The G.W. Jones Building, also known as the Electric Farm Lighting Co. and the Laster Motor Company, is a historic commercial building located in Des Moines, Iowa. Completed in 1920, the two-story brick structure was designed by the architectural firm Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson and built by local contractor A.H. Neumann. It features a symmetrical facade, large square window openings, restrained Neoclassical details, and parapet walls.
George W. Jones, a pioneering Des Moines auto dealer for the Hudson Motor Car Company and a Delco-Light generator distributor, occupied the building from 1920 to 1922. In this building, he sold generators and appliances manufactured by General Motors, which were sold by regional distributor-dealers in a similar fashion to automobiles.
Jones continued to own the building until 1943, during which time he leased the space to other automobile-related businesses. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 for its association with the automobile industry and the prolific work of the architectural firm that designed it.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
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