Property Record
1300 WESTERN AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Northwestern College Gymnasium |
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| Other Name: | Northwestern College and Prep. School Auditorium |
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| Reference Number: | 7152 |
| Location (Address): | 1300 WESTERN AVE |
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| County: | Jefferson |
| City: | Watertown |
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| Year Built: | 1912 |
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| Additions: | C. 1980 |
| Survey Date: | 1986 |
| Historic Use: | university or college building |
| Architectural Style: | Early Gothic Revival |
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| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | This building is the gymnasium built for the college in 1912. It is the only historic building left on this campus. After the college had held classes at 814 N. 4th St. (see ISF for this address), they settled into their facility on Western Avenue. At first, the president of the college wanted it to be a regular college for all students, not just ministerial candidates. But this idea never reached reality. In 1869 a new president changed the curriculum of the college into a classical German gymnasium course of study with an emphasis on preparatory and college programs that prepared students for seminaries. Several buildings were constructed on campus during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Along with the original main building in 1864 there was a dormitory built in 1875, a new classroom building replacing the main building which burned in 1894, a new dormitory in 1905, and this building in 1912. After World War II, all the historic buildings disappeared from the campus and only this building remains from the historic group of Northwestern College buildings. In 1910, the college, which had been called Northwestern University until then, changed its name to Northwestern College to reflect its status as a preparatory school and religious college, a status still maintained today. Because this building is the only extant istoric structure on the campus of Northwestern College, it is significant under criterion A because it represents the historic era of this important private college. The college may have state significance as the first instituton of higher education established by the Wisconsin Synod, an important Lutheran synod in the state. It has local historical significance because of its importance as a long-term private college. Northwestern College also is significant because it represents the German educational and cultural traditions prevalent in the community. That the college early adopted a traditional German method of study and maintained it for a long period of time is significant as reflecting this German dominance. Built as a gymnasium in 1912, this cream brick Northwestern College building features a facade flanked by two squat square towers with crenillations along the roofline and applied brick pilasters on the side elevations. The building was recently rennovated and the front two-story entrance added. The Northwestern Collage and Preparatory School Gymnasium is not architecturally significant because of the extensive alteration of the exterior that has altered its historic Gothic Revival character. As a result of the loss if integrity, the Northwestern Gymnasium does not meet the criteria of the NRHP. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Erwin E. Kowalke, Centennial Story Northwestern College, 1865-1965, Watertown: Northwestern College, 1965, pp. 76, 78, 102, 109, 200, 204, 208. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |