Property Record
102 W 2ND ST N
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | State Bank of Ladysmith (aka Pioneer Bank, 1927-1964) |
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| Other Name: | Pioneer Plaza Building |
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| Reference Number: | 20643 |
| Location (Address): | 102 W 2ND ST N |
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| County: | Rusk |
| City: | Ladysmith |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1912 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1976 |
| Historic Use: | retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | Masonry |
| Wall Material: | Granite Stone |
| Architect: | W. E. Maddux |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | State Bank of Ladysmith |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 1/17/1980 |
| 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, State Historic Preservation Office. RED GRANITE VENEER OVER BRICK BLDG. PAIRED GRANITE DORIC COLUMNS SUPPORT MOULDED CORNICE & BALCONY. DENTILLED CORNICE TOPPED W/GRANITE PARAPET. SLIGHTLY PROJECTING WALL PILASTERS. SIGNIFICANT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LADYSMITH AND FOR ARCHITECTURE. In 1900, the fledgling community of Ladysmith gained stability when the Menasha Woodenware Company established a stave mill at Flambeau Falls. Hundreds of former lumberjacks flocked to this village in the cutover, seeking a fresh start. Key to the community’s economic development was the State Bank of Ladysmith (later, the Pioneer Bank Building), chartered in 1903. Contractor Maddux used rock-faced red granite stones quarried in Waushara County to create a vernacular building whose simplicity and sturdiness trumps imported ideas about style. Classical but rustic, the bank’s design seems to contradict the formalism of similar ones in larger cities. A one-story portico distinguishes the entrance: paired polished-granite columns support a blocky granite entablature crowned by a balustraded balcony that echoes the blind balustrade along the roof. On the first story, the windows--recessed into two-story, vertical panels--feature leaded-glass transoms with a delicate floral motif. Those upstairs are mostly tripartite sashes of the type known as Chicago windows. |
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| Bibliographic References: | LADYSMITH NEWS-BUDGET 07/26/1912. LADYSMITH NEWS 6/22/1995. Cornerstone. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |