120 S Court St.
120 S. Court- This building was built in 1879 by Dr. J.L. Taylor, pioneer of the whole sale drug business in Ottumwa. Taylor came to Ottumwa in 1851 to practice medicine. He continued his practice several years and then in 1858, opened a wholesale drug company which he opened until his death in 1881. The company was taken over by Blake Bruce & Company, which subsequently sold its interest in 1888 to the organization of J.W. Edgerly & Co.Excerpt From “Ottumwa” a publication in 1890-"Taylor and Company, Druggists, Dealers in Books, Stationary, Paint, Oils, Wall Paper, Curtains, Imported and Domestic Cigars, Wholesale and Retail. The stock of goods carried by this firm is one of the largest, finest and most complete of any in Iowa or the West. Occupying their own building, they have no rent to pay, and are thus enabled to undersell all competitors. A number of physicians have their offices on the upper floors of their building and others nearby, which, together with the central location of the store, gives them the largest prescription trade in the city. Their drugs and chemicals are always fresh and warranted full strength. Their line of books, wall paper, etc., is the finest in the city, while their stock of imported and domestic cigars cannot be duplicated outside of Chicago. The present members of the firm are – Charles Oliver Taylor, W. D. Elliot, and G A. Warden, Mr. Taylor being the son of the original founder of the business." C. O. Taylor’s, son James Charles would later own the building and ran the Truefit Shoe Company on the main level. His son James “Jim” Taylor Would open his advertising agency here in 1947. He would own the building up to the early 2000.Chris and Tricia Smith bought the Owls nest in 2013. The building then came up for sale the same year, so to protect the business they bought the building. They have been upgrading the building since. The biggest change came with the new façade work done in the last Main Street Façade program when all 31 second and third floor windows were replaced and the repainting of the building highlighted some great architectural details, and the original drug store signs were uncovered. Their plans are to continue the improvements with the goal of upper story housing as an option.
205 E Main St.
205 East Main was built in 1870 for the Iowa National Bank. It is the oldest remaining purpose-builtbank building in Ottumwa. The bank's executive offices were here on the second floor. It remained abank until 1927 when the bank moved down the street to 219 East Main.By the 1990's, 205 and 207 East Main (both owned by the same individual) had badly deteriorated, andwere purchased by Ottumwa Progress Inc., with plans to demolish both buildings to make way foreither surface parking or new construction. With encouragement from Josh Gettings on the buildings' potential,Paul and Sally Gettings purchased the buildings and set in motion the rehabilitation of the twoproperties, otherwise these historic buildings would likely no longer exist.Around 2004, Josh began intial demo of 205's second floor, with the goal being to eventually make itinto his personal residence while keepong the historic character of the space. At the time, there werevery few upper-story apartments in existence downtown, so, as he worked on the space, he wasfrequently asked, “Why would you want to live downtown?” His answer, “Why not?”Much blood, sweat, tears, and money has gone into the space you see by the Gettings Family, and itremains a work in progress, but, upon moving in January 1, 2006, it instantly felt like “home”, andcontinues to be a labor of love.
222 E Main St.- The Gettings Group, Owner
Based on the abstract information, a lease was granted for a drug and book store at 222 East Main inMarch of 1875 for “the first floor, cellar, and part of the second floor”, and recently, a descendant of theCanny family explained that her great grandfather, A.P. Canny, had a cigar factory on the second floor“in the early 1900's”, which produced the cigar brands “Uzonna” and “Canny's Old Kid”. She provideda copy of a photo if the cigar operation (seen here), in which the three north-facing windows of thesecond floor can be seen.We are unsure of the entirety of uses that the building has served over the years, but, in more recentyears, it has been used for a few different restaurants, and, most recently, it was the location of theOttumwa Teen Center, which utilized the first and second floors.As you can see, the building has deteriorated extensively, and, at one point, there was public discussionof demolishing the building to make a pass-through from Main Street to the parking lot in the rear. TheGettings Family has, once again, decided that this building is worth saving, and are setting in motionthe rehabilitation of the property, otherwise it might have no longer existed. Preliminary plans are tohave first-floor retail/commercial space, and a two-bedroom second-floor space.The Canny family descendant expressed her appreciation that the building was being rehabilitated.
303-305 E Main St.
The 303, 305, 315, and 320 E. Main St. properties are currently participating in an upper-story housing pilot project through the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s (IEDA) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Ottumwa is one of three communities that was chosen to participate in this pilot program to determine if upper-story rehab will become a regular part of IEDA’s menu of CDBG programs. Each of these buildings will have apartments in formerly vacant and dilapidated upper-story spaces: 303 and 305 each will have one 3-bedroom unit, 315 will have one 2-bedroom unit, and 320 will have two 1-bedroom units.In 2013, the City of Ottumwa was awarded a CDBG for façade improvements for many of the buildings on the 300-Block of E. Main St. Three of these properties [303, 305, and 320] were participants in that program. The 303 property received a new storefront, upper-story masonry repair, and a stucco treatment on the side; 305 received new storefront frames and glass, upper-story windows and masonry repair. The 320 property received an entire new façade. Were it not for the intervention of this CDBG façade grant and finding a critically deteriorated lentil beam, structural engineers believe that the upper-story brick face would have fallen into the street! Since that façade program, 320 has been completely renovated inside and out and now hosts Manpower on the main level and will soon have the two apartments upstairs. The short-term goal for each of 303, 305, and 315 [and also 317] is to clean out and stabilize the main levels so that they, too, may be rehabilitated and turned back into shops, offices, or restaurants. The storefront of 315 will also be completed shortly after this project wraps up. When this CDBG pilot project is complete, 20 new apartments will have been completed in the 300-Block of E. Main St. since 2010!Note: The Alliant Hometown Rewards Committee for Ottumwa has provided funds to this project as well to install higher-efficiency electric water heating units in each of the pilot project apartments. These heat pump water heaters are two to three times more efficient than standard electric water heaters.
315 E Main St.
The 303, 305, 315, and 320 E. Main St. properties are currently participating in an upper-story housing pilot project through the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s (IEDA) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Ottumwa is one of three communities that was chosen to participate in this pilot program to determine if upper-story rehab will become a regular part of IEDA’s menu of CDBG programs. Each of these buildings will have apartments in formerly vacant and dilapidated upper-story spaces: 303 and 305 each will have one 3-bedroom unit, 315 will have one 2-bedroom unit, and 320 will have two 1-bedroom units.In 2013, the City of Ottumwa was awarded a CDBG for façade improvements for many of the buildings on the 300-Block of E. Main St. Three of these properties [303, 305, and 320] were participants in that program. The 303 property received a new storefront, upper-story masonry repair, and a stucco treatment on the side; 305 received new storefront frames and glass, upper-story windows and masonry repair. The 320 property received an entire new façade. Were it not for the intervention of this CDBG façade grant and finding a critically deteriorated lentil beam, structural engineers believe that the upper-story brick face would have fallen into the street! Since that façade program, 320 has been completely renovated inside and out and now hosts Manpower on the main level and will soon have the two apartments upstairs. The short-term goal for each of 303, 305, and 315 [and also 317] is to clean out and stabilize the main levels so that they, too, may be rehabilitated and turned back into shops, offices, or restaurants. The storefront of 315 will also be completed shortly after this project wraps up. When this CDBG pilot project is complete, 20 new apartments will have been completed in the 300-Block of E. Main St. since 2010!Note: The Alliant Hometown Rewards Committee for Ottumwa has provided funds to this project as well to install higher-efficiency electric water heating units in each of the pilot project apartments. These heat pump water heaters are two to three times more efficient than standard electric water heaters.
320 E Main St.
The 303, 305, 315, and 320 E. Main St. properties are currently participating in an upper-story housing pilot project through the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s (IEDA) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Ottumwa is one of three communities that was chosen to participate in this pilot program to determine if upper-story rehab will become a regular part of IEDA’s menu of CDBG programs. Each of these buildings will have apartments in formerly vacant and dilapidated upper-story spaces: 303 and 305 each will have one 3-bedroom unit, 315 will have one 2-bedroom unit, and 320 will have two 1-bedroom units.In 2013, the City of Ottumwa was awarded a CDBG for façade improvements for many of the buildings on the 300-Block of E. Main St. Three of these properties [303, 305, and 320] were participants in that program. The 303 property received a new storefront, upper-story masonry repair, and a stucco treatment on the side; 305 received new storefront frames and glass, upper-story windows and masonry repair. The 320 property received an entire new façade. Were it not for the intervention of this CDBG façade grant and finding a critically deteriorated lentil beam, structural engineers believe that the upper-story brick face would have fallen into the street! Since that façade program, 320 has been completely renovated inside and out and now hosts Manpower on the main level and will soon have the two apartments upstairs. The short-term goal for each of 303, 305, and 315 [and also 317] is to clean out and stabilize the main levels so that they, too, may be rehabilitated and turned back into shops, offices, or restaurants. The storefront of 315 will also be completed shortly after this project wraps up. When this CDBG pilot project is complete, 20 new apartments will have been completed in the 300-Block of E. Main St. since 2010!Note: The Alliant Hometown Rewards Committee for Ottumwa has provided funds to this project as well to install higher-efficiency electric water heating units in each of the pilot project apartments. These heat pump water heaters are two to three times more efficient than standard electric water heaters.
