1878 – The College Block Building & Much More.

Built in 1878, and opening in the spring of 1879, the College Block Building is the first known architect-designed commercial building in Iowa City – drawn up by the local builder/architect Chauncey F. Lovelace, who eventually moved both his home and his office into the building after its completion.

***Located on East College Street in downtown Iowa City, The College Block Building*** *(far left with red arrow)* ***is part of three historic buildings that have been restored and preserved for future generations.***

Located at 125-127 East College Street in downtown Iowa City, The College Block Building is one of the first commercial examples of massive pressed-tin cornice and ornamentation, has miraculously survived to today, and is an outstanding representative of the business district of Iowa City during the last quarter of the 19th century. Below: the August 2, 1973 edition of The Iowa City Press-Citizen announces the July 23, 1973 building’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places, saving it from the wrecking ball…

So, with all of this Iowa City history packed into one iconic building, who is Chauncey F. Lovelace – the architect of this classic structure on East College Street?

Above right: Chauncey F. Lovelace (1828-1909) apprenticed at age 16 with a draftsman and house builder in Cincinnati, and in 1847 – at age 19 – relocated to Iowa City, and began engaging in his trade. Above left: Robert S. Finkbine (1828-1901) trained to be a carpenter in Ohio until he was 22 years old, moving to Iowa City three years after Lovelace (1850) to work as a carpenter and contractor. In 1853, these two craftsmen became business partners, forming one of Iowa City’s first building/contractor offices. By 1868, Finkbine & Lovelace was listed in a local business directory under the heading: master builders – two talented men who are highly respected by all.

In 1873, Robert S. Finkbine moved to Des Moines and was chosen that same year to be the superintendent of construction for the new Iowa State Capitol Building (above left). Keeping his contacts in Iowa City, Finkbine also designed the three-story Grand (Coldren) Opera House (above top right), which opened in 1877, while Chauncey F. Lovelace, on the other hand, stayed in Iowa City, making a name for himself by designing many local buildings, including the third Johnson County Court House (above bottom right) – built in 1857, with the tower added in the 1880’s, and of course…

Contemporary newspaper accounts trace the progress of The College Block Building beginning on August 10, 1878 (below – left & center)…

***Five days later, on August 15*** *(above right)*, The Daily State Press reports: “The front of Mr. Lovelace’s new block will be decidedly handsome and ornate. The windows will be of plate glass and capped with elaborate galvanized iron work, the top of the building to be surmounted with a conspicuous cornice. It is something new, just what the street architecture of this city needs.”

***On August 30: “Lovelace began the stonework on his cellar yesterday.”***

***On September 5: “Lovelace’s new building is ready for the brick work, Mr. Ebert put in the foundation, and it is a good one.”***

***On September 29: “Maresh & Holubar are putting up some galvanized iron work on Lovelace’s new buildings.”***

***On October 15: “Lovelace’s new buildings have the finest front of any business structure in the city. It is quite a departure in architecture.”***

***On November 6: “The facade of Lovelace’s new buildings is finished and bears the name of College St. Block.”***

Records indicate that the first retail store to occupy The College Block Building (also called “The Lovelace Building”) was J.B. Dugan & Company – selling “Groceries at Bottom Prices” in the east half of the building (127 E. College Street). One of the first ads for Dugan’s appears in the April 30, 1879 edition of The Iowa City Daily Republican (below left)…

Records indicate that by 1881, J.B. Dugan retired, turning his grocery store over to Charles Barrows, who successfully ran his grocery business in the east half (127 E. College) of the “Lovelace Building” until at least 1912. Below: The June 22, 1887 edition of The Iowa City Republican features a large eight-page salute to Iowa City. On page eight of that edition, there are short articles on The Lovelace Building’s two tenants: Charles Barrows Grocery and Dr. J.F. Houser’s Drug Store…

The Iowa City Republican ran this eight-page salute to Iowa City two consecutive days: Tuesday, June 21, 1887 and Wednesday, June 22, 1887. ***You can see a complete overview of the June 21st edition here.*** Notice, in the picture (above), the west side of the College Block Building (125 E. College) is open with signage on the side of the building. The Crescent Building – also designed by Lovelace – won’t be built there until 1894. More on that later…

With Dr. J.F. Houser’s sudden death in January 1893 (see above left), the west portion of The Lovelace Building (125 E. College) became available, while Barrow’s Grocery carried on in the east side of the building (127 E. College) until around 1912. From that point on into the first half of the 20th century, a large number of different retail shops called The College Block Building their home. Which brings us, now, to…

In the late 1960’s and early 1970s, Iowa City undertook an ambitious Urban Renewal Project. As many big retail businesses – like Sears and Wards – moved to large-scale shopping centers on the city’s outskirts, downtown began to resemble a ghost town. Once-occupied historic buildings, like The College Block Building, became vacant and city officials feared urban blight. Hoping to reinvigorate its central business district, the City used federal funds to demolish many under-maintained buildings and encourage modern development. While this Urban Renewal Project led to popular downtown features like Iowa City’s Ped Mall, it also, sadly, stripped downtown of some of its most historic and iconic structures.

One building that came dangerously close to being lost was Chauncey F. Lovelace’s College Block Building. But as we mentioned at the outset of this page, on July 23, 1973, the building’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places, saved it from the wrecking ball. By December 1977, The College Block Building had been rescued and the hard work of renewal had begun…

In July 1982, Iowa City historian Irving Weber retells the story of saving and restoring this iconic structure…

Iowa City historian – Irving Weber – wrote an article on The College Street Block Building on July 24, 1982. Below are informative excerpts from that article. Note: Our extensive research in 2025 has found that the building was actually built in 1878 and opened for business in the spring of 1879, correcting a number of records (like Weber’s and others) that incorrectly show the building as being built in 1883.

With The College Block Building saved, now it was time to rescue and restore the remainder of the iconic East College Street classics…

The College Block Building, when it was designed and constructed in 1878, was built on the “edge” of downtown Iowa City (see map above), and over the next 50 years, this row of three College Street buildings (pictured above) became an integral part of downtown shopping. Today, this one block of iconic structures remains as a beautiful reminder of what turn-of-the-century Iowa City was like. In 2021, all three buildings were included as contributing properties in the Iowa City Downtown Historic District and are designated as Iowa City Historical Landmarks…

***The East College Street Triad: The College Block Building, The Crescent Block Building, and The Dooley Block Building.***

As you can see from the diagram above, The College Block Building – 125-127 E. College Street (1878) is just one of three buildings and is located on the furthest east end of the south side of East College Street in Iowa City.

The oldest building in the East College Street triad is located at the other end of the row (west end), and is called The Dooley Block Building – named after its builder, Frank Dooley. Built in 1874, four years before The College Block Building, the Dooley Block Building originally had four bays (109, 111, 113, and 115 E. College Street). In 1929, the middle two bays (111 & 113) were demolished, making way for an updated building that housed Sears – Roebucks & Co. (see pic below) well into the early 1960’s. The result, is that today, there are three separate buildings that were once just one – West Bay, Sears-Roebuck, and East Bay.

***The original Dooley Block Building had four bays – from right to left, 109 E. College (West Bay), 111 & 113 E. College (Sears-Roebuck), and 115 E. College (East Bay).***

Finally, the third building in the East College triad – located at 117, 119, 121 & 123 E. College Street – is known as The Crescent Block Building. Built in 1894, the name originated from the last name of the co-builders – Manly & Milton Moon (crescent moon, get it?) – who teamed up with Chauncey F. Lovelace – creator of The College Block Building – to fill this empty lot between The College Block Building (1878) and The Dooley Block Building (1874). Below, is the announcement of the new building – published in the April 18, 1894 edition of The Iowa City Herald.

**Montgomery Ward & Co. – 1929 – located in downtown Iowa City at 121-123 East College Street**. *Photo by Iowa City photographer Fred Kent.*

As you can see from the picture (above right), for many years throughout the first half of the 20th century, Montgomery Ward & Co. had their Iowa City retail store in the east half of this four-bay space on East College Street, right down the street from Sears! Talk about your one-stop shopping experience!

Here’s the 100-block of East College Street in 1965. Sadly, The Strand Theatre – at 129 E. College – burned on February 1, 1968, and when ‘urban renewal’ hit Iowa City in the 1970’s, Wards moved to the new Wardway Mall located near the intersection of Riverside Drive (Hwy 6) and Hwy, and as we discussed earlier, the remaining three iconic buildings of East College Street – College Block, Crescent Block, and Dooley Block – were all eligible for demolition.

Interestingly, a reader of our website – Tamara Fisher – contacted us in January 2025, inquiring about an old photograph (see above) given to her by her grandmother. The only information on the photo stated “Uncle Lell’s Store on College Street – Iowa City, Iowa”. Tamara was asking me if I could find out where & when Marshall & Koser‘s retail store was located on College Street, and actually, it was in my attempt to answer her questions that led to this web-page on the East College Street iconic triad. So, Tamara, here is your answer…

***Newspaper accounts indicate that in June 1893, Thomas E. Marshall took over Frank Tanner’s successful hardware store located at 6 South Dubuque Street.***

On September 14, 1894, The Iowa City Citizen announces that Marshall will be moving his hardware store into the new “Lovelace and Moon” building on East College Street on October 1st, renting the east bay (123 E. College/Crescent Building).

On May 1, 1895, The Iowa City Daily Republican announces that Martin G. Koser – successful businessman from North Liberty – is joining with Marshall to form a larger business – Marshall & Koser – Hardware, Buggies and Bicycles, and they will be knocking out the west wall of Marshall’s store to expand into 121 E. College Street/Crescent Building.

It appears that Marshall & Koser partnered together through 1896 before going their separate ways, with Marshall apparently stepping away from the business by January 1897 while Koser & Co. stayed on in the Crescent Building for a longer season.

***Interestingly, it was Marshall & Koser’s double-wide bay (121 & 123 E. College) in the Crescent Building that eventually became the long-time home of Montgomery Ward & Co. (pictured earlier)!***

So, there you have it. The story of The East College Street Iconic Triad: The College Block Building (1878), The Dooley Block Building (1874 & 1929), and The Crescent Block Building (1894). We are so thankful that these classics have been saved and restored, keeping the memories of late 19th century-early 20th century Iowa City alive, while still offering today’s residents a beautiful place for shopping, dining, and much, much more! Kudos to Frank Dooley, Chauncey F. Lovelace (below), Manly & Milton Moon, and so many more that have contributed over the years to these iconic structures! Long may they live!