Property Record
15 E ANTES DR
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | BAKER MFG. CO. OFFICE BUILDING |
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| Other Name: | EVANSVILLE GROVE SOCIETY |
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| Reference Number: | 140859 |
| Location (Address): | 15 E ANTES DR |
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| County: | Rock |
| City: | Evansville |
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| Year Built: | 1897 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20062024 |
| Historic Use: | small office building |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
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| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | NOTE: THIS BUILDING WAS MOVED FORM ITS ORIGINAL SITE AT 150 E. CHURCH ST., OPPOSITE THE FACTORY SITE, IN THE 1990'S AND IS BEING RESTORED TO SERVE AS A LOCAL HISTORY MUSEUM. THE BUILDING IS IN EXCELLENT RESTORED CONDITION AND WAS ONCE LISTED IN THE AHI #88201 UNDER ITS ORIGINAL ADDRESS. THIS NUMBER IS NO LONGER ASSIGNED AND NOTHING SHOWS UNDER THE OLD ADDRESS EITHER. This building was once used as the headquarters of Baker Manufacturing Company, a regional sales office, a tire warehouse, a single-family residence, and a church. The building was restored and placed back in service in 2010. "The one-story Commercial Vernacular building at 15 Antes Drive is now the museum and headquarters of the Evansville Grove Society, and also the office of Evansville Community Partnership. It was constructed on East Church Street in 1897 as the headquarters of the Baker Manufacturing Company. A new headquarters building was constructed by the company in 1940, and this building became a regional sales office. It was later sold to a local cooperative, which used it as a tire warehouse. The building has also served as a single-family residence and as a church. The office to the right-hand side of the front doors was that of company president and founder, Allen S. Baker. In 1990, the Grove Society purchased the building with the stipulation that it be moved from its original site. On a memorable day in 2001, the building was moved here from the original location -- by truck. The building was restored -- mostly by painstaking volunteer labor -- and placed back in service in 2010. It won a 2011 historic preservation award from the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation. The white frame building at the west end of the museum grounds is the last surviving tourist cabin in Leota Park. It was purchased by the City in 1938, and installed with several similar cabins to the north side of the Lower Ball Diamond. The original site was poorly drained, and the cabin was moved here in 2012 to permit the Grove Society to restore it and display it to visitors. On the east side of the museum building is an original "Monitor" brand Baker windmill, donated to the Grove Society by Baker Manufacturing Company in 2010. It is an example of the mills sold by Baker from the 1920s through the late 1940s, and put in service throughout the world. Examples of earlier, wooden Baker mills may be found on display in the Eager Economy Store at 7 East Main Street in downtown Evansville." Evansville Historic Preservation Commission, Historic Evansville Walking Tour brochure, 2014. |
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| Bibliographic References: | EVANSVILLE REVIEW, MAY 13, 1998, P. 11. MONTGOMERY, RUTH ANN. EVANSVILLE: GLIMPSES OF THE GROVE. EVANSVILLE, 1989, P. 126. Evansville Historic Preservation Commission, Historic Evansville Walking Tour brochure, 2014. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |