Iowa Lakeside Laboratory Historic District

The Iowa Lakeside Laboratory was established in 1909 by three professors from the University of Iowa: Thomas Macbride, Bohumil Shimek, and Samuel Calvin. Their plan was to provide to all students "'competent to enjoy the laboratory method of instruction'; to instruct teachers in both academies of higher learning and in high schools so that they were better prepared to educate children in schools; and to provide a laboratory where graduate students and scholars could pursue advanced research."^[2] The facility is the "earliest and one of the most important research and educational institutions associated with the conservation movement."^[2]

The first 5 acres (2.0 ha) on West Okoboji Lake was purchased by the University of Iowa Alumni Association who set up a private stock company, the Lakeside Laboratory Association, because the university itself was legally prevented from establishing "branch" campuses.^[2] An additional 84 acres (34 ha) were acquired between 1928 and 1930. The property was deeded to the state of Iowa in 1936.^[3] In addition to the buildings the district includes about 60 acres (24 ha) of open land to the north and northeast of the building complexes. It is a combination of meadows, marshes, and bogs that have been used in experiments and research projects over the years, and it is considered integral to the historic field laboratory setting.^[2]

Iowa Lakeside Laboratory continues to function under the direction of the Iowa Board of Regents. The facility is located on a campus that has grown to 147 acres (59 ha).^[4]

Contributing buildings include five stone laboratories, a bathhouse, four stone cottages, and the main cottage. The entrance portals are the historic structure. They were built between 1936 and 1937 in the Rustic style by the Civilian Conservation Corps.^[2][3] The historic buildings are distributed across the facility's three areas: the main laboratory complex, the main living/dining quarters, and the lakeshore area. The noncontributing buildings include a classroom building, a modern laboratory building, a storage building, a library, ten wood-frame cottages, the manager's residence, a garage/shop, the dining hall, a converted boathouse, Dodd Cottage, faculty housing, and a modern bathhouse. They were built from the 1960s to the 1980s.