Case NRHP23-01: Review and provide a recommendation for the International Harvester Truck Sales and Service Station at 601 West 2nd Street to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [Ward 3]

Staff recommend the International Harvester Truck Sales and Service Station at 601 West 2nd Street be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Commission shall authorize the Chairperson to sign the Certified Local Government National Register Nomination Evaluation Report Form. 

The nomination achieves consistency with Criterion A (Historical Events) and Criterion C (Architecture).

1. The International Harvester Truck Sales and Service Station is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the board patterns of our history. (Criterion A)
2. The International Harvester Truck Sales and Service Station embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. (Criterion C)

As a participant in the Certified Local Government Program, the Historic Preservation Commission is required to review and comment on proposed National Register nominations of properties within its jurisdiction.

The question for the Historic Preservation Commission to answer when reviewing the nomination is

whether the nominated property meets the National Register of Historic Places criteria for significance and integrity.

Criteria for Evaluation:

1. Criteria A (Historical Events): That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
2. Criteria B (Important Person): That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or 
3. Criteria C (Architecture): That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or 
4. Criteria D (Archaeological): That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. 

Nominated Property: The International Harvester Truck Sales and Service Station

"The International Harvester Truck Sales and Service Station is located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, near the Mississippi River. Placed in service in 1928 as a vehicular retail and service center and occupying about one quarter of a city block, this one-story building features steel columns and brick walls for support, large storefront windows, and Romanesque and Gothic Revival ornament showing the influence of the Commercial Style of architecture on its design. The building’s roof employs innovative steel bowstring trusses to clear span a vast interior space for unimpeded vehicular operations. The low height and placement of a 1979-built one story addition at the rear of the building does not negatively impact the property’s historic integrity because the addition’s visual impact is minimal. Overall, the International Harvester Truck Sales and Service Station possesses good historic integrity." -National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.

Please see the attached documentation for background information.