Property Record
212 - 216 W 2ND ST (aka MAIN ST W)
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Security Savings Bank / Appleyard Building |
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| Other Name: | NORTH WISCONSIN ABSTRACT CO |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 580 |
| Location (Address): | 212 - 216 W 2ND ST (aka MAIN ST W) |
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| County: | Ashland |
| City: | Ashland |
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| Year Built: | 1889 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1983 |
| Historic Use: | bank/financial institution |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | CONOVER AND PORTER (C) |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Security Savings Bank |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 12/27/1974 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| 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. LOWER FACADE ALTERED BY APPLEYARD IN 1930S. RICH UPPER BRICK WORK. INTERIOR ALTERED TO 1935 ART DECO TASTE. The Security Savings Bank was organized in January 1890 with capital of $50,000. J.S. Ellis was President. The building acquired the name of Appleyard in the early teens when the Ashland Light, Power and Street Railway Company was in this building. The Vice-President and Manager was Arthur E. Appleyard. Description: Designed by the architectural firm of Conover and Porter of Ashland in a beautiful interpretation of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, this two story commercial office building features brick and brownstone arches as the primary motif on both floors. Upper floor windows have been altered but this is diminished by the exquisite reticulated brick work and the polished granite colonnettes with foliated capitals that support the three arches. The first floor 1935 alteration gives the buildings its more recent historic name, the Appleyard Building. It was the American Black Granite Company which produced the polished granite to replace the rock-faced brownstone piers on the first floor. The brownstone arches, once rock-faced, were smoothed to conform with the new facade. The Art Deco interior, from the alterations at this time, includes polychromatic granite even onyx and the original Art Deco ornamental fixtures remain. Significance: Another district property already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 1889 Security Savings Bank is considered pivotal for its architectural integrity and is significant for its high artistic value and its association with the Ashlanad architectural firm of Conover, Porter and Padley and with the later stone contractor, Appleyard. The finely detailed facade is unsurpassed locally and represents perhaps the most artistic efforts of Conover and Porter in this northern region of Wisconsin. The first story alteration is considered significant for it fine craftsmanship (on the interior and exterior) and for its association with the Appleyard Quarry. No other treatment of this type survives from the period in Ashland. Historically significant as one of Ashland's oldest banking institutions, the Security Savings Bank ranks stylistically and qualitatively with other Conover and Porter buildings in the district such as the First National Bank and the Vaughn Block built within a few years of one another in the central part of the commercial district. |
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| Bibliographic References: | [A] ASHLAND SALUTE 100 YEARS OF PROGRESS. [B] 1915 ASHLAND CITY DIRECTORY. Datestone. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |