| 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. 1927 addition was a seven story addition. Photo codes 3-5 are MVIS. Last surveyed in 2000. Previous map code is 163/5 on map 396.No updated card was made for 2004. In 1953, the Salvation Army moved to this location and renovated the structure in 1988.
The 1919 Milwaukee city directory identifies the building as a warehouse of E. R. Godfrey & Sons Company wholesale grocers. Their directory advertisement indicates they were coffee roasters and dealers in fruits & produce and Silver Buckle brand products. The company also featured a larger building nearby at 400 N. Broadway constructed in 1911 (AHI #98163, NR-listed Historic Third Ward District). By 1940, the building was the warehouse and general office of the National Tea Company, a grocer with many stores in Milwaukee. National Tea would remain in the building through 1952, at which point they constructed a new office and warehouse at 2727 W. Silver Spring Drive.
In 1953, the Salvation Army purchased the building from the National Tea Company. The Salvation Army converted the warehouse into a men's dormitory and rehabilitation center replacing their former facility located at 137 E. Juneau Avenue (Salvation Army divisional headquarters were located at 823 N. 4th Street). The project planned for a Salvation Army retail store to occupy the first floor with a chapel and dormitory space for 150 men on the third and fourth floors, while the rest of the building was devoted to work and repair areas. Moving to the subject building from Juneau Avenue allowed the Salvation Army "to accommodate an expanded program being planned by the social service department." A primary activity for residents was repairing donated furniture and sorting clothing, which was generally characterized as "work therapy." These items were subsequently resold at Salvation Army resale shops and this revenue supported the operation of the rehabilitation center. Most residents received treatment for alcohol addiction in hopes of them living independent, self-supporting lives once they left the rehabilitation center. By the early 1960s, in addition to daily work tasks, the residential program also featured religious meetings, Bible classes and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, along with providing residents 450 meals daily.
During the mid-1960s, Salvation Army facilities in Milwaukee also included three “corps centers” at 1439 N. 19th Street, 1312 S. 6th Street and 4129 W. Villard Avenue, which contained classrooms and a chapel. These centers provided “neighborhood house programs of recreation and education for the young and old” consisting of sports, clubs and hobby classes for boys and girls, as well as home economic, sewing and craft instruction for women. The Salvation Army also operated the Martha Washington Home for unwed mothers in Wauwatosa. Salvation Army divisional headquarters and its family service department were located at 1022 N. 8th Street. Finally, clothing, merchandise and furniture handled at the rehabilitation center were sold at five Salvation Army resale stores.
In 1988, a remodeling project at the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center involved installing new windows, a new primary elevation entrance, and a new loading dock wing on the north elevation, which featured a chapel on its upper floor. At that time, the facility featured 70 male residents and 65 day workers who continued to repair merchandise and sort donated clothing for resale in Milwaukee's fourteen Salvation Army stores. Newspaper articles indicate that residents included those recently released from prison and individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center continues to serve this same function, although work is primarily focused on clothes and merchandise sorting and distribution rather than repair. |
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