Kaplan Hat / Des Moines Saddlery

Brick commercial blocks trimmed in stone were characteristic of the late nineteenth century. Above the ground-level tall shop windows in this one are four horizontal bands within which are rows of round-headed windows. The light-colored stone used for the horizontal floor banding is employed in the projecting semi-circular headers of these windows. While the fifth floor of the building is a later addition, it sensitively carries on the theme of the original facade. There are several other late nineteenth-century commercial buildings still standing nearby (within the Court Avenue Historic Area). Among these are the F. M. Hubbell Building (1891) at 107 Third Street, and the Seith Richards Building (1889) at 300–310 Court Avenue.