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King Street Arcade in Madison

Madison, WI. - The Wisconsin Historical Society placed the King Street Arcade in Madison, Dane County on the State Register of Historic Places in November.

The King Street Arcade, built in 1927 and located a half-block off of the Capitol Square, represents a unique type of building in Madison.  The arcade was designed with 24 smaller sized rental spaces for stores and offices.  These spaces are accessed from two streets bordering the building and also by an interior two-story arcade, lit by a very large glass skylight.  Today, shopping malls using this concept are commonplace, but in 1927, only the nation’s largest cities could boast of such buildings.  The King Street Arcade was developed and owned by a member of Madison’s prominent Hobbins family. The building is in excellent condition, having very good integrity and characteristics that define the type: a building connecting two parallel streets, having a large interior court with shops at ground level and office spaces at the upper level surrounding the perimeter of the court, each opening to the inner court, with the court covered by an expansive glass skylight to bring natural light into the center of the building and providing daylight to all interior spaces.   The building is also notable as the work of Madison architect and engineer Henry Charles Huart, who practiced in Madison during most of the 1920s.

The King Street arcade is rare in Madison, unique as being the only example of the type in the city from the era prior to the end of World War II, and one of the very few to be built in Wisconsin during the same period.

The State Register is Wisconsin's official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin's heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit www.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.