Property Record
609 WASHINGTON ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Kettenhofen Bros. Blacksmith & Wagon Shop |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 2232 |
| Location (Address): | 609 WASHINGTON ST |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | Wrightstown |
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| Year Built: | 1922 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20091979 |
| Historic Use: | blacksmith shop |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Metal |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. 2ND FLOOR SUN PORCH OVER ENTRY. KETTENHOFEN FROM 10 GENERATIONS OF GERMAN BLACKSMITHS WHO ARRIVED HERE IN 1872; JACOB IS SON OF PETER. 1921 FLOOD CARRIED AWAY ORIGINAL BUILLDING WHICH WAS REPLACED IN 1923. 1940S ALTERATIONS INCLUDE PORCH AND GARAGE. 2009- "This two-story, stepped Boomtown front building has a front-gabled, standing-seam metal roof and is sheathed with historic-period, pressed metal panels. Resting on metal pole supports, a circa-mid-1940s, hipped-roof, enclosed porch projects from the primary (northwest) facade second floor and contains wooden storm windows. Below the porch on the first floor is a double-door entry containing wooden swinging doors, while a modem entrance door is located to the right. Single window openings are found to the left of the double-door entrance and flanking the doorway accessing the porch on the upper floor. Fenestration throughout the building consists of historic, two-over-two, double-hung, wooden sash windows excepting a few modem one-over-one examples found on the second floor of the side (southwest) elevation and garage wing. The side (northeast) elevation has five window openings on each level. The rear (southeast) elevation features an infilled door opening in the center of the first floor and two window openings on the upper floor. A circa-mid-1940s, one-story, garage wing featuring a Boomtown front and wood-paneled, overhead door is located on the side (southwest) elevation. A glass-and-wood-paneled pedestrian entrance door is found on the side of the garage wing. Otherwise, similar to the other facades, the side elevation consists of a series of single windows openings on each floor. Exterior alterations to the building consist of the mid-1940s addition of the primary facade, second floor enclosed porch and the garage wing. No historic exterior photographs of the building were found during the course of research although, aside from the installation of the modem pedestrian door on the primary facade, the building retains the same appearance as it did when last surveyed in 1980. On the interior, the building has wooden board walls and a concrete floor. The original two forges and associated chimneys also remain (photo #5 of 6). A pair of sliding wooden doors divide the front and back rooms on the first floor (photo #6 of 6) (See Exhibit A for a historic interior view of the first floor). The apartment on the upper floor features modem updates and consists of two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom." -"Kettenhofen Bros. Blacksmith & Wagon Shop", WisDOT#4095-12-00, Prepared by Heritage Reasearch, Ltd. (McQuillen), (2009). HAER INVENTORY (06/1979): This building is a two-story, frame, rectangular-shaped structure with a steel gable roof, two brick chimneys, steel siding and a boomtown-like facade. It measures approximately 66' x 30'. The site also includes an adjacent one-story garage and a second story porch on the main building. Peter Kettenhofen came to the United States from Rhein Province, Germany in 1862 and settled in the Town of Holland in Brown County. The family is said to have been blacksmiths in Germany for 10 generations. Kettenhofen moved to Wrightstown in 1872 and set up a blacksmith shop. His son, Jacob, went to work for his father a year later. The original blacksmith building floated away in a 1921 flood. The current building was constructed by Jacob a year later and included a wagon shop in the rear. Real estate tax rolls also indicate the building was constructed that year, as improvements to the property were listed at $50 in 1922 and $2,000 in 1923. Jacob later sold the facility to his sons Peter and Jacob Jr., who moved out in the early 1940s. Mike Beckx, former owner, built the second story porch in the mid-1940s and added the one-story garage after purchasing the site. Beckx, a welder, used the first floor as a workshop and store room. Today the first floor is used as a storeroom; the second story as an apartment. The chimneys once accommodated two forges. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A.) Ruth Roebke, FROM BRIDGEPORT TO WRIGHTSTOWN, Franciscan Publishers, Pulaski, WI, 1971, chapter titled "Business and Commerce in 1900," p. 55. (B.) Mike Beckx, former owner of the building, interviewed by Bill Meindl, 10/23/1980. (C.) Brown Co., WI, Real Estate Tax Rolls-Village of Wrightstown, 1922 and 1923, block 3, lot 2, Brown Series 4, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, housed in Area Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |