J.Z. Moore Historic District

The J.Z. Moore Historic District is a historic residential neighborhood located along Allen Street and St. Ann Street in Owensboro, Kentucky, encompassing addresses in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of both streets and portions of Daviess Street. The district is a well-preserved collection of late Victorian and Classical Revival houses developed between 1892 and approximately 1918. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as part of the Owensboro Multiple Resource Area.

Description

The J.Z. Moore Historic District is comprised of a four-block late Victorian and Classical Revival residential area centering on two broad, tree-lined streets, Allen and St. Ann. The area retains a feeling of neighborhood due to the similarity of architectural styles and the consistent sizing and massing of its structures. All lots are either 120 or 128 feet deep, with most lots 50 feet wide and setbacks of 15 to 20 feet, producing a uniform streetscape.

The dominant building type is a two-story frame residence with a hipped or pyramid roof and a full front porch. The oldest structure is a Second Empire residence at 1304 St. Ann, a two-story frame house with a three-story tower at the juncture of the front and side gables, metal cresting at the top of the mansard roof tower, and a one-story bay window in the front gable.

The majority of structures can be categorized as late Queen Anne, characterized by front gable orientation balanced by a one-story entrance porch. The district also contains several fine examples of the American Foursquare style, including the brick structure at 1316 Allen with its rusticated stone front porch, Palladian-effect front doorway, and peaked Palladian dormer. Two notable Neoclassical structures at 1229 and 1231 Allen have monumental porticos and balustraded balconies supported by two-story columns.

Many homes retain their original interior features including oak, maple, and walnut parquet flooring; cherry and oak mantels with detailed carving; and extensive oak staircases and woodwork. No two houses have alike mantels or staircases.

History

The district derives its name from James Zacharie Moore, a prominent and successful attorney who originally platted and developed the land in 1892. The original development consisted of twelve square blocks with 14 to 16 building lots each, sold lot by lot. The original owners were upper-middle-class and generally prominent citizens of the community — owners of lumberyards and sawmills, managers of the local newspaper or the buggy factory, bankers, dentists, doctors, and lawyers. Though not the most expensive residences in the city, the houses were built in a style and fashion that reflected the social positions of their owners.

Significance

The J.Z. Moore Neighborhood Historic District is significant under Criterion C in the area of architecture. The neighborhood is a well-preserved collection of vernacular, turn-of-the-century buildings that as a group continue to impart the sense of time and place of an early twentieth-century middle-class neighborhood in Owensboro.

References

• Kentucky Heritage Council. National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Owensboro Multiple Resource Area. Frankfort: Kentucky Heritage Council, 1985.