Algona Chamber of Commerce

One of Louis Sullivan’s famous Jewel Boxes, this building is perfect to house the Chamber of Commerce as it is a must-​stop for anyone visiting Algona. These beautiful midwestern buildings, designed between 1909 and 1919 and mostly banks, were noted for their amazing light, exquisite detailing, and perfect proportions.
Originally called the Henry Adams Building and built in 1912, it was added to the National Register for Historic Places in 1998 as the «Land and Loan Office Building.» This literal jewel invites light inside with high clerestory street-​side windows and also linear skylights.
The women who work here were very helpful and had answers or knew where to find the answers to any questions my dad and I threw at them. We left with a newly published hardbound book about Algona in which we found an old picture of my dad’s dad. They gave us a map. We also researched other points of interest in Algona and my dad asked about other businesses and buildings and people that may or may not still exist… we left enlightened. Make sure to ask them how to get to the Camp Algona POW Museum.
I JUST COULDN’T BELIEVE that my dad grew up in a small town, riding his bike past one of the jewel boxes daily. My dad JUST COULDN’T BELIEVE I knew who designed this building.
Whether you have an architectural education or not, make sure to check out this beautiful design by Louis Sullivan, the mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright. Make sure not to miss the craftsman detailing around the windows, the famous stained glass windows, the quality of light, the proportions…
While Sullivan is considered the father of modernism because of his forward thinking designs, he was not a part of the later International Style which eschewed ornament. In my humble opinion, he got a bad rap in the history books because of his once uttered and very quotable quote, «Form ever follows function» which was later shortened by other architects to «form follows function» and which many interpreted to mean «ornamentation is superfluous and bad.»
I digress. Enjoy the light, enjoy the terracotta details and the brick and the windows. It is a jewel box, for sure.