| Additional Information: | THIS TWO AND A HALF-STORY RESIDENCE FEATURES A SQUARE-SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A CLAPBOARD EXTERIOR AND A TRUNCATED, HIPPED ROOF. VISIBLE IN THE DESIGN ARE A VARIETY OF CLASSICAL ELEMENTS, INCLUDING LARGE, TWO-STORIED, CORNER PILASTERS, ORNATE WINDOW MOLDINGS, DENTILS AND MODILLIONS PLACED AT THE EAVE LINE, AND GABLED DORMERS WITH LUNETTES APPEARING IN THE PEDIMENTS. THIS HOUSE, BUILT IN C. 1904 WITH ADDITIONS MADE SUBSEQUENTLY, IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. (SEE BIB. REF. A).
ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING SIGNIFICANCE:
SITUATED ON A LARGE CORNER LOT, THE JOHN M. REESE HOUSE IS A LOCALLY IMPORTANT ILLUSTRATION OF COLONIAL REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE. THE WELL-MAINTAINED FRAME RESIDENCE, CONSTRUCTED IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, IS A SIMPLE, YET NOTEWORTHY, REVIVAL COMPOSITION WHICH IS CHARACTERISTICALLY SYMMETRICAL AND CLASSICALLY DETAILED.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
BORN IN DODGEVILLE IN 1869, JOHN M. REESE SUCCEEDED HIS FATHER SAMUEL REESE IN THE BANKING BUSINESS. SAMUEL REESE (HIS HOME IS LOCATED AT 401 S. IOWA STREET, 46/1), A NATIVE OF NORTH WALES, ESTABLISHED DODGEVILLE'S FIRST FINANCIAL INSITIUTION, THE DODGEVILLE BANK, IN 1871. FROM 1895 UNTIL 1919 WHEN A NEW STRUCTURE (178 N. IOWA STREET, 44/12) WAS CONSTRUCTED, THE DODGEVILLE BANK WAS LOCATED IN THE REESE BUILDING (166 N. IOWA STREET, 44.10). AT ITS NEW LOCATION THE BANK WAS KNOWN AS THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF DODGEVILLE. THE YOUNGER REESE FIRST SERVED AS ASSISTANT CASHIER IN THE BANK, AND UPON HIS FATHER'S DEATH IN 1902, SUCCEEDED HIM AS PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTION.
IN ADDITION TO HIS BANKING CAREER, REESE WAS INVOLVED WITH FARMING AND SERVED AS PRESIDENT AND TREASURER OF THE DODGEVILLE CHRONICLE (SEE 106 W. MARRIMAC STREET, 49/29). (SEE BIB. REF. C). |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. INTERVIEW WITH GERALD FIELDHOUSE, LOCAL HISTORIAN, DODGEVILLE, WISCONSIN, 14 DECEMBER 1984.
B. INTERVIEW WITH NATALIE MORROW, DODGEVILLE RESIDENT, DODGEVILLE, WISCONSIN, JUNE 1984.
C. GEORGE AND ROBERT M. CRAWFORD, EDS. MEMORIRS OF IOWA COUNTY, WISCONSIN, 2 VOLS. (CHICAGO: NORTHWESTERN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, 1913), 2:158-159.
D. WALKING TOUR OF HISTORIC DODGEVILLE, WISCONSIN, DODGEVILLE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION, 1995. |
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