Property Record
143 S 3RD AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Augustus W. Lawrence, Sr. Property |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 49769 |
| Location (Address): | 143 S 3RD AVE |
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| County: | Door |
| City: | Sturgeon Bay |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1856 |
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| Additions: | C. 1880C. 1930 |
| Survey Date: | 2006 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Front Gabled |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | |
| 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: | This 1 1/2 story clapboard sided house has a broad, gabled facade facing the street that is pierced by plainly detailed, paired windows on the lower level and a single one on the upper. This configuration is unique within the city. The most noteworthy detail is the small entry porch that is supported by turned wood posts. The porch gable is decorated with sunburst motif and a scroll sawn spandrel apron beneath. This simple vernacular building is of architectural interest because of its intact detailing and novel massing. This house has a rebuilt old-style porch with simple doric columns (2000). June 2006-This one and one half story, front gabled, clapboard sheathed house features an open, shed roof porch with Doric column supports and a plain balustrade. The porch shelters a single door that is flanked to either side by a pair of two over two, double hung sashes, while a single sash window rests within the gabled peak. Windows throughout the remainder of the house are double hung, wooden sash examples-all of which are replacements. Historic maps suggest that this house was originally oriented to the south and featured a full-width porch along that facade. At some point the south porch was removed and a new, smaller porch was fitted along the home's S. Third Avenue elevation. The current owners located an old porch railing in the basement and made the existing, east facing one to match. Research suggests that this house was built by Augustus W. Lawrence, Sr., in 1856. Lawrence purchased the subject lot from Robert Graham, who was responsible for platting the section in which this residence stands and for whom Lawrence, Sr., first worked upon arriving in Sturgeon Bay. Lawrence was born in Maine and moved to Sturgeon Bay in 1852. In 1856, he was associated with Charnley Bros. & Co.; that same year they erected a sawmill. After serving as superintendent of that business until 1878, Lawrence organized the Sturgeon Bay Lumber Company. In addition, in 1865, he began a mercantile business which was named the A.W. Lawrence & Co. Fifteen years later, Lawrence erected a new, two story store building for the business in Sturgeon Bay. The firm also had a branch store in Bay View which, at that time, was the community located immediately south of the canal and bridge. Deeds indicate that the house was under the ownership of Lawrence Sr. for just five years. It is unclear, however, if the subject house was Lawrence, Sr.'s, personal property or if it was part of the lumber company's holdings. According to tax rolls, William K. Dresser, an employee of the Charnley Bros. mill, is identified as the owner from 1861 until his death in 1878; however, deeds offer additional sales and names over the next few years. The lot then changed hands numerous times over the next decade. This lot, as well as the neighboring lot to the north (Lot 4, known as Anderson's Livery), were owned by the same person from at least 1887 to 1955. Information provided by the home's current owner Trudy Herbst, the house appears to have originally consisted of just two rooms-both exhibit wide, pine board flooring and thick, vertical cedar plank walls; foundations also appear to be constructed of the same stone. Prior to 1885, two additional rooms were added to the north (both feature thin-strip mahogany flooring) and, eventually two rooms and a bathroom were added onto the rear of the house. It appears that the house achieved its current appearance between 1911 and 1928. During the ten years that Herbst and her husband have owned the home, they have done a significant amount of restoration work, including the window replacement. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Sanborn Perris Maps of Sturgeon Bay, 1885. Trudy Herbst, Current owner. Stanley Green research papers, in possession of the Door County Historical Society Tax Rolls, Village of Sturgeon Bay Tax Rolls, City of Sturgeon Bay |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |