Ringland-Smeltzer House

Built in 1903 in the Jacobethan Revival style, home features brick work, tall chimneys, multiple gables and leaded glass. Many original furnishings and art. The Ringland Smeltzer House qualifies for the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria B and C. Criterion B requires that a property be associated with the lives of a person or persons significant in the past whose activities are demonstrably important within a local, state and national context. George Ringland, who built the house, and his family clearly meet the requirements on both the local and national level. The house is important locally because the Ringland/Smeltzer family played a significant role both economically and culturally in the history and development of both Fort Dodge and North Central Iowa from the very first years of settlement in the 1850s until the end of the twentieth century and the death of Ann Smeltzer, the last member of the family. The house epitomizes the industry and success of its owners and the Fort Dodge community. It is important nationally because George Ringland was an entrepreneur whose patent for the improvement of plaster contributed to the growth of the gypsum industry and changed the nature of building construction and because he was one of the founders of one of the nation’s leading corporations, the U.S. Gypsum Company.