National or State Registers Record
23 N 5th Ave
National or State Register of Historic Places
| Historic Name: | Dr. Joseph and Olivia Soper House |
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| Reference Number: | 100010301 |
| Location (Address): | 23 N 5th Ave |
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| County: | Door |
| City/Village: | Sturgeon Bay |
| Township: |
| Constructed in 1881, the Dr. Joseph and Olivia Soper House is an Italianate style residence with an exterior clad in locally produced Frear artificial stone. Patented by George Frear in 1868, this early form of concrete was promoted as an affordable alternative to natural stone with the advantages of being both strong and versatile with a wide range of color tones and a nearly infinite variety of molds into which it could be cast. Based in Chicago, the Frear Stone Manufacturing Company manufactured and sold concrete blocks and architectural embellishments such as decorative window and door crowns, keystones, and cornices. The company also profited from its sales of production rights to enterprising individuals who wished to manufacture and sell Frear stone at their own sites across the country. The Frear stone used in the construction of the Soper House was manufactured in Door County by Giles Kirtland, a former superintendent at the Frear Stone Manufacturing Company, who had purchased the rights to manufacture and sell the product in Sturgeon Bay. The house features a Frear stone block veneer, a Frear stone drip course above the foundation, Frear stone window sills, and decorative Frear stone window hoods. Despite limited but successful applications of the material in the construction industry, by the mid-1880s, “artificial stone” had largely been replaced by more modern forms of concrete making Frear stone a short-lived but important chapter in the development of modern concrete construction. |
| Period of Significance: | 1881 |
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| Area of Significance: | Architecture |
| Applicable Criteria: | Architecture/Engineering |
| Historic Use: | Domestic: Single Dwelling |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Resource Type: | Building |
| Architect: | Brown, Thomas (concrete mason) |
| Architect: | Machen, Amos and Johnson, T.S. (builders) |
| Historic Status: | Listed in the State Register |
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| Historic Status: | Listed in the National Register |
| National Register Listing Date: | 05/01/2024 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 02/23/2024 |
| Number of Contributing Buildings: | 1 |
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| Number of Contributing Sites: | 0 |
| Number of Contributing Structures: | 0 |
| Number of Contributing Objects: | 0 |
| Number of Non-Contributing Sites: | 0 |
| Number of Non-Contributing Structures: | 0 |
| Number of Non-Contributing Objects: | 0 |
| National Register and State Register of Historic Places, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |