John Delbert Van Allen was a retail dry goods merchant and department store owner who came to

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Cl ...

in 1892 and established a department store that was the last surviving traditional store of its type in the city. He is most noted nationally for having hired

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...

to design the Van Allen Building that is now listed as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. Mr. Van Allen applied for membership in the

Holland Society of New York The Holland Society of New York was founded in New York City in 1885 to collect information respecting the settlement and history of New Netherland. Its main objective is to find and preserve documentation about the inhabitants' lives and times ...

on August 10, 1908 and was admitted on October 8, 1908. He was a direct lineal descendant of Laurens Van Allen who was a resident of

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

in 1658. (Application below)

Gallery

Image:July 18, 2005 249 1.JPG, Van Allen Building, A

Image:Van_Allen_Column_Capital.jpg, The Van Allen Building, Column Capital Image:Van Allen 3.jpg, Detail of ornamentation of the Van Allen Building Image:July 18, 2005 251 2.JPG, Van Allen family crest Image:John_D._Van_Allen_%26_Son.JPG, John D. Van Allen & Son Image:Van Allen July 18, 2005 249.JPG, Van Allen building front elevation detail Image:Van_Allen_Building_1.jpg, Van Allen building SE corner detail Image:Van Allen 1913 summer.jpg, Van Allen building under construction in 1913 Image:Van Allen 1914.jpg, Van Allen building under construction in 1914 Image:Van Allen Christmas 1934.jpg, Van Allen Store 1934 Image:Van Allen, John Holland Society 1.jpg, John D. Van Allen application Holland Society of New York Image:Van Allen, John Holland Society.jpg, John D. Van Allen application Holland Society of New York reverse side

References

*The

Clinton Herald The ''Clinton Herald'' is a six-day (Monday through Saturday) daily newspaper published in Clinton, Iowa, and covering Clinton and Jackson counties in Iowa, and Carroll and Whiteside counties in Illinois. Overview It is owned by Community N ...

January 2, 1929 {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Allen, John Delbert 1850 births 1928 deaths American businesspeople in retailing People from Clinton, Iowa People from Crystal Lake, Illinois