Samuel Nobel Block

Samuel Nobel Block. . , This building was built by Samuel Nobel in 1890. He was born November 30, 1819 in Hunting Co., Pennsylvania. In 1845 he moved to Fairfield, Iowa and four years later moved to Albia. At that time he started a dry goods store and ran that until 1865. In the Fall of 1859 he was elected County Judge and held the position for twelve years. He had three children; Alvis E, Ira and Ella May. Mr. Noble was one of the fourteen organizers of the Presbyterian Church (approximately 1853). He was also the Vice-President of the Monroe County Bank for a number of years. , Despite alterations, like the stucco job that was done in the early 1900’s and the missing portion of the identification Pediment that had Noble’s name on it, the building appears to retain a lot of its original character. It is also very similar to the building to the east (same style cornice and hoodmolds). , The remodeling job (stucco) was probably done by Samuel’s son Ira, who along with his brother Alvis popularized the use of cement and concrete products in Albia. Ira was a building contractor and Alvis owned a concrete block plant in Albia. Ira remodeled several other buildings in Albia by applying stucco over brick exterior walls and then scoring them to appear is if they were made of stone. The scoring is no longer on this building because of sandblasting and painting that took place around 1970. , Please proceed to the Samuel Nobel Building..