Property Record
540 W GRAND AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Wisconsin Chair Company / Paramount Records |
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| Other Name: | Yamaha of Port Washington |
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| Reference Number: | 103773 |
| Location (Address): | 540 W GRAND AVE |
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| County: | Ozaukee |
| City: | Port Washington |
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| Year Built: | 1888 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19982022 |
| Historic Use: | retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
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| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | The Wisconsin Chair Company was established in Port Washington in 1888 with a large non-extant factory near the mouth of Sauk Creek. The company, one of the largest in Port Washington, produced a variety of furniture pieces, eventually including phonograph cabinets and accessories. In the early twentieth century, the company opened the office located at 540 West Grand Avenue, a commercial two-story storefront building constructed in 1888. Paramount Records was created in 1917 as a complementary division of the furniture company. The record company was headquartered at the small office along Grand Avenue while production of the records themselves took place at the factory. The company launched a “race series” in 1922 that was aimed at African American customers, particularly in the American South, via a mail-order catalog. It was one of the earliest examples of the dissemination of early blues and gospel music in the United States during the 1920s and featured iconic musicians and singers such as Charley Patton, Son House, Ma Rainey, Charlie Jackson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Skip James who are considered seminal figures of the musical style. The company produced approximately 25% of the national market share of blues records during the 1920s. Ironically, Port Washington had no African American residents during the period according to census data; however, its role in the production of a popular musical style developed by African Americans was considerable. By 1925, the production of records was moved to a non-extant Grafton-based facility in Ozaukee County. It is unclear at this where exactly the recording took place or where musicians stayed in Port Washington. Maurice Supper and his brother-in-law Frederick Boerner managed the company in Port Washington and left it in 1925 when the company moved to Grafton. The pair set up their own business at the same location at 540 West Grand Avenue. Supper managed the Ideal Equipment Company, producing agricultural irrigation products, while Boerner managed the F. W. Boerner producing and recording “race records,” both as mail-order businesses. Maurice Supper lived at 934 West Grand Avenue, which is potentially contributing to the Grand Avenue Historic District, and Fred Boerner lived at a non-extant house located at 1316 West Grand Avenue. Paramount Records closed in 1932 due to the Great Depression and changing technology despite the increasing popularity of the music it recorded, while Boerner and Supper’s recording studio continued into the early 1940s. |
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| Bibliographic References: |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |