513 Vernal Avenue, Milton, WI 53563 | National or State Registers Record | Wisconsin Historical Society

National or State Registers Record

513 Vernal Avenue, Milton, WI 53563

National or State Register of Historic Places
513 Vernal Avenue, Milton, WI 53563 | National or State Registers Record | Wisconsin Historical Society
NAMES
Historic Name:Courier Building
Reference Number:15000552
PROPERTY LOCATION
Location (Address):513 Vernal Avenue, Milton, WI 53563
County:Rock
City/Village:Milton
Township:
SUMMARY
Courier Building
513 Vernal Avenue, Milton, Rock County, WI
Date of Construction: 1887

For almost 110 years, this small commercial building has been the center of local news for the communities of Milton and Milton Junction. In 1907, the editors of one of the local newspapers, The Weekly Telephone, moved their publishing operations into this building, the old Jones Block, a former paint store that had been constructed in 1887. The Weekly Telephone eventually became the Milton Courier, the most successful newspaper in Milton.

Newspaper publishing in Milton and other small towns in Wisconsin during the nineteenth century was a volatile commercial enterprise, with papers coming and going with regularity. In both Milton and Milton Junction, several newspapers operated for a time. By 1900, two papers had emerged as most successful, the Milton Journal published in old Milton and the Weekly Telephone, published in Milton Junction.

Conversely, commercial success was difficult for both papers because the communities, although separate, were so close geographically. The stronger of the two, the Weekly Telephone, finally acquired the Journal in 1912, creating one commercially successful newspaper for the twentieth century, the Journal-Telephone. The name was changed in 1946 into the shorter and catchier Milton Courier, and it has remained in publication to present day.

Modern technology and economic conditions have meant that the actual printing of the Milton Courier is performed off site, but the writing and editing of local news has been done and is still being done in this building.

PROPERTY FEATURES
Period of Significance:1907-1965
Area of Significance:Communications
Applicable Criteria:Event
Historic Use:Commerce/Trade: Specialty Store
Historic Use:Commerce/Trade: Business
Historic Use:Industry/Processing/Extraction: Communications Facility
Architectural Style:Late 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements
Resource Type:Building
DESIGNATIONS
Historic Status:Listed in the State Register
Historic Status:Listed in the National Register
National Register Listing Date:08/24/2015
State Register Listing Date:02/27/2015
NUMBER OF RESOURCES WITHIN PROPERTY
Number of Contributing Buildings:1
Number of Contributing Sites:0
Number of Contributing Structures:0
Number of Contributing Objects:0
Number of Non-Contributing Sites:0
Number of Non-Contributing Structures:0
Number of Non-Contributing Objects:0
RECORD LOCATION
National Register and State Register of Historic Places, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin

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National Register of Historic Places Citation
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