City of Lisbon, Linn County, Iowa, Planning for Preservation Project
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CITY OF LISBON, LINN COUNTY, IOWA, PLANNING FOR PRESERVATION PROJECT Certified Local Government Grants Project 2006.02 HADB No. 57-027 Submitted to Lisbon Historic Preservation Commission and the State Historical Society of Iowa Submitted by Leah D. Rogers, Principal Investigator, Tallgrass Historians L.C. 2460 South Riverside Dr. Iowa City, IA 52246 June 2007 CITY OF LISBON, LINN COUNTY, IOWA PLANNING FOR PRESERVATION PROJECT FINAL REPORT prepared for Lisbon Historic Preservation Commission South side of Lisbon commercial district east of Washington Street in the late 19th century (Postcard reproduction for Lisbon Centennial in 1975) by Leah D. Rogers, Principal Investigator Tallgrass Historians L.C. Iowa City, Iowa 52246 2007 ii The activity that is the subject of Lisbon Planning for Preservation Project has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior. This program receives Federal financial assistance for identification and protection of historic properties. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color national origin, disability or age in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity National Park Service 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20204 iii Abstract The Planning for Preservation program is specifically geared to assist recently certified or inactive commissions in receiving basic training and guidance in preservation planning, survey, and inventory development as well as experience in project development, management, and completion. Such projects also introduce HPCs to working with a professional historic preservation consultant. By design, Planning for Preservation projects are limited in both scope and budget; therefore, these types of projects do not include a survey component, although a windshield survey assessment is often conducted as part of the planning project. The Lisbon Planning for Preservation project provided broad historic preservation training to the Lisbon Historic Preservation Commission, with additional objectives including public education, providing a better understanding of the Commission’s role within the community and its role in historic preservation activities in Lisbon, and providing information on different preservation activities including reconnaissance and intensive level survey, property evaluation, inventory development, and local and federal registration of historic properties. The project also included a reconnaissance level “windshield”- type survey of Lisbon to pinpoint potential historic properties and possible historic districts for future planning purposes but did not involve the inventory of any properties. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank the Lisbon Historic Preservation Commission for providing administrative and research support for this planning project. The Commission members include: Rebecca Hess (Project Director), Bethany Campbell Tvedt, Betty Weimer, and David Zahorik (Chair). Volunteers who attended meetings and aided in the project’s completion included: John Bardsley and Kristen Mohr of Lisbon; Beryl O’Connor and other members of the Lisbon History Center; and Carine Klein of the Mt. Vernon Historic Preservation Commission. v Table of Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgments iv List of Tables vi List of Figures vi Introduction 1 Goals and Objectives 1 Project Activities 2 Historic Contexts 3 Recommendations 19 Research Design 25 Bibliography 28 Appendix A: Lisbon Historical Brochures 44 Appendix B: Additional Information and Resources 50 vi List of Tables 1. Properties in Lisbon Listed in the National Register of Historic Places 19 2. Properties Previously Inventoried in Lisbon 20 List of Figures 1. Topographic location of Lisbon, Linn County, Iowa 32 2. Landform regions of Iowa showing Lisbon vicinity in Linn County 33 3. 1842 General Land Office (GLO) original survey plat of Franklin Township showing future location of Lisbon and Mount Vernon 34 4. 1859 Map of Linn County showing location of Lisbon and Mount Vernon 35 5. 1869 and 1895 Maps of Linn County showing Lisbon and Mount Vernon 36 6. 1895 Plat of Lisbon 37 7. 1906 and 1921 Maps of Linn County showing Lisbon and Mount Vernon 38 8. 1930 Map of Linn County showing Lisbon and Mount Vernon 39 9. 2006 Aerial map showing results of reconnaissance survey 40 10. Plat map of Lisbon showing recommended areas for survey and evaluation projects 41 11. Map showing general location of archaeological sites recorded in state site records in Lisbon vicinity 42 12. Aerial plat map of Lisbon showing recommended area for Commercial District Intensive Survey and Evaluation Project 43 vii Introduction The following project was conducted by the Lisbon Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) under a grant-in-aid agreement with the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) through a Certified Local Governments’ (CLG) Planning for Preservation grant. The project was conducted with the aid of local volunteers and HPC commission members. The Principal Investigator for the project was Leah D. Rogers of Tallgrass Historians L.C. of Iowa City. Research Assistants, Clark Rogers and Eric Lana, compiled the historic maps and other materials for the report. Project Administration and assistance with research and the reconnaissance survey was provided by members of the Lisbon HPC including Rebecca Hess (Project Director), Bethany Campbell Tvedt, Betty Weimer, and David Zahorik (Chair). Goals and Objectives The Planning for Preservation program is specifically geared to assist recently certified or inactive commissions in receiving basic training and guidance in preservation planning, survey, and inventory development as well as experience in project development, management, and completion (State Historical Society of Iowa 2007:8). Such projects also introduce HPCs to working with a professional historic preservation consultant. By design, Planning for Preservation projects are limited in both scope and budget; therefore, these types of projects do not include a survey component, although a windshield survey assessment is often conducted as part of the planning project. Preservation Planning has been defined as “planning for continued identification and evaluation of historic properties and for their protection and enhancement” (U.S. Department of the Interior 1985:61). The ultimate goal of any local preservation plan should be to preserve and protect the significant cultural resources of the community or county in question. However, in order to achieve that goal, the HPC must have an understanding of what those resources are and their significance. While a property need only be 50 years of age to be considered potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), a property no matter its age or significance must retain sufficient integrity to be considered potentially eligible. Thus, there are a number of factors that must be examined and considered before a property--be it architectural or archaeological--is determined eligible for the NRHP. The only way to determine this eligibility is to inventory and evaluate the community’s or county’s historic properties. Once an inventory is complete, then recommendations concerning individual, district, or multiple property nominations can be made. It is also through the inventory and evaluation process that the HPC will come to understand what is important in their community, and thus worth their attention and support. It may be a strange preservation principle, but not every building or every site is worth saving. Preservation efforts should be focused on those properties that are worth preserving for generations to come and that represent an important context in the community’s or county’s history. Hard decisions often have to be made, and other public needs may take precedent over the preservation of a particular resource. There are steps, however, that can be taken to avoid complete loss of historic properties including relocation, recordation, and, in the case of archaeological sites, data recovery (ibid.:65). The primary goal of the proposed Planning for Preservation project was to provide broad historic preservation training to the Lisbon Historic Preservation Commission, with additional objectives including public education, providing a better understanding of the Commission’s role within the community and its role in historic preservation activities in Lisbon, and providing information on different preservation activities including reconnaissance and intensive level survey, property evaluation, inventory development, and local and federal registration of historic properties. To achieve these goals and objectives, public meetings were held to provide information and training and recruit local volunteers, review the draft report, and finally to present the results at the end of the project. The results of the project were summarized in draft and final reports that include an annotated