Property Record
16 N BROOKE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Northern Casket Company |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 55299 |
| Location (Address): | 16 N BROOKE ST |
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| County: | Fond du Lac |
| City: | Fond du Lac |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1919 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20101988 |
| Historic Use: | industrial building |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | J. E. Hennen |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Northern Casket Company Building |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 1/11/2019 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 2/16/2018 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| 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, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. Threatened with demolition in 2016. Damaged by fire 6/1/2020. 1988-This three story factory building has a flat roof, brick walls, a concrete foundation, and regular fenestration of multi light double hung sashes. Entrances are simply decorated with simple brick frontispieces or no decoration at all. Along the front facade (Brooke St.), window units are separated by very shallow brick pilasters. There are few factory buildings that are as intact and well preserved as this one. Some of the window units have been changed but there is little other alteration. As such, it can provide important information on factory design and construction from the early twentieth century era. This building is historically significant for its association with three metal products firms active in twentieth century Fond du Lac. While some of these companies were short lived, while they operated in Fond du Lac, they provided significant employment in a community trying to re establish an industrial base. Because of its association with industry, and because it retains such a high level of integrity, this building is significant in Fond du Lac. 2010-2011 Intensive Survey Info: This industrial building is comprised of several periods of construction dating from 1892 to 1919. Essentially a U-shaped building, this three-story structure is of brick and frame construction and is topped with a flat roof. The primary (east) elevation is comprised of fourteen bays separated by shallow pilasters. A pair of largely unadorned entrances are located along the primary elevation and the remainder of the facade contains tripartite windows groupings within each bay and along each of the three levels. Windows throughout the building largely consist of six-over-six-light sashes; however, a few openings have been filled in with glass block, while others have been simply boarded over. A one-story wing extends from both the north and south blocks and a large brick stack rises from the rear of the lot. A railroad siding originally accessed the building at the center (within the U). A circa-1919 drawing of the firm greatly exaggerates the size of the factory, although its form and number of stories is correct. The building, as it stands today, achieved its current appearance in 1919, while it was under the ownership of the Northern Casket Company. According to a 1917 city directory, the Northern Casket Company was incorporated in 1872, with a capital stock of $400,000. The north wing of this building was first constructed as two stories in 1892 and operated as a willow ware factory. However, by no later than 1898, the firm had closed. As of 1902, the building stood vacant. Between that time and its dissolution in 1906, the building was occupied by the Fond du Lac Canning Company. Beginning in 1906, the structure was operating as the Nehrbass Casket Company and improvements were made to the original two-story building. The Nehrbass firm was ultimately purchased by the Northern Casket Company, the latter firm of which had been taken over by William A. Mauthe of Fond du Lac (the owner of William Mauthe Furniture). Between 1908 and 1915, a three-story brick-faced addition was added to the existing structure, which was also increased to three stories. In 1917, land was purchased in order to expand the factory to include a facility for metal working, as the company had recently developed a non-corrosive, sheet steel and statuary work casket. In 1919, it was reported that a 100 x 200-foot, three-story factory addition would be made to the building; this addition resulted in how the building looks today. The Northern Casket Company (headed by Mauthe until his death in 1942 and then by his son Armin) closed between 1962 and 1963. The subject building stood vacant for a year before the Wells Manufacturing Company purchased the building and utilized it for their engineering department. Located to the south at 2-26 S. Brooke Street, the Wells firm manufactured automotive ignitions, replacement parts and fuel pumps. More recently, however, the building has served as an antique mall. The subject industrial building (less the few glass block and boarded-over openings) retains a very good degree of integrity and stands as a testament to Fond du Lac's industrial past, of which very few buildings remain to represent. The structure gained its current appearance in 1919 during the ownership and occupancy of the Northern Casket Company, the firm of which remained here into the 1960s. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. City Directories for the City of Fond du Lac, on file at the Fond du Lac Public Library, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. B. Sanborn Perris Maps for the City of Fond du Lac, on file in the Archives of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. c. Tax Rolls for the City of Fond du Lac, on file in the Area Research Center of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Library, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. d. Carol Cartwright, City of Fond du Lac Intensive Survey Report, Fond du Lac: City of Fond du Lac, 1992. "Thru the Camera's Eye, Fond du Lac, Up Wisconsin Away," (Fond du Lac, WI: Fond du Lac Business Men's Association, ca. 1919), 10, Copy on file at the Milwaukee Public (Central) Library, Milwaukee, WI. **The previous survey misidentified this structure as that of the M.D. Wells Manufacturing Co. See 2010-2011 Intensive Survey report for footnotes/citations to information found below. 2014: A citation in The (Milwaukee) Daily Reporter, 12 November 1919, indicates that the plans for a 100 x 100, three-story, brick and concrete "addition" were in progress for the Northern Casket Company. The plans were drawn by Fond du Lac architect J.E. Hennen. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |