Northwestern Hotel (Des Moines, Iowa)

Northwestern Hotel
Location 321 E. Walnut St., Des Moines, Iowa
Coordinates 41°35′17″N 93°36′43″W / 41.58806°N 93.61194°W / 41.58806; -93.61194Coordinates: 41°35′17″N 93°36′43″W / 41.58806°N 93.61194°W / 41.58806; -93.61194
Built 1916
Architect Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson
Architectural style Renaissance Revival
NRHP Reference # 84001300 [1]
Added to NRHP January 12, 1984

The Northwestern Hotel is an historic building located in the East Village of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[1]

History

Opening in 1916, the Northwestern Hotel was built to serve the needs of railroad employees and other people of modest means.[2] Other businesses housed on the first floor included a restaurant, cigar stand, and a drug store. Eventually the building went into a slow period of decline when a group of lawyers remodeled the building for office use in 1983. The building currently houses private businesses and United States Post Office branch.[2]

Architecture

The building was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm of Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson.[1] It is a three story structure with a decorative cornice at the roofline. Most of the building's decorations were limited to the lobby of the hotel when it was constructed.[2] The first floor housed retail space in addition to the hotel’s lobby. A ballroom, with its own skylight, and guest rooms were on the second floor. The guest rooms of the second and third floor were generally small and were arranged around spaces with skylights. Some of the larger suites, which had a view of the capitol building, had their own bathrooms. The other guest rooms shared bathrooms.

See also

The following are other buildings in the East Village that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

References

  1. 1 2 3 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "History". East Village Des Moines. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
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