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Iowa State Reformatory

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1872 and later, L. W. Foster and Company. N. High St., at end of Broadway
  • Iowa State Reformatory (David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim)

This is a reformatory posing as a nineteenth-century castle: it has towers, crenellation, and all the expected attributes. The soberness of its purpose is countered by the playfulness of the overall image. When construction began in the 1870s, it was described as “one of the finest buildings in the state, and among the best arranged and magnificent prisons in the west.” 2 The central section was finished in 1880, the women's section in 1881, and the administrative building in 1889. 3

Notes

Alfred Theodore Andreas, Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875, 458.

Lori Erickson, “Anamosa's Landmark in Stone,” Iowan 38:3 (Spring 1990): 22–27.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
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Data

What's Nearby

Jones County Courthouse
House
U.S. Post Office Building
Cottage
Anamosa Public Library

Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "Iowa State Reformatory", [Anamosa, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-ME002.

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