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Photograph of American Gothic House
Photograph by Original uploader was Jehjoyce at en.wikipedia, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Dibble House

Built in 1882 (Carpenter Gothic). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

From the record

“The American Gothic House, also known as the Dibble House, is a house in Eldon, Iowa, designed in the Carpenter Gothic style with a distinctive upper window. It was the backdrop of the 1930 painting American Gothic by Grant Wood, generally considered Wood's most famous work and among the most recognized paintings in twentieth century American art.”

Wikipedia article American Gothic House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 32 National Register listings published here for Wapello County · listed in 1974 · category: Building · built in 1882, Carpenter Gothic.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Burton and Gothic Sts., Eldon, 52554
  • When was it listed? October 1974
  • Category. building
  • Township. Washington township
  • When was it built? 1882
  • Architectural style. Carpenter Gothic
  • National Register reference number. 74002291 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

9 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Dibble House between 2017 and 2019, burning about 112 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning7
Equipment and vehicle use1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 May 2018Debris and open burning3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 April 2019Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
27 April 2019Debris and open burning4.5 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
27 April 2018Debris and open burning10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
27 April 2018Debris and open burning15 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
24 April 2018Debris and open burning3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 March 2017Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 March 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Wapello County

Mines and quarries near this property

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Dibble House: 4 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension, Zinc. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Drill HoleZincPast ProducerSphalerite
UnknownLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Hootman Farm QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Nupp QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Wapello County

Storms near this property

45 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Eldon, the town this property stands in, in 45 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 20 flood, 9 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 6 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2025Thunderstorm WindEldon1 hurt, $15,000Wapello County EM and City of Eldon reported tree damage and power outages due to thunderstorm winds in the town of Eldon. Downed trees were reported to be blocking roadways and the City of Eldon spent the next few days cleaning up tree damage. One tree fell on and injured a motorcyclist driving through town.
June 2015FloodEldon$100,000The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 13.74 feet at 8:10 PM CST on 26 June.
September 2014FloodEldon$100,000no account filed
October 2014FloodEldon$100,000no account filed
April 1996HailEldon$100,000no account filed
April 2019FloodEldon$50,000The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 12.35 feet on 29 April 2019 at 19:45 UTC.
April 2019FloodEldon$50,000The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 11.54 feet on 30 April 2019 at 20:30 UTC.
May 2019FloodEldon$50,000The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 11.65 feet on 22 May 2019 at 10:30 UTC.
May 2019FloodEldon$50,000The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested several times at the end of May. The first crest was at 12.51 feet on 25 May 2019 at 16:30 UTC, the second crest at 13.43 feet on 28 May 2019 at 02:40 UTC, and the third crest at 16.28 feet on 29 May 2019 at 20:10 UTC.
July 2015FloodEldon$50,000The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 12.35 feet at 7:10 AM CDT on 28 July.
July 2015FloodEldon$50,000The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested a second time in as many days at 12.33 feet at 10:30 AM CDT on 29 July.
December 2015FloodEldon$50,000The Des Moines River crested at 12.71 feet on 14 December 2015 at 17:50 UTC.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindEldon$40,000A pole barn was blown onto the road.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindEldon$25,000Public report of trees down in town.
February 2016FloodEldon$20,000The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 11.81 feet on 22 February 2016 at 2129 UTC.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindEldon$15,000no account filed
June 2009Thunderstorm WindEldon$10,000no account filed
May 2013Thunderstorm WindEldon$5,000A power pole and tree was blown down along County Road 918.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindEldon$5,000Trees were blocking the road on Ashland Road.
May 2011HailEldon$5,000Quarter to ping pong ball size hail.
April 2003HailEldon$5,000no account filed
August 2007Thunderstorm WindEldon$3,000Winds estimated at 70 MPH broke 24 inch diameter tree branches. Heavy rain was occurring at the time as well.
March 2006HailEldon$3,000no account filed
March 2006HailEldon$1,000no account filed
July 2024Heavy RainEldon-Report of 3.25 inches of rain.
June 2023HailEldon-Public reported quarter sized hail via mPing app.
November 2022Heavy RainEldon-A 24 hour rain total of 2.62 inches.
June 2021Heavy RainEldon-Public report of 7.21 inches of rain.
June 2021Heavy RainEldon-Emergency manager reported 3.44 inches of rain at Eldon city Hall with rain still in progress.
June 2021Heavy RainEldon-Emergency manager reported 5.99 inches of rain at Eldon City Hall with rain still occurring.
June 2021Flash FloodEldon-Emergency management reported flash flooding including the flooding of the basement of Eldon City Hall and street and highway flooding in and around the town of Eldon.
June 2021Flash FloodEldon-A trained spotter relayed that multiple creeks were out of banks with and estimated 6 inch depth of water flowing across highway 16. Spotter was uncertain when flooding began.
March 2019FloodEldon-The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 13.22 feet likely due to an ice jam on 12 March 2019 at 15:00 UTC.
June 2019FloodEldon-The Des Moines River at Ottumwa remained in flood throughout the month of June, it crested at 14.66 feet on 7 June 2019 at 05:20 UTC.
July 2019FloodEldon-The Des Moines River at Ottumwa had already crested in June and slowly fell through the first portion of July.
May 2019FloodEldon-The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 12.1 feet on 18 May 2019 at 00:50 UTC. While heavy rain did fall at times during the period, the majority of the reason the river is in flood was due to increased releases from Lake Red Rock.
May 2019FloodEldon-The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 13.53 feet on 19 May 2019 at 12:10 UTC. While heavy rain did fall at times during the period, the majority of the reason the river is in flood was due to increased releases from Lake Red Rock.
August 2018Heavy RainEldon-CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.18 inches over the last 24 hours.
May 2017HailEldon-Local fire department estimated hail nickel to quarter in size.
January 2016FloodEldon-The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 12.06 feet on 9 January 2016 at 7:00 UTC.
January 2016FloodEldon-The Des Moines River at Ottumwa crested at 11.49 feet on 12 January 2016 at 5:30 UTC.
December 2015FloodEldon-The Des Moines River crested at 11.97 feet on 24 December 2015 at 22:50 UTC.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindEldon-no account filed
April 2017FloodEldon-no account filed
July 2006HailEldon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Wapello County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

5 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
McHaffey Opera House0.6 miles1995
Eldon Carnegie Public Library0.6 miles1996
Big 4 Fair Art Hall0.9 miles1995
Chief Wapello's Memorial Park6.4 miles1975
Mars Hill7.7 miles1974

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 74002291 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Wapello CountyAll 32 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.