Property Record
241 S MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
Historic Name: | Hiram S. and Lucelia Bell House |
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Other Name: | |
Contributing: | |
Reference Number: | 10343 |
Location (Address): | 241 S MAIN ST |
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County: | Walworth |
City: | Walworth |
Township/Village: | |
Unincorporated Community: | |
Town: | |
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Direction: | |
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Quarter/Quarter Section: |
Year Built: | 1904 |
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Additions: | |
Survey Date: | 20102024 |
Historic Use: | house |
Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
Structural System: | |
Wall Material: | Clapboard |
Architect: | J.R. Siperly |
Other Buildings On Site: | |
Demolished?: | No |
Demolished Date: |
National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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National Register Listing Date: | |
State Register Listing Date: |
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. 1974: ARCHED BARGE BOARDS W/FINIAL IN GABLE. SHINGLED 3RD STORY. LARGE ROUND TOWER ON CNR. 2010: The house was built in 1904 by Hiram S. Bell. The son of William & Sarah Bell, Hiram was born in Walworth County in 1844. After attending both Big Foot and Allen's Grove academies, he taught school for a year before learning the carpenter's trade. In 1869, and while working in Elkhorn, he married Lucelia Bailey. In 1876, they moved to a farm west of the Village of Walworth, where they remained until 1900. That same year, he is cited as having organized the Walworth Exchange Bank, which was reorganized three years later as the Walworth State Bank. He then served as the bank president for approximately six months, after which he retired and built the subject home. Regarding business concerns, Bell also had previously served as the manager of the Farmers Co-Operative Creamery Company, as well as the president (for about fifteen years) of the Lake Geneva Land Company. He was on the Walworth School Board for sixteen years and elected village president for two terms (1904 and 1905). 2010: Anchored by a three-story tower with a conical cap at its southeast corner, this pyramidal, hipped-roof, Queen Anne-style house rises from a fieldstone foundation and is largely covered with narrow clapboard. A one-story, open porch extends across its primary (east) elevation and includes simple columnar supports and a spindled railing. Decorative shinglework covers the uppermost level of the tower, as well as the gabled peak of the roof dormer. A second tower to the north houses the staircase to the second floor. Two of the first-floor windows, as well as one on the second floor, feature leaded glass upper panes while the remaining windows are one-over-one-light examples. The third level is a separate apartment, which is accessed an exterior staircase at the rear. 2024: Resurveyed. Determined eligible 2011. Little apparent change. Update photo. |
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Bibliographic References: | 1904 date of construction included in biographical sketch for Hiram Sears Bell in the 1912 History of Walworth County Wisconsin, page 1074. Historic photograph of house in "Walworth" (Walworth, WI: The Walworth Times, no date) n.p., Book on file in the local history collection of the Walworth Memorial Library, Walworth, WI. “Architecture/History Survey: Reconstruct USH 14: Illinois State Line To I-43.” WHS project number 11-0524/WL. July 2010, rechecked February 2011. Heritage Research, Ltd. |
Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |