Architectural Information

IOWA’S ARCHITECTURAL STYLES

Andrew Carnegie launched a nationwide program to provide gifts of library buildings without
any formal announcement. Consequently, there was no information provided to communities
regarding the specific appearance of the exteriors or the interiors of the library buildings. In the
absence of these guidelines, Iowa communities were free to pick their own architects and
architectural styles.

EXTERIORS:
The architectural styles of the Iowa library buildings are a reflection of each individual
community’s Library Board of Directors. In their efforts to create a fitting edifice to house their
collections of books, Library Board of Directors chose styles that either deliberately coordinated
or contrasted with preexisting civic buildings (county courthouses, town offices, schools, etc).
The Boards chose styles that were suitable for stone and brick construction as these materials
provided more fireproof protection than wooden buildings. In later years, due to the need to
economize, several communities resorted to cheaper kinds of bricks and even replaced the bricks
with lathe and stucco.
Iowa disproves the assumption that all Carnegie libraries look alike. Examining the
libraries in stylistic groupings proves that Iowa communities were aware of changing
architectural trends. The 101 public libraries erected across the state feature eight different
architectural styles. The seven academic libraries for the collegiate institutions utilized three
styles. Six of the eight styles are “revival” – drawing on previously established or discrete
European architecture. The architects that the Boards employed also would have impacted the
stylistic choices, and those architects ranged from a few hometown builders to widely recognized
Iowa architects, from architects practicing in nearby Chicago and St. Louis to architects who
were well known in the major Eastern cities. Iowa communities were not only aware of
changing trends and styles but were also interested in participating in the dialogue of
architecture, and in many instances, the Library Boards of Directors chose a style to differentiate
from the choices of their surrounding communities.
Below are brief descriptions of the architectural characteristics of the eight featured
architectural styles which are listed in order of their utilization in the state. The libraries are also
listed within each style chronologically by their opening date.

SL Stuart

Notes on the Erection of Library Buildings (Source: Carnegie Corporation of New York)

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Architectural Styles

Romanesque Revival

Romanesque Revival is characterized by rough cut stone often with contrasting colors,
rounded arches, recessed entries, bands of windows, and round towers with conical caps. This
architectural style is a “revival” of the 11 th and 12 th century European Romanesque period. The
American architect, Henry H. Richardson (1838-1886) popularized the Romanesque Revival
style on the east coast in the 1870s and 1880s. Richardson used Romanesque Revival for
churches, academic buildings, courthouses, railroad depots, and libraries.
Three Iowa public libraries feature this style.

Fairfield, 1893           Hawarden, 1903       Mount Pleasant, 1905

 

Classical Revival

Classical Revival architecture utilizes the elements associated with ancient Greek and
Roman buildings. The Classical Revival style was strongly featured during the 1893 World’s
Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. The style was therefore unsurprisingly popular during the
period of Carnegie gifts from 1895-1917. It is characterized by central entryways and symmetry
in window placements and decorative elements. The style features elements of temple front
facades, with projecting pediments supported by repeating Doric, Ionic or Corinthian columns
and dental molding or modified acanthus details. The temple front facades allowed for lower
rooflines that were often hidden by balustrades and the central portico. The column, pediment,
and portico masonry were popular for official buildings, particularly ones that served democratic
institutions like libraries, banks, and courthouses. These features were simpler, and therefore
cheaper, than the more ornamental embellishments of the Beaux Arts style. Thus, the Classical
Revival style was especially favored with smaller communities who received smaller grants.
Forty-seven public libraries and three academic libraries across Iowa are classified as Classical
Revival architecture.

Dubuque, 1902         Newton, 1902             Ottumwa, 1902       Cedar Falls, 1903       Eagle Grove, 1903

Estherville, 1903       Fort Dodge, 1903       Manchester, 1903     Marshalltown, 1903    Ames, 1904

Chariton, 1904          Clinton, 1904              Davenport, 1904         Indianola, 1904        Iowa City, 1904

Jefferson, 1904             LeMars, 1904           Maquoketa, 1904    Perry, 1904          Cedar Rapids, 1905

Council Bluffs, 1905   Hampton, 1905    Marion, 1905        Mason City, 1905       Mount Vernon, 1905

Odebolt, 1905         Waverly, 1905              Winterset, 1905         Leon, 1906              Waterloo East, 1906

Waterloo West, 1906    Pella, 1907               Dewitt, 1908            Stuart, 1908            Clarinda, 1909

Humboldt, 1909       Sheldon, 1909          Villisca, 1909           New Hampton, 1910     Osage, 1911

      

Grundy Center, 1912  Missouri Valley, 1912   Sanborn, 1912        Eldon, 1913               Knoxville, 1913

Sigourney, 1914           Cresco, 1915                      Traer, 1916

                

Cornell College, 1905       Parsons College, 1907         Ellsworth College

Renaissance Revival

Renaissance Revival is a return to Italian architecture of the early 1400s. Renaissance
Revival was popularized in the United State in the 1890s. Many of the Gilded Ages mansions
around 5 th Avenue in New York City were built in this style. However, the symmetrical and
distinguished style also translated well to library buildings, lending them stately gravitas. The
Renaissance style places strong emphasis on symmetry and order. Renaissance Revival therefore
features centrally placed doorways that protrude slightly from the façade of a rectangular
building. The door is often flanked by columns or pilasters. Windows were symmetrically
aligned along the four exterior walls and corners were often accentuated with contrasting quoins,
all designed to emphasize the stability and physicality of the building. The building bases were
either roughhewn stone or brick and differentiated by a stringcourse. Several of the library
buildings in Iowa were covered by hipped roofs or had rooflines hidden by balustrades.
Fifteen Iowa communities feature the Renaissance Revival style as well as three of the academic
institutions.

Oskaloosa, 1903          Denison, 1904           Carroll, 1905                Cherokee, 1905        Glenwood, 1907

Tama, 1907             Albia, 1908                  Dunlap, 1912         Sioux City Main, 1913   Sioux City Leeds, 1913

Garner, 1915               Greenfield, 1916     Mount Ayr, 1917      Sibley, 1917                 Logan, 1920

                                 

Upper Iowa University, 1902       Grinnell College, 1905             Drake University, 1908

Jacobean Revival

Jacobean Revival style of architecture became popular in Great Britain in the late 1820s,
and it was a reference back to the Jacobean style that developed after the reign of James I (1603-
1625) of England. The style gained prevalence in the United States from about 1900-1920 as it
allowed for a freer combination of Gothic and Renaissance elements. The style was
characterized by lighter trim accents around doors and windows and flattened or cusped arches.
The end walls emphasized gables and strong chimney features and corner elements, and curved
gables could also be utilized for entrance features. This combination of elements could be seen
as more approachable than the more formalized elements of the Classical Revival style, while
remaining distinguishable from styles used in private residences.
Twenty-three communities utilized the Jacobean Revival style for their library buildings, making
it the second most popular style in Iowa, after the Classical Revival style and it was also chosen
by one academic library.

Eldora, 1903              Charles City, 1904   Monticello, 1904           Vinton, 1904          Algona, 1905

Marengo, 1905        Spencer, 1905          West Liberty, 1905      Nashua, 1906          Lake City, 1910

Osceola, 1911            Audubon, 1912           Emmetsburg, 1912     Spirit Lake, 1912         Colfax, 1913

Sac City, 1913            Alden, 1914             Bedford, 1917              Malvern, 1917               Britt, 1918

Clear Lake, 1918       Croydon, 1919         Montezuma, 1919

Simpson College, 1907

Georgian Revival

Georgian Revival architecture is also known as the Colonial Revival style. The Georgian
Revival style was popularized in the United States in the early 19 th century and looks back to the
English period of 1714-1830. Buildings were generally executed in brick with an emphasis on
symmetry and proportional arrangements. Roofs were generally high and either hipped or
gabled, sometimes with dormer windows.
Three Iowa communities chose the Georgian Revival style for their public libraries.

Atlantic, 1903            Tipton, 1904                          Hamburg, 1918

Eclectic

Eclectic style is the term assigned to buildings which are not adherent to a particular style
but rather feature architectural elements that represent a variety of styles. The combination of
styles and features created interesting and unique buildings. These communities utilized a blend
of Classical Revival details like rounded arches around the main entrance, and the gabled
elements of the Jacobean Revival styles across the rest of the building.
Four of Iowa communities are considered Eclectic.

 

Iowa Falls, 1905         Shenandoah, 1905      Storm Lake, 1906   Rockwell City, 1909

Tudor Revival

The Tudor Revival style is very similar to Jacobean Revival and became popular in the
United States at about the same time period as Jacobean Revival. The Tudor style in Great
Britain had developed between 1485 to 1603, and the Tudor Revival style was a return to the
simpler cottage of style of architecture. The differentiating elements of Tudor Revival featured
strong elements of half-timbering and sections of walls that are covered in stucco. Steep gables
with emphasized chimneys and mullioned windows were also characteristic of the style.
Three Iowa communities utilized the Tudor Revival style.

 

Red Oak, 1909           Laurens, 1910            Bloomfield, 1913

Prairie

Unlike the previously mentioned architectural styles, the Prairie style was not an
architectural style revival but rather a new and distinctive style created by American architects
around the turn of the 20 th century in Chicago. The primary architects, Louis Sullivan and Frank
Lloyd Wright, were designing buildings – homes, retail buildings, and banks – in Iowa in the
early 1900s. The style was characterized by an emphasis on the horizontal aspects of buildings
with repeating windows, and low-pitched roofs with wide overhanging eaves.
Three Iowa communities chose Prairie style libraries.

Onawa, 1909              Woodbine, 1910          Reinbeck, 1917