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March 15, 2016

The Fifth Street School Listed in National Register of Historic Places

Milwaukee, Wis. - The Wisconsin Historical Society has announced the listing of the Fifth Street School in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, in the National Register of Historic Places. National Register designation provides access to certain benefits, including qualification for grants and for rehabilitation income tax credits, while it does not restrict private property owners in the use of their property.

The Fifth Street School, designed in the Romanesque Revival style, was built in 1888 and expanded in 1908. While the Romanesque Revival was widely used in school design during the 1880s and 1890s, this school is a particularly fine example.  This brick masonry building features hallmarks of the style, such as the use of gabled wall dormers detailed with miniature round arches, steeply pitched pyramidal roof, and windows grouped beneath decorative round arches.  

Stylistically, the school represents a period in which Milwaukee public school buildings featured a picturesque appearance with high-quality craftsmanship and decorative detailing.  Fifth Street School has excellent interior and exterior integrity, retaining original materials and features.  Designed by Herman Schnetzky, a prominent German-born Milwaukee architect who was versatile in a variety of architectural styles, this school is a very good example of his work.

The register is the official national list of historic properties in America deemed worthy of preservation and is maintained by the National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Wisconsin Historical Society administers the program within Wisconsin. It includes sites, buildings, structures, objects and districts that are significant in national, state or local history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture.

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visitwww.wisconsinhistory.org.

About the Wisconsin Historical Society

The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.

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