Muscatine neighborhood hosts tours

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By Alma GAul | Friday, July 18, 2008 1:30 PM CDT | () comments

Photos by Larry Fisher/Quad-City Times This imposing Greek Revival House was built in 1952-54 by J.C. B. Ward, and it was used as a hospital from about 1900 into the 1960s. Buy this Photo

River views are a key asset among homes in the West Hill Historic District in Muscatine, Iowa. Buy this Photo

This "painted lady" home includes a garage-turned-cabana where the current owner has built a brick patio. Buy this Photo

MUSCATINE, Iowa — Every town has its old section, the place where people first settled, where the homes reflect the architecture of bygone times.

In Muscatine, that section is West Hill, a roughly 20-square-block area that rises west from the current downtown to the top of a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.

It was on this bluff that pioneers built their homes beginning in the mid-1830s and here that growth continued during two overlapping periods of the city’s history.

The first was the era of the lumber industry when timber from the pine forests of the north was rafted down the Mississippi and milled to meet the needs of a growing nation, and the second was the era of pearl button manufacturing, when river mussels stamped into billions of discs made Muscatine the button capital of the world.

From 1839 to 1958 — roughly 120 years — people built on West Hill, in styles ranging from Queen Anne to Greek Revival, in sizes to met the needs of middle-class workers as well as the prosperous upper class.

Following a multi-year community effort, the West Hill Historic District was listed this spring on the National Register of Historic Places.

If you have never visited West Hill, you have a special opportunity to do so on Saturday, July 26, when gardens at 10 of its homes will be open for tours.

Money raised will go toward an ambitious project spearheaded by Iowa State University/Muscatine County Master Gardener Maryrose Peterschmidt to refurbish a neglected area of the city’s Weed Park, an area that once housed a zoo.

The National Register listing of the neighborhood was based on a nearly 100-page nomination written by Rebecca Lawin McCarley of SPARK Consulting in Davenport, who was hired by the City of Muscatine/Muscatine Historic Preservation Commission.

More than 20 volunteers contributed more than 2,050 hours of research in an earlier survey project to compile background information on the homes, garages and other features that McCarley included in the nomination.

The project was undertaken for several reasons, says Devin Pettit, the chairman of the preservation commission. First, the commission wanted to gather accurate, in-depth information on the area’s homes rather than rely on stories handed down through the years.

Second, taking the extra step of having the area listed on the National Register makes people who want to fix up those properties eligible for state and federal historic tax credits.

Finally, there is a sense of pride in being on the National Register, and it can add value to the homes, Pettit says.

Alma Gaul can be contacted at (563) 383-2324 or agaul@qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Garden walk to benefit the Zoo Garden project at Muscatine’s Weed Park

When: 2-5 p.m. Saturday, July 26

Where: 10 gardens in the West Hill Historic District

How much: $10

To get there: From the Quad-Cities, take U.S. 61 to Muscatine. At Park Avenue, turn left and follow that to the downtown area, where it turns into 2nd Street. At Mulberry Street, turn right and go to 3rd Street. At 3rd, turn left and follow it all the way up the hill to the home of Maryrose Peterschmidt at the corner of 3rd and Cherry streets. Here you can buy your tickets and get directions to the gardens.