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Property Location
Property Features
This 2-story Queen Anne commercial building known as the Charles Kannenberg Block was constructed in 1898 and
housed a grocery store and saloon. It is irregular in plan with cream brick walls and a flat roof. The front elevation faces
west and is asymmetrical in plan. The front entrance consists of a pair of double doors of metal construction and is
located in the cutaway northwest corner. The entrance is sheltered by a domed metal awning. Above this is a five-sided
projecting bay containing three 1-over-1 windows. The roof of the bay serves as the base of an open octagonal tower
with squared wood supports, metal railings, and an asphalt-shingled octagonal roof with a decorative center spire. The
west elevation contains banks of shop windows along the first story and two pairs of 1-over-1 windows with decorative
metal railings at the second story. Above this is a decorative pediment that projects above the main roof line and contains
a Palladian window at its center and a small spire at its peak. Decorative brick corbelling runs along the west and north
rooflines.
The building is in good condition and retains a fairly high degree of integrity (the
replacement shop windows are period-appropriate). The building displays several defining features of Queen Anne
architecture, including the octagonal tower, brick corbelling ornamentation, large pediment and Palladian window, and
decorative spires. Because it is the finest Queen Anne commercial building in the Douglas Avenue commercial district
and is one of the finest recorded Queen Anne commercial buildings in Racine.
Resurveyed 2013: subsequent changes include the addition of awnings above the front entrance and shop windows, the replacement of some shop windows, and the replacement of the tower railing.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
Architecture & History Inventory
The Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory (AHI) is a digital source of information on historic buildings, structures, and objects that have been surveyed by the State Historic Preservation Office in Wisconsin. Each property has a digital record providing basic information about the property and images.
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