{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Benson Block | nocat = yes | image = The Benson Block.jpeg | caption = | location = 109-112 N. Market<br>Ottumwa, Iowa | coordinates = {{coord|41|1|3|N|92|24|35|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Iowa#USA | area = less than one acre | built = 1924 | architect = | architecture = Classical Revival | added = January 3, 1985 | mpsub = | refnum = 85000009<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> | nrhp_type = cp | partof_refnum = 16000365 | designated_nrhp_type = June 24, 2016 | partof = Greater Second Street Historic District }} The '''Benson Block''' is a historic building located in downtown Ottumwa, Iowa, United States. It is two-fifths of a building that was originally constructed in 1883 and was damaged in a fire in 1923.<ref name=Jacobsen>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=85000009}}|title=NRHP Inventory-Nomination: Benson Block|author=James E. Jacobsen|accessdate=2019-03-26|publisher=National Park Service}} with {{NRHP url|id=85000009|photos=y|title=photos}}</ref> This part of the building was re-constructed as a theatre, but because it lacked a sufficient number of exits, was never used for that purpose. It is noteworthy for the decorative Neoclassical white terra cotta cladding on the façade, which enabled its owners to transform its original appearance.<ref name=Jacobsen/> The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.<ref name=nris/> In 2016, it was included as a contributing property in the Greater Second Street Historic District.<ref name=Naumann>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/16000365.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203100112/https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/16000365.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 3, 2017|title=NRHP Inventory-Nomination: Greater Second Street Historic District|author=Molly Meyers Naumann|accessdate=2019-03-26|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{commons category|Benson Block}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}} {{NRHP in Wapello County, Iowa}}
Category:Theatres completed in 1924 Category:Neoclassical architecture in Iowa Category:Buildings and structures in Ottumwa, Iowa Category:Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Category:Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Category:National Register of Historic Places in Wapello County, Iowa Category:Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa
{{WapelloCountyIA-NRHP-stub}} {{Iowa-struct-stub}}