What to See in Spirit Lake - Top Sights and Attractions

Public library in Spirit Lake, Iowa. The former Spirit Lake Public Library is located in downtown Spirit Lake, Iowa, United States. The Civic Improvement Association started a library in a rented commercial building downtown in 1901. The initial collections were acquired through Iowa's traveling library system. A referendum to support a public library was passed in 1904, which made a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York possible. Spirit Lake's application was accepted for a grant for $8,000 on February 1, 1905. The search for a lot for the building delayed construction. The library was dedicated on September 24, 1912. The single-story brick structure was built on a raised basement, and features vaguely Tudor Revival elements. The center frontispiece and the tall windows give it a sense of verticality. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The public library has subsequently been relocated into a new building, and the historic building has been converted into commercial space.^[2]

The Antlers Hotel is located in downtown Spirit Lake, Iowa, United States. From the 1880s to the early 1920s an alliance of railroad companies, entrepreneurs, and sportsmen made Spirit Lake and the Iowa Great Lakes region into an upscale tourist destination based on boating, hunting and gun tournaments. Completed in 1902, this hotel was built at the height of that development. A significant addition to the hotel was completed in 1930. Starting in the 1920s tourism started to change with the increasing popularity of the automobile and the decline of the railroads. This is one of the few railroad-era tourism related buildings remaining in the area. It was designed in the Neoclassical style by Austin, Minnesota architect Frank W. Kinney. The three-story brick structure is built on a raised basement. It features brick columns, arched windows, ornamental cornices and a wrap-around veranda. Antlers Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. It has been renovated into a 14-unit apartment complex.^[3]