Commercial District Archives - Mount Vernon Iowa History Tours

Kopf Brothers Building

This building has historically been known as the Kopf Brothers Building and later, as the Hawkeye Building. The first successful Mount Vernon newspaper …

124 First Street W., The Odd Fellows Block. Sitting on a corner lot, this large 2-story red brick building stretches south into the alley. The lower level is commercial with huge display windows that wrap around the front and right side corner of the building. The upper level has several tall windows to let light into the residential area. There are 2 doorways on the left side, the rightmost is to enter the commercial space, the leftmost leads up a stairwell to the residential space. The roof is pitched from front to back with decorative brick arches adorning the front and part of the side of the building. Limestone foundation and some limestone decorative strips can be seen as well.

The Odd Fellows Block was built in 1904, as noted on its cornerstone. The second floor of the building housed the local chapter of the International Order of …

224 1st St. SW, Henry Albright - Dr. F.F. Ebersole House. A large 2-story brick home with green shutters and a light gray shingled roof. The house sits on a corner lot and comes nearly right up to the sidewalk, with a tiny covered entryway shown in this photo.

This house was probably built around 1853, the year that Cornell College was founded as the Iowa Conference Male and Female Seminary. The house is …

311 1st Street NW. Office of Drs. Wolfe. A 1-story white stone building with a red tiled roof. It has a large covered front porch / entryway. A single large display window fills the front with a single carved wooden door on the left of the window. There are 4 Romanesque pillars that hold up the roof of the covered front porch. The words "Mount Vernon Visitors Center" are displayed above the front porch entrance.

My father, Dr. Tom, designed and built the building in front of you with the help and support of my Uncle John in 1912. The building was a doctor’s office and my father …

Large 2-story red brick building sitting on a corner lot at the intersection of highway 1 and 1st St. There are two commercial spaces on the ground floor with huge display windows on each. One door on the left side - to the first commercial space, in the center is a stairwell going upstairs to the residential spaces, to the right of the stairwell is another door into the other commercial space. There are many tall windows in the second floor with arched tops and decorative brickwork.

This building was built in 1893 and was originally known as the Wolfe-Ellison Block, designed by the architectural firm of Joselyn and Taylor of Cedar Rapids. Joselyn and Taylor …

The E.D. Waln Building, 101 - 103 1st Street W. A 2-story large brick building with decorative elements above the 2nd story windows and at the roof line of the building. The building is divided into 2. There are individual commercial spaces on the ground floor, each with large display windows. A doorway in the center of the building leads to the upstairs, presumably residential apartments.

This building was constructed by E.D. Waln, in 1881. It is probably the second building on this site, known locally as “the Waln Corner.” The Waln Building is …

A 2-story light red brick building with one commercial space on the ground floor and a residential space above. There are very large display windows on the ground floor with three tall narrow windows on the second floor. There is a single door in the center on the ground floor leading into the commercial space.

The first building on this site was a frame hotel built by Elisha Waln in 1849. Named the “Mount Vernon House,” it was probably the first commercial …

This structure was built in 1892 by attorney Charles Kepler, who leased the lower level to merchants, while maintaining his law office on the …

105 First Street W., the Old Post Office. is a tall and narrow 2-story red brick building with some ornate brick and limestone accents. The lower level has a single large display window flanked on either side by a door. The door on the left enters the commercial space. The door on the right enters a stairwell to the upstairs residential area. The commercial facade is painted in various shades of green with a pale yellow for the trim. The upstairs has 3 tall narrow windows with decorative brickwork detailing and limestone features.

A post office, with the name of “Franklin” was established on the farm of Robert Symthe three miles west of Mount Vernon in 1841. In those days …

107 1st Street W, Mount Vernon Bank. A tall narrow 2-story red brick building. It has horizontal decorative limestone sections at the top and bottom of the 2nd story windows, with more on the very top of the building. At the top a smaller section with "1891" is shown, also in limestone. There is one doorway on the left into the building, it appears to split to the right into the commercial space and upstairs to the residential area.

This building was originally built as the Mount Vernon Bank in 1891, a date proudly carved on a large block of limestone in the building’s …

A wide red brick 2-story building with very large display windows on the ground floor and tall thin windows on the second floor. It has a 3 door entrance in the center, the doors on the left and right go to the ground floor commercial spaces, the one in the middle goes upstairs to the residential space.

Like many other brick buildings in downtown Mount Vernon, the Smith-Hogle building was built after disastrous fires in the downtown in 1893 and 1894 …

113 First Street West – H. A. Collins Bank - Brackett Building is a tall 2-story red brick building that stretches back into the alley. At the top of the building are the words "BANK 1891". Portions of the building is decoratively banded with limestone. The street level is commercial, the second level is residential.

H.A. Collins built this fine example of 19th century commercial architecture as a bank in 1891, and the words “Bank 1891” are still clearly visible near …

A gray single story two store building with entrances to each store in the center of the building. Both commercial spaces have red entrance doors, large display windows with red awnings to provide shade. The building has a lot of decorative pressed tin on the upper section.

This building is another merchant block that was constructed by a Mr. Thomas and the Wolfe brothers, Thomas and John, who were both local doctors …

Commercial District

Kopf Brothers Building

Odd Fellows Block

Henry Albright-Dr. F.F. Ebersole House

Office of Drs. Wolfe

Wolfe-Ellison Block

E.D. Waln Building

W.E. Platner Hardware Store and Tin Shop

Charles Kepler Building

Old Post Office Building

Mount Vernon Bank Building

Smith-Hogle Building

H.A. Collins Bank-Brackett Building

Third Wolfe Brothers Building