201 W 2ND ST (aka MAIN ST W) | Property Record | Wisconsin Historical Society

Property Record

201 W 2ND ST (aka MAIN ST W)

Architecture and History Inventory
201 W 2ND ST (aka MAIN ST W) | Property Record | Wisconsin Historical Society
NAMES
Historic Name:ASHLAND COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Other Name:ASHLAND COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Contributing: Yes
Reference Number:582
PROPERTY LOCATION
Location (Address):201 W 2ND ST (aka MAIN ST W)
County:Ashland
City:Ashland
Township/Village:
Unincorporated Community:
Town:
Range:
Direction:
Section:
Quarter Section:
Quarter/Quarter Section:
PROPERTY FEATURES
Year Built:1915
Additions:
Survey Date:1983
Historic Use:courthouse
Architectural Style:Neoclassical/Beaux Arts
Structural System:
Wall Material:Limestone
Architect: HENRY WILDHAGEN (B); H W BEUMMING (B)
Other Buildings On Site:
Demolished?:No
Demolished Date:
NATIONAL AND STATE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
National/State Register Listing Name: Ashland County Courthouse
National Register Listing Date:3/9/1982
State Register Listing Date:1/1/1989
National Register Multiple Property Name:County Courthouses of Wisconsin Thematic Group
NOTES
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. Also find plans in map tube in Gallery 13. ELABORATE NEOCLASSICAL DETAILING ON INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR. GIANT ORDER COLONNADE. FORMER SITE OF THE FAMOUS CHEQUAMEGON HOTEL. [Date Cnst:(A)]

The former Ashland County Courthouse was lcoated on West 2nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues on the north side. The elegant Chequemegon Hotel operated by Wisconsin Central Railroad was once in this site, that featured an open vista across the harbor.

Description: A second building within the district already listed on the NRHP, the 1915 Ashland County Courthouse, made of granite and designed in a severe Neo-Classical Revival style by H.W. Buemming of Milwaukee and H. Wildhagen of Ashland, is in excellent condition. It occupies an entire block and stands in an open green space back from the street's edge. Its symmetrical three-story facade features two side pavilions with coupled pilasters and pedimented second floor windows. The central facade's rhythm is marked by pilasters to between the rectangular windows. The flat hipped roofline is broken at each end by acroteria. The richly decorated interior with a grand central staircase and marble floors is intact. Woodwork was supplied by Ashland's famous Scott-Taylor Company.

Significance: The Ashland County Courthouse is a pivotal structure ranking in significance with the Old Post Office (#1). Completed in 1915, this monumental Neo-Classical Revival courthouse lends dignity to the City of Ashland. The county seal of Ashland County. Appropriately located in the core of the commercial and governmental West Second Avenue district, the building's landscaped block is the only open green space in the district and is significant as a rare example of landscape architecture in the district. The courthouse, moreover, is significant for its high artistic values and for its association with two reputable architects, H.W. Beumming of Milwaukee and H. Wildhagen of Ashland who collaborated in the design. Like the old Post Office (presently City Hall) that represented the importance of local government, the courthouse was built to signify the leading role played by Ashland in the county government. The building has already been listed on the National Register as part of a state-wide thematic county courthouse group. Stylistically the Neo-Classical courthouse design, the finest example of its type in Ashland, fits neatly within the general Classical Revival stylistic category with the Royal Theater (#3), the W.D. Kuhn Block (#4), the Northern National Bank ( ) and the Union National Bank ( ). Together these pivotal structures contribute strongly to the stylistic continuity and cohesiveness of the district in the later decades of its period of significance.
Bibliographic References:[A] ASHLAND SALUTES 100 YEARS OF PROGRESS.
RECORD LOCATION
Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin

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