National Register of Historic Places
Wilson Buildings
Clinton, Clinton County, Iowa
The record
- Listed
- February 5, 2014
- Type
- Historic district
- Address
- 211-219 5th Ave., S., Clinton
- County
- Clinton
- State
- Iowa
- Contributing resources
- 2 buildings
- Coordinates
- 41.84293, -90.18926
- Reference number
- 13001135
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
The outline is the area recorded for this listing in National Park Service map data, drawn approximately.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesIowa State University Geographic Information Systems Support and Research Facility and data providersUSGS Historical Topographic Map CollectionUSGS Historical Topographic Map CollectionDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
The Wilson Buildings are a historic district at 211-219 5th Ave. S. in Clinton, Clinton County, with two contributing buildings.
Why it's listed
It was listed in the National Register in 2014 under criteria A and C, with local significance in architecture and commerce. Its significance runs from 1913 to 1959, from the c. 1913 construction of Building #1 to the 1959 doorway that joined the west side to Building #3.
Physical character
The buildings have brick walls with a white glazed terracotta veneer and red roman brick pilasters, a flat roof, and structural steel columns encased in concrete. Interior features include an Art Deco lobby, Vermont marble wall paneling and an original brass mailbox. Building #2 was connected to Building #1 in 1916, and a tall elevator shaft was added on the east side in 1937. In 1952 the original metal denticulated cornice was removed and the windows were replaced with steel frames and sashes, and in 1973 the Fifth Ave facade was covered with corrugated stucco paneling.
Historical context
Leases for the first two floors began in 1913, the year tenants moved in. J.C. Penney signed a lease for space in Building #1 in 1941 and expanded into Building #3 in 1947. Bond Drug Company renovations were completed in 1953, and J.C. Penney and Walgreens announced in 1998 that they would close their downtown locations, vacating the Wilson Building premises in 1999.