Squiers Manor Bed & Breakfast

Local businessman J.E. Squires and his wife, Harriet, built this elegant historic home in 1882. It is primarily significant for its design, which combines the Queen Anne and Stick architectural styles. It features two, three-sided projecting bays on the front facade, decorative bargeboard on the gables, ornate porches, and decorative brickwork. Inside, the house features elaborate Stick-style woodwork. Today the Squiers House operates as a bed and breakfast inn. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places 1995.

J.E. Squiers ran a dry goods store in the downtown area. It was first located in a building that longer exists and then in two buildings that he, apparently, built in 1873 (the J.E. Squiers Building) and 1879 (the Squiers Block), respectively. Squiers ran the store until 1885. Four years later, he became the president of the First National Bank of Maquoketa and remained in that position until he died in 1911. The bank building still stands at 120 S. Main Street.

Squiers was so successful that he did not need a mortgage to pay for the house. He also spared no expense in building it. In addition to its attractive design and interior woodwork, the house was one of the first in the city to have electricity and running water (the original cisterns are still located on the property). The house is a contributing property of the West Pleasant Historic District, which is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"About Squiers Manor." Squiers Manor Bed and Breakfast. Accessed November 22, 2021. https://squiersmanor.com/about-the-inn.

Svendsen, Marlys A. "J.E. Squiers House." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. August 9, 1991. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/95000385_text.