May is National Historic Preservation Month. To celebrate, the Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission is highlighting aspects of Mount Vernon’s history and sponsoring two workshops on restoration and preservation of historic homes.
The upcoming workshops will be led by Mount Vernon Commissioner Duane Eash. Duane has lovingly restored and landscaped his 1901 home at 616 3rd Ave NW. Duane’s career has been in maintaining older buildings, most recently at the Brucemore historic site. The workshops will be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about older homes, wants to do restoration and preservation themselves, or who will need to direct hired workers. Both sessions will be from 10 to 12 in the Community Room at the Lester Buresh Center. The first session will be May 21 on the Structure and Repair of Historic Windows. The second session will be June 18 on Restoring Exterior Columns. These sessions are free and open to the public. Questions? Contact Duane Eash, [email protected], 319-329-8311.
Part of the great quality of life in Mount Vernon comes from our beautiful historic structures. Historic homes and commercial buildings draw people here to live, shop and dine. The earliest residences in Mount Vernon date from the Military Road era when what is now known as Highway 1 was built through Pinhook (later to become Mount Vernon) in 1840. Limestone from a nearby quarry and locally-made brick were the main construction materials. In 2020, after 2 years of work, 11 brick houses in Mount Vernon from the Military Road era were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Architecture and materials changed and evolved as the precursor of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad entered Linn County in 1858 and came as far as Lisbon. This development made lumber more readily available for frame houses and later for kit houses to be shipped here by train.
The Lincoln Highway, now known as Highway 30, was created in 1913 as the nation’s first transcontinental highway. It will be of little surprise to you that the Lincoln Highway was the idea of auto executives who wanted to promote travel by car. During this era several filling stations, a tourist camp, and a small hotel were built in Mount Vernon to accommodate travelers. None of those structures remain, but residences built in Mount Vernon during the Lincoln Highway era do.
The Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission (MVHPC), established in 1986, is one of 80 in cities and counties across Iowa. Our goal is to recognize and protect the historic structures of Mount Vernon, provide community education, and encourage historic tourism.
The MVHPC has a special responsibility to the 3 areas of town listed on the National Register of Historic Places. We consult with building owners in the historic districts whenever remodeling is planned to help ensure that a building’s exterior continues to reflect the period in which it was built. This helps to maintain property values and the charm of our beloved city.
The Cornell College Historic District, established in 1980, encompasses the campus, two churches, and 119 residences surrounding campus. Mount Vernon’s Visitors Center was moved into the College Historic District in 1990. Work is underway to officially incorporate the Visitors Center into the College Historic District, making it eligible for various state and federal grants. In 1993, most of the uptown buildings came to form the Commercial Historic District and a set of residences in the NW quadrant of town came to be in the Ash Park Historic District.
Mount Vernon’s commercial and residential structures are a living testament to our proud history and the wider social and economic circumstances of the times. For more than 35 years the MVHPC has worked to preserve Mount Vernon’s historic character, and it will do so for many years to come.