The small Linn County town of Waubeek lies up the Wapsipinicon River some 9 miles northwest of Stone City (see Anamosa, p. 39). Being this close to available good stone, builders erected several interesting limestone structures within the community, including the Gothic Revival general store building ( CE437).
Another Gothic Revival structure built in 1868 is the one-and-a-half-story Stone Stable, located to the southeast of the Mercantile Building. The Stone Stable was erected as a commercial enterprise (a stock farm) by Frederick Braun and Ignatius Beek. The walls of this building are of random ashlar limestone, the roof is steeply pitched, and there is a central gable with bargeboards.
The best-known building in Waubeek is the 1860 Pitzer-Bowdish-Doe house, situated at the west end of town (south side of Marion Street, at the west end). This house was built for Joseph Pitzer by the Pennsylvanian stonemason Bennefield Wertman. The house was purchased from Pitzer in 1863 by John Bowdish, and later was acquired by Eugene Doe. The two-story stone house with a gable roof is a classic example of the late Federal style, with a central entrance, large balanced double-hung windows on each side, and a row of double-hung windows on the second floor. This house was used as a historic source for the 1932 Colonial Revival Robert Armstrong house in Cedar Rapids (designed by Bruce McKay).
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