Cathedral
There is also a church in the northwest corner of the district called Kingsway Cathedral. It was designed by a Des Moines architectural company and built in 1901. The church is built in the Gothic Revival style. It has a tower with a special top that looks like castle walls, called a crenellated tower.
Contributing Properties
- The Lexington
- Hoyt Sherman Place
- Henry Wallace House
