Albia Square and Commercial Historic District

Albia Square and Commercial Historic District. . , Welcome to our Historic District. We hope this self-guided walking tour will be both interesting and educational. To begin the tour, please take one of the tour guides from the box below and follow the enclosed map. Thanks for spending time with us! , The Albia Square and Business District represents a fine collection of late 19th and early 20th century commercial buildings. , The integrity of the area and the 92 structures that make up this National Register Historic District (1985) has been maintained at a high level. , Three locating commissioners chose the site in 1845 as the county seat for Monroe (then known as Kisk-Ke-Kosh) County. A government survey platted Albia (then known as Princeton) the same year. The plat included a public square central to the plan and streets laid to points of the compass in gridiron. , Since there was already a town named Princeton in Iowa, the name was changed in 1847 when the first post office opened. The city was incorporated as a city of the first class in 1859. , The first visual documentation of the business district occurred in the 1870’s with a series of photographs showing the four sides of the square. , Those photos show the original brick courthouse located on the site which was built in 1858. At that time, there was considerable controversy over locating the courthouse in the middle of the public park but Judge Hilton asserted his authority, chose a design for the structure and ordered its construction in the park. , Please proceed to the Monroe County Courthouse. , This project was funded in part , with a grant from , Sesquicentennial Iowa.