Architectural History and

History Survey
of

901 Melrose Avenue

for the

City of University Heights, Iowa

Tim Weitzel, MA

Historical Consulting
Iowa City

September 12, 2017

 Historical Background

In 1924, the Koser Brothers, Lee and George, platted three land additions under the name Koser
Brothers, Inc. for a new town that they would eventually name University Heights (Figure 1). Land to
create the town came from unincorporated land parcels that contained large farms and small
homesteads. The 2010 Comprehensive plan provides an image from the 1900 Huebinger Survey and
Map Publishing Company atlas of Johnson County with the current city boundary superimposed onto it
(Figure 1).

Figure 1. Part of East and West Lucas Township map from Huebinger 1900 with eventual boundaries of University Heights
indicated (University Heights Comprehensive Plan 2010).

In the first decades of the 20th century, a trend was occurring around Iowa City wherein subdivisions
were being platted near to, but outside the city limits. Taxes would be lower as only the county rate
would apply, and land was cheaper and abundant. The boundaries of Iowa City were extended to about
the east line of University Heights right around the passing of the first decade of the 20th Century,
following a vote to annex a large portion of land that included a number of growing subdivisions that
were located in the county primarily on the south, east, and west of the county seat, providing a clear
impetus to the Kosers to incorporate or be similarly annexed.

Land additions had been developed in much of what is now owned by the State of Iowa for the
University of Iowa. The location was therefore strategic in that three university hospitals were located
directly adjacent to the new town site as of 1928 when the General Hospital and Medical Laboratories
were completed. Dormitories, the Field House and related buildings soon followed. The location secured
a prime location for development of especially residential lots where people were either a short drive or
walk from work (Figure 2).
Figure 2 University Heights in 1934 as shown in Part of East and West Lucas Townships, Atlas of Johnson County,
Iowa, American Lithographing & Printing Co, Des Moines.

The Kosers clearly intended their new subdivision to be primarily residential, proclaiming “Every Lot a
Residence” on their broadside flier (Figure 2). This character has been well preserved to date with a
primarily residential land use pattern. University Heights incorporated in 1935. Over the next three
decades, University Heights grew to some extent, extending west, south and east, but rapidly the new
city was landlocked by growth from Iowa City. The 2010 comprehensive plan states the following.

Over 91% of the community is devoted to the R1 Single Family Residential Zone.
At present this zone is largely composed of single-family detached dwellings. The
housing stock represents two distinct time periods of development. In the
eastern portions of the community, homes date back to the 1930s. Western
University Heights, however, consists of homes constructed during the 1960s.
Significant differences in architectural styles and lot types exist between these
areas.
 Figure 3. Inset Map of University Heights from the Koser Brothers' Broadside advertisement.

Property Records

The subject property, 901 Melrose Avenue, University Heights, has the parcel identification number
1016203001. According to the Johnson County Assessor and Recorder, the subject property has the legal
description of NE NE NW W of RR EX 22’ for R/W, Section 16, Township 79, Range 6 located in the City of
University Heights, Johnson County, Iowa. No parcel transfers matching this exact description were
identified in the property transfer books for Johnson County, Iowa. However, cross referencing county
plat and atlas information with property transfers did reveal some, but likely not all, property transfers
for the subject property.

The Government Land Office map and notes indicate the property was located within a land section,
Section 16, which had not yet been subdivided. The vegetation at the time of the land survey was
prairie. In the 1870 Thompson and Everts map, the NE ¼, NE ¼, NW ¼ of Section 16, T79N-R6W was
entire, but crossed by the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific railroad, which was extended from Iowa City
beginning in 1860 when the high trestle bridge was built. The railway grade required a large amount of
soil to be removed from the uplands on which the subject property is located. Melrose Avenue, which
was known as Snooks Grove Road early on and colloquially as Poor Farm Road, is shown running just
north of the Subject Property and the house for the owner A.C.D. was located along that road, north and
east of the railway. Incidentally, the course of the road bent southwestward after it passed the subject
property, following the approximate alignment of Koser Avenue in University Heights.

The owner A.C.D. in the 1870 plat map corresponds to a property transfer to an A.C. Denison for a
property recorded as Part in NE ¼, NW ¼, Section 16, T79-R6W that occurred on an unknown date. Ada
E. Whedon received a property from D. Whedon the NE ¼, NE ¼, NW ¼, by warranty deed on January
31, 1881.

The Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa published by the Huebinger Survey and Map Publishing Company in
1900 indicates the ownership had changed to D.D. Fiskes and now a lane was indicated running to the
property and house of M.M. Bostwick in the SE ¼, NE ¼, NW ¼. Again, the house for the parcel at that
time is shown in relation to the alignment of Melrose Avenue, and not south or west of the railroad. In
the property transfer books of Johnson County, a property transfer is recorded for a D.D. Fickins, quite
similar but distinct from Fiskes, from Ada E. Whedon, single, on August 1, 1884 by warranty deed for the
NE 14, NE ¼, NW ¼ excluding a right of way. Separately, D.D. Fickins received ownership of the right-of-
way over the NE ¼, NE ¼, NW ¼, from M.M. Bostwick and wife by warranty deed. In 1887, D.D. Fickes
transferred a portion of their land to the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad on July 9, 1887 by
quit claim deed, which may have established an access to the railway from the right of way on his
property.

In 1903, May Millson Bostwick received all of the property south [and west] of the railroad from D.D.
Fickes and wife, providing a third alternate on the spelling. This transfer occurred December 8, 1903 by
warranty deed.

The 1917 Atlas of Johnson County published by the Economy Advertising Company of Iowa City indicates
Albert W. Ensminger owned 3.75 acres corresponding to subject property. There continued to be no
indication of a house on the property. A house remained located on what was the NE half of the
property, that north and east of the railway, while Ensminger was south and west of the railway.

Then on January 12, 1932, Alta C. Ensminger received all that part of NE ¼, NE ¼, NW ¼ lying south and
west of the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railway. An A.C.E is shown as owner of the subject property
in both the 1934 and 1939 plat books, both of were published by American Lithographing & Printing Co,
Des Moines. By this time houses are no longer shown, just the property boundaries. However the parcel
included both the portions of the of NE ¼, NE ¼, NW ¼ including both the south and west portion as well
as that north and east of the railway.

In the property transfer books, Alta C. Carlson provided a warranty deed to Herbert F. and Lois Hess for
all in NE ¼,NE ¼, NW ¼ lying South of the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railway on March 6, 1942. The
Johnson County Assessor records online indicate the subject property, STR 16-79-6 NE NE NW W of RR
EXC 22’ for R/W was transferred to Frederick D. and Margaret Jo Staab on August 11, 1954. It is unclear
what the relationship was between Hess and Staab, but there was no amount recorded. The property
was then to Margaret Jo Staab on August 8 1991, again for no amount. A copy of the property card
indicates a person named Staab received the property On August 27, 1991, with love and affection, a
touching detail that was not available from the online system. The property was finally transferred to
the current owner on June 10, 1997.

The County Assessor records do not go back far enough to indicate when a first mortgage or
improvement to the property occurred. The first available aerial photographs from the 1930s do show
the house on the subject property and outbuildings in their current configuration and the property had
ordered rows of trees possibly indicating an orchard. During the 1960s, the property had an informal,
but intentional landscaping pattern of trees, arranged in a naturalistic but intentional manner suggestive
of a suburban acreage. Attempts to obtain information for building permits and other related dated
information resulted in no information from the building inspector.

Information provided by the Johnson County Assessor’s office indicates the subject property was
incorporated into University Heights in 1965 in the Melrose Park Addition.

Land Owners of Potential Significance

None of the previous owners appear in county histories or other rapidly accessible information. The one
time owner Dr. Frederick Staab, does appear in the history of University Heights, having served as Mayor
for two years in 1976–1977. Dr. Staab was a 1939 graduate of the University of Iowa College of
Medicine. He was a senior staff surgeon at the Iowa City Veterans Administration Medical Center for
over 32 years. He retired in 1986. Dr. Staab served in the Army Air Corps during World War II (Staab
Obituary 2009).

Narrative Description

The house for the subject property is an eclectically styled building dating to possibly 1880s or until the
1920s. It is a two and a half story cross-gabled variant with additions. The foundation is cast concrete
rock face ornamental blocks for the exposed portion of the foundation, brick cladding with quoins and
other decorative accents in the same cast concrete block for the first floor, which is massed similar to a
four square building, and a hipped roof with sweeping, bellcast eaves and decorative projections, such
as a hexagonal dormer on a hip-roofed projecting wing on the front elevation, a similar proportioned
wing without the dormer on the west side, a clipped gable wing on the east side, and a classically
proportioned pediment-type gable projecting from the south elevation. Two additions are visible and
are later based on the utilitarian, non-ornamental cast masonry unit foundation for a mud porch and a
cast concrete slab foundation for a spacious screen porch. Analysis of The mud porch may predate its
foundation and if so, the foundation has been reconstructed fairly recently, as in within the past 50
years and as such the porch would not be essential to the history of the building. The assessor reports
wood and tile floors and plaster walls in the interior.

Beyond the mudporch and screen porch additions, which appear to postdate the period of significance
of the building, there is an odd roofline along the front elevation that suggests a front porch has been
removed. The County Assessor reports the resulting porch floor without a roof to be a deck.

An outbuilding combination of barn—very possibly a carriage house, and an attached shed sit toward
the rear of the property. The carriage house is clad in brick matching the main house, while the shed is
wood clad.
Cast concrete block became popular after 1900 when the first machine to make the block rapidly was
patented and following the showcasing of the material at the 1908 Louisiana Purchase centenary world
exposition in St. Louis (Hall 2009). Following the 1908 World’s Fair, pattern books began to feature
ornamental rock face concrete block, greatly expanding the reach of the material. The 1910 Sears,
Roebuck and Company catalogue carried a concrete block making molds along with the patented
“Wizard” machine. Ideal company also had a block making machine as well as those of the original
patent holder—Harmon S. Palmer (Classic Rock Face Block 2017, Preservation in Action Blog 2012).

Concrete blocks were invented in the middle of the 19th century in the United Kingdom. However, it
was not until rotary kilns made Portland cement common and affordable that concrete masonry units
became possible in the US, largely coinciding with the promotion of the materials and techniques at the
1908 World’s Fair (Hall 2009:12).

The Johnson County Assessor information for the property indicates the building was constructed in
1895 and that there are numerous additions, some of which are not readily apparent from the exterior
due to the uniform use of cladding material. There is a distinct likelihood the building has been reclad
after 1904, but if this is the case these alterations are entirely consistent with the shape of the
roofline—bellcast roofs typically occurring within the time period of the Prairie Movement. Any such
alterations have clearly past 50 years in time and have therefore achieved significance in their own right.

Statement of Significance

901 Melrose Avenue is a cross gabled building with alterations that date to after 1904 but before 1930.
The building is recommended eligible for the National Register of Historic Places for Criteria A,
association with historic trends in the development of University Heights History as well as Criteria C, for
architecture.

The building possesses associations with the history of the development of Johnson County, Iowa and its
communities. The building was built in the country and may have been associated with a small
agricultural operation, but also served to house individuals who chose to be close to the county seat, but
to remain outside its borders. The building predates the period of significance for the City of University
Heights.

The building possesses merit in architecture particularly for the use of concrete block combined with
face brick, an unusual combination warranting more consideration than otherwise would for a building
with the negative alteration of what appears to be the removal of the front porch.

Analysis and Discussion

As stated in the property history, no houses appear in historic plats and atlases for the subject property.
The County Assessor information records 1895 as the year of construction, which is therefore
problematic as the Heubinger Survey and Map Publishing Company atlas for 1900 shows no house on
the subject property, but rather on the portion of the property that was related at that time but north
and east of the railway. A house appeared at that location as early as the 1870 plat by the Thompson
and Everts Company. Stylistically, the house at 817 Melrose Avenue matches that date and location and
is therefore probably the house recorded in the historic plat maps and atlases. It is not clear when the
house was built, as assessor records do not extend back to the time period in question. The house
stylistic and materials analysis strongly suggests the building and outbuildings were constructed after
1904, but prior to the 1930s.

Conclusions

Records search and historic and architectural history information do not confirm when a house first
appeared on the subject property. Stylistic and materials analysis does not confirm the date listed by the
County Assessor. The foundation material matches that used in the details of the cladding, and
therefore is a character defining element of the building. Future preservation of the building should take
this into account.

Figure 4. 901 Melrose Avenue, View South

Figure 5. 901 Melrose Avenue, View Northwest

Figure 6. 901 Melrose Avenue, View NE

Figure 7. 901 Melrose Avenue, Outbuildings View, NW

Bibliography

Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa. American Lithographing & Printing Co. Des Moines, Iowa. 1934

Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa. American Lithographing & Printing Co. Des Moines, Iowa. 1939

Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa. Huebinger Survey and Map Publishing Co. Davenport, Iowa. 1900

Barnhart, Kelly. The History Behind Rock Face Block. Classic Rock Face Block website.
http://classicrockfaceblock.com/the-history-behind-rock-face-block/ (Accessed September 5, 2017)

City of University Heights website. University Heights, Iowa. http://www.university-heights.org/

(Accessed September 5, 2017)

Combination Atlas Map of Johnson County, Iowa. Thompson and Everts. Geneva, Illinois. 1870

Hall, James P. The Early Developmental History of Concrete Block in America. M.S.H.P Thesis, Ball State
University, Muncie, Indiana. 2009

Hamilton, Ward. Preservation in Action weblog. July 22, 2012.

https://preservationinaction.blogspot.com/2012/07/early-concrete-masonry-units-in-united.html
(Accessed September 5, 2017)
Iowa Digital Library. The University of Iowa Libraries. Iowa City. http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu (Accessed
September 5, 2017)

Iowa Geographic Map Server. Geographic Information Systems Support & Research Facility, Iowa State
University. Ames, Iowa. http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu/ (Accessed September 5, 2017)

Plat Book of Johnson County, Iowa. W.W. Hixson & Co. Rockford, Illinois. 1930

The Height of Good Living: 2035. Comprehensive plan for the City of University Heights, Iowa. 2010

Staab, Frederick. Obituary. Iowa City Press Citizen. Feb. 10, 2009