Downtown Commercial Historic District (Muscatine, Iowa)

Downtown Commercial Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Hotel Muscatine
Location	Roughly nine blocks centered on 2nd St. bet. Pine and Mulberry, Muscatine, Iowa
Coordinates	41°25′24″N 91°2′44″W
Area	25 acres (10 ha)
Architect	Paul V. Hyland; Joseph E. Mills
Architectural style	Italianate, Queen Anne, other
MPS	Historical and Architectural Resources of Muscatine. Iowa MPS
NRHP reference No.	06000423
Added to NRHP	May 24, 2006

The Downtown Commercial Historic District in Muscatine, Iowa is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. At that time, it included 93 contributing buildings, one other contributing object, and 18 non-contributing buildings. The city of Muscatine was established as Bloomington in 1836. The original town was built on land that is generally flat along the Mississippi River. Residential areas were located on the surrounding hills. Commercial and industrial interests developed on the flatter land near the river. Muscatine's commercial and industrial center had developed in a 12-block area along Front Street, now Mississippi Drive, and 2nd Street between Pine Street and Mulberry Street by 1874. This area, represented by the Downtown Commercial Historic District, is the city's original commercial area. Within its boundaries is a large number of 19th-century commercial buildings, many of which were modified in the first half of the 20th century.

Contributing properties

Two of the contributing properties are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

• Trinity Episcopal Church
• Welch Apartments

The district includes two buildings designed by architect Paul V. Hyland:

• The Hotel Muscatine (1914-15), 101 W. Mississippi Drive, an expensive-in-its-time building, funded in part by a large number of citizens who bought its common stock. It is a seven-story building which was the tallest in Muscatine until the 1970s.
• The Laurel Building (1916-17), 101 E. 2nd Street, a six-story combination department store and office building, which was for a long time the "other" tall building in downtown Muscatine.