Discover 8 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Boone (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Boone County Historical Center, Ericson Public Library, and John H. Herman House. Also, be sure to include Perrigo-Holmes House in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Boone (Iowa).
Table of Contents
Boone County Historical Center
History museum in Boone, Iowa. The Boone History Center, previously known as the Champlin Memorial Masonic Temple, is a historic building in Boone, Iowa. Constructed in 1907 as the Champlin Memorial Masonic Temple, the building housed Mt. Olive Lodge No. 79 until 1990. It now houses the Boone County Historical Society.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[1]
Address: 602 Story St, 50036-3059 Boone
Ericson Public Library
Public library in Boone, Iowa. Ericson Public Library is located in Boone, Iowa, United States. The public library building was a gift of C.J.A. Ericson, a local businessman and politician, who served five terms in the Iowa General Assembly. While in the state legislature he advocated for libraries on a statewide level. He was also a longtime member of the Iowa Library Association.
The building was designed in the Renaissance Revival style by the Des Moines architectural firm of Liebbe, Nourse & Rasmussen. It was completed in 1901, and features a projecting central pavilion with a Venetian window-piece above the main entrance. An addition was built onto the rear of the building from 1922 to 1923. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[2]
Address: 702 Greene St, 50036 Boone
John H. Herman House
The John H. Herman House is a historic house located at 711 South Story Street in Boone, Iowa.[3]
Perrigo-Holmes House
The Perrigo-Holmes House is a historic residence located in Boone, Iowa, United States. Joel C. Perrigo was a Vermont native who worked for several different railroads, including the Chicago and North Western, which probably brought him to Boone. He also had extensive land holdings in the county. Adoniram J. Holmes was a local attorney who was elected the mayor of Boone before being elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Republican. He represented Iowa's 10th congressional district before serving as the Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives. He and his wife Emma bought the house right after he was elected to congress. Perrigo had the two-story, frame high-style Italianate house built around 1871. The "L" shaped structure features paired brackets under the eaves, and the front porch is located in the inside angle. A barn, believed to be a contemporary of the house, is also part of historic listing. It is one of a few town barns left in Boone. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[4]
Stoll Bottling Works
The Stoll Bottling Works is a historic building located in Boone, Iowa, United States. The 135 by 82 feet brick building was built between 1913 and 1914. It was one of the buildings in town that housed a plant for producing and bottling carbonated soft drinks, a significant industry in Boone. Louis Stoll had begun working at the Selling Soda Company when he was a teenager. He bought the company in 1912 when he was 21. Four years later his former supervisor at Selling, Frank Linderblood, bought the company and Stoll moved to Des Moines where he owned Capitol City Bottling Works. By the mid-20th century the national brands had plants in Boone. This building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It mistakenly lists this building as the Stoll Building Works.[5]
First National Bank
First National Bank, now known a US Bank, is located in Boone, Iowa, United States. The bank was established in 1884, and their building at this location was destroyed in a fire in 1914. The eight-story bank and office building that replaced it is the work of the Des Moines architectural firm of Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson. T.C. Wardell from Chicago was hired as superintendent of construction because he was considered a specialist in constructing fire-proof buildings. Construction began in 1915, and the building was completed in 1916 for $115,000.
The architecture combines the styling of the Neoclassical style with the form and construction technology of the Chicago Commercial School. The bank was acquired by Citizen's National Bank in 1935, and the building changed names at that time. In the late 1970s a two-story addition was built onto the east side of the original building. A beltcourse of brown aggregate material replaced the original beltcourse at the top of the base to visually tie the two structures together. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The bank has subsequently been acquired by US Bank, and the building now uses their name.[6]
Alonzo J. and Flora Barkley House
Building. The Alonzo J. and Flora Barkley House is a historic building located in Boone, Iowa, United States. Alonzo Barkley was a local banker who was involved in real estate and local politics. His first wife, Henrietta Trickey, died in 1889. He married Flora Spencer two years later. He had this house built in 1893. It is a two-story frame Queen Anne with Shingle style influences. The Shingle style, along with the Eastlake and Stick styles, were rare in central Iowa. Typical of the Queen Anne style, the house features an asymmetrical plan with steeply pitched irregular roof forms. The upper two-thirds of the house is covered in shingles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.[7]
J.H. Riekenberg House
The J.H. Riekenberg House is a historic residence located in Boone, Iowa, United States. Born in Schleswig, Germany, Riekenberg emigrated to the United States in 1867, and became a successful businessman and civic leader in Boone. He had Charles E. Edwins, a local architect, design this house, and local contractor J.J. Thoren built it in 1898. The 2½-story, frame Queen Anne house features an asymmetrical plan, steeply pitched roof, a wrap-around front porch, a variety of wall surface texture, an octagonal corner tower, and Palladian elements in the gable ends. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.[8]