Union Iron Works' Iowa Machine Works & Foundry

Union Iron Works' Iowa Machine Works & Foundry, 106 8th Avenue South; c. 1856.An early brick industrial building, it has a gable roof with a "false front" of a high, stepped parapet for the major, street façade. Engaged brick pilasters on the front divide the façade into two equal bays. The large, west door has been altered and raised to allow struck service while the east door in the main façade retains the segmented-arch, original appearance. Twentieth-century additions flank and extend the rear of the original building. Simple and utilitarian but warm and handsome in appearance, the building is a good example of functional vernacular design of early industrial architecture in Iowa.