Union Block (Mount Pleasant, Iowa)

The Union Block of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, was built by William McCandless in 1861. Historically it was used as offices and by the county courts. In the Union Block in 1869, Arabella A. Mansfield became the first woman in the United States to be awarded a license to practice law. The third floor housed the Opera House or Union Hall, a gathering place for the community. Early supporters of women's rights and civil rights spoke there, including Frederick Douglass, Bronson Alcott, Anna Dickinson, and possibly Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Preservation Iowa had listed Union Block on its most endangered buildings list because of its poor condition and lack of preservation plan. The building was badly damaged by an early morning fire on Jan. 25, 2011.