Property Record
740 N WATER ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | FIRST WISCONSIN PARKING GARAGE |
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| Other Name: | FIRST MILWAUKEE BANK / More and Holstein Grain Co. |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 41138 |
| Location (Address): | 740 N WATER ST |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1929 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1984 |
| Historic Use: | parking structure |
| Architectural Style: | Art Deco |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | MARTIN TULLGREN AND SON |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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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. Good example of typical office building with stock Art Deco decorative elements. This Art Deco parking garage is cleverly disguised to look like an office block. Its telltale entry ramp on East Mason Street and glimpses of parked cars through the "windows" of the "office building" betray its actual function. Parking garages were introduced around 1905 as motorcars began replacing horses. Many early garages were actually livery stables. But, sturdier, larger reinforced-concrete and brick parking ramps became the preferred means for storing cars. Before the 1950s, there was no specific recognizable architectural form for the parking structure, as a building type. Tullgren outfitted this example with regular bays of steel casement windows, and handsome Art Deco style terracotta ornament in the spandrels and cornices. Built to serve First National Bank across the street, and able to accommodate more than 250 cars, Tullgren's garage was the largest parking ramp in Milwaukee when it opened, a distinction held until the early 1960s, when a downtown office-building construction boom created demand for larger structures. |
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| Bibliographic References: | MILWAUKEE HISTORIC BUILDINGS TOUR: JUNEAUTOWN, CITY OF MILWAUKEE DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT, 1994. Permit. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |