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DK Eyewitness Travel Guide USA

Motor Mart Building

  • Also Known As: Commerce Building
  • Address: 520 Nebraska St
  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Building

Constructed in 1912, the Motor Mart in Sioux City, Iowa, was specifically designed to display, repair and provide parking for automobiles during the city's early automotive boom. One of Sioux City's first reinforced, poured-concrete buildings, it is also the earliest local structure to incorporate Claude A P Turner's flat-slab mushroom system, patented in 1908. Built by the C F Lytle Company and designed by E J Henriques, the building stands among a broad wave of pre-World War I commercial development, reflecting the period's rapid growth and the emerging architectural demands of the automobile industry. - AsNotedIn


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Motor Mart Building
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Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
1912/00/00 E J Henriques Architect, Construction Supervisor Henriques drafts a two-story concrete building for Ralph A Bennett's rising auto business, meant for display, repair, and parking. As 1912 advances, ambitions grow and the plans expand to four stories, sending the modern structure upward over Sioux City. The Automobile Takes to the Road
1912/02/00 Lytle Construction Company Contractor In late February, the Lytle Construction Co begins pouring concrete footings for the Motor Mart. The structure's frame uses the C A P Turner's flat-slab mushroom system. Invention of Reinforced Concrete
1923/03/31 The "New Roof Garden" opens above the Motor Mart featuring Acherman's Easy Coin' Jazz Orchestra from Los Angeles. Towering above the upper story, the stuccoed addition features Palladian windows, a Greek "tiled" pitched gable and hardwood flooring.

Data »

Particulars for Motor Mart Building:
Area of Significance Architecture
Criteria Architecture-Engineering
Area of Significance Automotive
Business Use Automotive Dealership
Sight Category Building
Area of Significance Business
Area of Significance Commerce
Architectural Style Early commercial
Historic Use Music Facility
Structure Use Roof Garden Ballroom
Structural System Turner Mushroom System



US National Registry of Historic Places Data »

Accurate at time of registration:

PLACE DETAILS
Registry Name:
Registry Address:
Registry Number: 93000330
Resource Type:
Owner: Private
Architect: Henriques, E.J., C.F. Lytle Co.
Architectural Style: Early commercial
Other Certification: Date received-pending nomination
CULTURAL DETAILS
Level of Significance: Local
Area of Significance: Commerce, Architecture
Applicable Criteria: Architecture-Engineering
Period of Significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949
Significant Year: 1912, 1923
Historic Function: Recreation and Culture, Commerce, Trade
Historic Sub-Function: Specialty store, Business, Music facility
Current Function: Commerce, Trade
Current Sub-Function: Business

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