Property Record
212 W WISCONSIN
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | John E. McDonald; M & M Dairy; Shank Bros. |
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| Other Name: | Cheers Video Night Club |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 3728 |
| Location (Address): | 212 W WISCONSIN |
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| County: | Columbia |
| City: | Portage |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1892 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1992 |
| Historic Use: | retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | Brick |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Portage Retail Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 4/27/1995 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 10/24/1994 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Corbeling along parapet and between floors; brick panels; segmental arch windows and lintels with corbel step at second floor; oriel window with brackets; round arch windows with drip moldings; paired brackets under cornice at center. David Eulberg (1993): This building was a tavern known as the Anchor Inn. Sanborn-Perris Map Co.: 1929: ice cream manufacturing. 1910: grocery. 1901: grocery. 1894: flour. 1889, 1885: building not there. Columbia Co. Treasurer 1863: 1905-1930: David Shanks. 1892-1900: John E. McDonald. 1890-1891: not listed. The building is not listed in the tax assessment records until 1892 when the building was probably erected. Directories: use 214 and 212. 1955: (212) Portage Plumbing and Heating Co. (Johnson Printing Co.) 1948, 1937? 1929: (212) M & M Dairy and L.F. Manley, ice cream manufacturer (Smith-Baumann Directory Co.). 1927-28, 1924-25, not 1921: M & M Dairy Co. with Lee Manle, manager (R.L. Polk & Co.). 1921: Shanks, D.W., grocer (R.L. Polk & Co.) (not listed in 1924-25). 1919-20: Shanks Bros. (A.V. and D.W.) (R.L. Polk & Co.). 1917-18: (212) Shanks Bros., Grocers (Farrell). 1914-15: Shanks Bros, A.V. and D.W., grocers (R.L. Polk & Co.). 1913-14:, 1911-12: Shanks, David, groceries and meats (R.L. Polk & Co.). 1910: (212) Shanks, David, groceries and meats (Voshardt). 1908-09: (212) Shanks, David, groceries and meats (S.H. Moore) see 214. 1905-06: same (R.L. Polk & Co.) not listed in 1903-04. 1903-04, 1901-02, 1897-98, 1895-96, 1893-94: John. E. McDonald, flour and feed (R.L. Pol & Co.). Established about 1896, A.L. McDonald & Co. dealt in fresh and salted meats and game. By 1892 when the building at 212 W. Wisconsin (24/23) was constructed, McDonald also or exclusively dealt in flour and feeds. David Shanks operated a meat market and grocery at 212 W. Wisconsin by 1905. His brother, A.V. Shanks, joined him in the partnership of Shanks Bros., grocers in 1914. The business remained in operation through 1921 in the same building (Portage Daily Register 12/23/1889). Le Manley began his ice cream company as a small concern on his farm just south of Portage in 1917. As his local market expanded, Manley formed a partnership with Thomas McNaughton known as the M & M Dairy in 1921. In that year, the partners purchased the Purity Ice Cream plant, the former Stotzer building, at the southeast corner of W. Wisconsin and W. Conant. It is now replaced. After relocating the firm to the 212 W. Wisconsin (24/23) in 1922, the company shipped its product to communities in south central Wisconsin. By 1923, the firm converted its operations to complete mechanical refrigeration. During the 1920s, the M & M Dairy adopted the trade name Red Circle Ice Cream for its product. In 1935, Everett Bidewell purchased the company maintaining its trade name until 1950 when the product became Bidewell Ice Cream. He erected a new concrete and red face brick plant at the southwest corner of W. Wisconsin and W. Edgewater, the current site of the First Wisconsin Bank Drive-in, in 1950. Bidewell operated the company until 1977 (Columbia County Historical Society 1982; Portage Daily Register 7/2/1952; Register-Democrat 6/3/1921; Sanborn-Perris Map Co., 1918). |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Sanborn-Perris Maps. (B) City Directories. (C) Columbia County Treasurer 1863. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |