SOUTH EIGHTH STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT REPORT written by PCB board member Wayne Andersen during the application process. The designation was approved, but the report remains a good resource of information about that neighborhood.
The listing of the South Eighth Street area as a National Register Historic District is one step away from completion.
The name “South Eighth Street Historic District” is based on the completed research and the Site Survey indicating the majority of eligible properties are along South Eighth Street. Where possible eligible properties along Seventh Street were included (the O. P. Wickham House and the C. B Waite/C. T. Stewart House).
On February 14, 2020, the Iowa State Preservation Office review panel unanimously voted (with minor changes) to forward the nomination to the National Park Service Office in Washington DC. After receipt, the National Park Service will review the nomination and, hopefully, make the decision to designate it an historic district.
The process to achieve this designation is more involved than people realize. The following are some of the steps. The process may take up to three (3) years or longer to complete.
Step One – Contact the State Historic Preservation Office to find out what may or may not already been surveyed:
a. date completed,
b. outcomes – findings;
Step Two – Update and check eligibility of properties surveyed and check to see any properties been demolished or altered;
Step Three – Based on the previous study, and with the assistance of a consultant determine proposed boundaries for district;
Step Four – Hire a consultant to assist with the research and preparation of the nomination.
At the review committee meeting in March 2018, which I attended, the opening comments by the SHPO staff emphasized that just because a structure is old it does not automatically qualify for the National Register of Historic Places. The example they showed was an 1880s/1890s house. A photo taken within twenty years of being erected, showed the house having spindled porches, shutters, and a turret. The second photo showed a recent picture of the same house less the turret, the porches and the shutters. Plus, the house had been resided, replaced original clapboard siding. Again, the comment was reiterated that just because a building is old, it does not mean that it automatically qualifies for the National Register.
In Council Bluffs, a proposed district must start by going before the City Council for approval.
After the above steps are completed the process may begin. The first draft nomination is then submitted to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for review. After SHPO’s review, most likely, they will request additional information and/or corrections and send it back to the consultant/writer for updating. After updating, it is sent back to SHPO for review. This process may take several times or you may be lucky and it will be accepted with the first updates.
Once accepted by the SHPO office, copies of the nomination are sent to the review committee members for review and critique. This panel of approximately fifteen (15) members meets at least twice a year. At the panel review meeting, additional information or corrections may be requested. These are recorded by the SHPO staff and given to the originator of the nomination. Depending on the extent of the revisions, the panel may or may not approve the nomination for forwarding to the National Park Service. However, before being forwarded to the NPS, the revisions must be made by the consultant and sent back to SHPO for their review and approval prior to being forwarded to the National Park Service.
The Park Service reviews the nomination and will either accept or reject the nomination. If accepted, the district is then listed on or in the National Register of Historic Places.
Any nomination must meet one of the one or more of the following criteria:
That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history;
That are associated with the lives of significant persons of the past;
That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinctions;
That has yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in history or prehistory.
The South Eighth Historic District boundaries include eighty-seven (87) properties, including Bloomer School.
A CLG Grant,through the the City of Council Bluffs paid for the Site Survey by Richard Carlson, Iowa State University,.
Interesting information gleaned from our research:
Subdivisions included in the district are:
Bayliss 1st and 2nd Additions
Curtis & Ramsey’s Addition
Hyatt’s Addition
Jefferis’ Subdivision
Larimer’s Subdivision
Tilton Subdivision
Architectural styles include the following:
Queen Anne
Second Empire – Mansard
Dutch Colonial Revival
Gothic
Italianate
Four-Square
Residents of note in the district include:
Brown, George D. – Coal Dealer and City Alderman
Douglas, Wilber – founder of Eagle Laundry
Farnsworth, Shepard – Part Owner/Cashier at the
First National Bank
Farnsworth, Thomas – furniture store owner
Hancock, W. J. – Superintendent, American Express Company
6/24/1880 – Nominated in Cincinnati for candidate for president of the United States – did not win nomination
Kimball, Charles E. – Partner in Kimball & Champ - Bankers
Loomis, William – Treasurer, David Bradley & Co. –
wholesale dealers of agricultural supplies and wagons
Macrae, Jr., Dr. Donald – Prof. of anatomy at Omaha Medical
College (became part of University of Nebraska)
Served two (2) terms as mayor of Council Bluffs – 1904
and 1906. Instrumental in the development of the M.A.S.H. unit – Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
McMahan, Dr. P. J. – Women’s Christian Association (WCA)
leased Dr. McMahan’s mansion (demolished) for the Council Bluffs General Hospital at northwest corner of Ninth Street and Sixth Avenue – beginnings of Jennie Edmundson Hospital
Miller, Isaac A. – Hardware Merchant – Dir. Citizens State Bank
Mueller, Joseph – Music store and music teacher
Palmer, Junius M. – developed the 500 Block of Broadway
1860 Elected Assessor
1861, 1862, and 1870 Elected Mayor of C.B.
1871 Built the Transfer House for the Union Pacific
Shea, John – County Clerk
Tinley, John P. – Judge
Turner, Timothy - Banker
Van Brunt, George – Carriage and automobile dealer
For a period of time this home was the Jewish
Community Center. Ralph Wright (a former President of the Society)remembers signing and participating in concerts in the home
Walker, Alphonso – Steward of the Iowa Institute of Deaf and
Dumb (now politically incorrect)– later in real estate finance
Wickam, Owen P. – Contractor and Brick Manufacturer
There were numerous other “movers and shakers” in the area which could/should be listed.
STREET NAME CHANGES – 1882/1883
South Seventh Street – Marcy Street
South Eighth Street – Baldwin Street
South Ninth Street – Chestnut Street
First Avenue – Court Street
Second Avenue – Clay Street
Third Avenue – Filmore Street
Fourth Avenue – Curtis Street
Fifth Avenue – Buckingham and Dodge Streets
Sixth Avenue – Ramsey Street
Seventh Avenue – Wall Street
Eighth Avenue – Curtin Street
Ninth Avenue – Oak Street
Willow Avenue has always been Willow Avenue
The Bayliss Second Addition was platted to include a school at the corner of South Seventh Street and Willow Avenue. The original school faced Willow Avenue and was razed to make way for a new building. Bloomer School is named after Dexter Bloomer – not his wife, Amelia. Mr. Bloomer was the first superintendent of schools.
When the new school was built, the east half of the alley that crossed the block – east to west – was closed and the alley rerouted south to Fifth Avenue.
Research leans towards the blue house on the northwest corner of South Seventh Street and Fifth Avenue being moved forward on the lot and remodeled into a home. It was possibly the carriage house for the J. J. Brown House located directly north of this property.
Just north of Fifth Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh Streets, there was a street known as Bayliss Bypass. As it is outside the district boundaries, we did not research this street. It is something I would like to do in the future.
The William Loomis House at 331 South Eighth Street was originally numbered as 313. Mrs. Ella Loomis was supposedly superstitious and had the number changed to 331. The house numbers jump from 311 to 331 to 407 going south.
LOST HOUSES/PROPERTIES –SOME OF THESE ARE OUTSIDE THE DISTRICT, BUT ADD TO THE HISTORY OF THE BAYLISS WEST AREA
Horace Everett House – north side of Second Avenue from
Eighth Street to Ninth Street.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Academy – South 7th Street
and 5th Avenue
Presbyterian Church on N.W. corner of Willow Avenue and
South 7th Street
George Wright House located where Masonic Temple
now stands
Brick duplex at on the northeast corner of South Eighth
Street and First Avenue – Hy Vee Drugstore
is located and the property
John J. Brown House - South Seventh Street - now a school
parking lot
Captain George Brown House – 307 South Eighth Street
Demolished for a fourplex.
NATIONAL REGISTER PROPERTIES WITHIN THE DISTRICT
O. P. Wickham House – listed June 18, 1979
John and Agnes Shea House – listed November 22, 1995
Shepard and Emma Farnsworth House – listed June 29, 2018
Pottawattamie County has 78 listings and three former listings - Ogden Hotel, South Omaha Bridge, Hancock, IA Savings Bank,
The following stories, Jackie Thompson and I came across while doing research for the Site Survey. Two involve residents of the Captain George Brown house to the north of the John and Agnes Shea House and two involve the Sheas.
ONE - ED L. BROWN
The first is a sad story, but one with a somewhat funny ending.Ed Brown and Mary Sapp were close friends throughout their years. After graduating from school, they dated and Mary eventually became pregnant. Ed refused to marry his “sweetheart.” Mary forced Ed to do the right thing and marry her, which he did. Unfortunately, the baby died after about six weeks. Ed for reasons unknown left for Texas. The Nonpareil called it a non-advantageous marriage.
In April, 1896, Ed became sick and was returned to Council Bluffs for nursing care. He was 39 years of age. Ed’s two (2) brothers arranged the funeral (April 9, 1896) and Ed was interred in Fairview Cemetery.
The following Thursday afternoon, Ed’s remains were disinterred and consigned to another grave in the same cemetery. Later the coffin was again dug up and removed back to the grave in which it was originally interred. Ed’s widow Mary Sapp Brown wanted her husband interred in her family’s plot. The situation ended up in court. The judge ruled that Ed was to remain in the Brown family plot and that widow Mary could visit and decorate the grave.
TWO (2) – MAHLON BROWN
Ed Brown’s brother Mahlon was (from what I have read) kind of a rounder. He enjoyed horse and car racing, cock fights, gambling, movies, plus who knows what other vices.
Mahlon played baseball in Chicago for the Spaulding team. This was prior to the formation of organized leagues. When organized leagues started, he decided to return to Council Bluffs. He became a janitor at City Hall.
Upon on his return to Council Bluffs and as stated before, he enjoyed the good life. Mahlon was at the Liberty Theater enjoying as the Nonpareil published “a synthetic thrill” by watching a wild western thriller. He was stricken with apoplexy and died in the seat. The individual in the next seat assumed Mahlon had just fallen to sleep. This individual notified the theater manager and as they say the rest is history. Mahlon was 67 years of age.
THREE (3) – AGNES SHEA - Nonpareil, August 3, 188
“A hired girl in the employ of Clerk J. J. Shea left a day or two ago very suddenly. Some underclothing belonging to Mrs. Shea left at the same time. Both went across the river on the same dummy. The girl, whose right name is unknown, is supposed to be in Omaha, and the police are on the lookout for her.”
FOUR (4) – JOHN SHEA - Nonpareil, April 23, 1890
John Shea was urged by his wife to drive as quickly as possible in order to reach home by the time supper was announced. At the corner of First Avenue and South Eighth Street, Mr. Shea was stopped by a police officer and was to consider himself as under arrest for fast driving. Shea convinced the officer not to molest the vehicle and let him drive his wife home.
This done, Shea returned to the officer and agreed to go to jail. No indeed replied to officer. The officer grabbed the bridles and started to walk towards a call box. This was a little too much for Shea and he took up his whip and give the officer several shop cuts over the head. The officer drew his miniature gun and threatened to shoot if Shea did not desist. Shea drove to the call box, with the officer plodding along side. Another officer came and drove Mr. Shea’s buggy to the station, followed by the first officer in the patrol wagon.
Mr. Shea was placed under bonds of $50 for his appearance in police court the next day. The first officer also filed assault charges against Shea. The whole performance was denounced as an out rage upon Shea, and he proposes to bring the would-be guardian of the law to terms. We need to see if we can find the results of this episode.
A big thank you to Patrick Thompson (now living in New Jersey) and Brian Whetstone a (student intern at the Restoration Exchange in Omaha.
I want to express a very special thank you to Jackie Thompson for helping with the research. We had a lot of fun doing it.
Last, but not least, I want to thank Matt Pelz of Omaha for writing the nomination. He did a terrific job.
Wayne Andersen