| 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.
The Tinkham Brothers Grain Elevator is located at 414 Main Street in the village of Fairwater, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. The grain elevator is situated on the east side of Main Street (State Trunk Highway (STH) 44) and adjacent to the Milwaukee Railroad tracks, near the southeast corner of the intersection of STH 44, Elm Street, and Blodgett Street. The building is oriented to the south/west with its long center axis perpendicular to Main Street. The Milwaukee Railroad is located immediately adjacent to its north elevation. The elevator is located at the edge of the downtown business district and is adjacent to various industrial and commercial buildings. The building consists of the original grain elevator, and additions on the rear (east) elevation, including a c.1955 mill addition and three c.1920 storage buildings.
Constructed c.1890, the original grain elevator building rests on a stone foundation and has a rectangular form. The building is of frame construction and has bins that utilize a cribbed structural system rather than a balloon frame system. The cribbed bins consist of a series of wood planks laid flat in the form of a rectangle and stacked to the desired bin height; the corners of the wood planks overlap in the same fashion as a log building. Exterior walls are clad in a combination of vertical and horizontal wood, board and batten, and sheets of corrugated metal, believed to have been added sometime after 1920 as a means of fire prevention. A headhouse, clad in vertical wood, is located along the ridge of the front gable roofline and features two, six-over-six, double-hung sash windows on it south elevation.
The principal (west) elevation of the original elevator is clad in board and batten and displays a painted Stellmacher's sign on the exterior wood surface. Its first story features a facade-length wood porch with cinder block supports and an awning roof with square wood posts and wood shingles. A single-light, wood hinged door and an overhead wood sliding door access the front porch. The north elevation is located immediately adjacent to the railroad tracks and is clad in corrugated metal. A deteriorated portion of metal at the northwest corner of the building reveals that the original exterior wood cladding remains beneath the metal. An overhead wood sliding door opens from the first story and is flanked by a replacement two-light, sliding sash window to the east and an original multi-light window to the west. Adjacent rail cars were loaded from this side of the building and the original spout, or duct, used to distribute grain into boxcars, still extends from above the sliding door. The south elevation is clad in vertical metal corrugated metal and features two modern metal overhead sliding doors that access the first story of the grain elevator. Originally, farmers unloaded their grain into pits in the basement on the south elevation. Three tie rods are visible in the upper portion of the south elevation. The east elevation is clad in metal and does not have any fenestration, doors, or functional features associated with the operation of the grain elevator.
Alterations to the Tinkham Brothers Grain Elevator include metal siding on three exterior elevations. The metal siding does not significantly diminish the integrity of the building because this was a common treatment on elevators as a means for fire prevention from cinders expelled from passing trains; the original exterior wood cladding remains underneath and the metal has likely contributed to the preservation of this particular building since the late nineteenth century. Based on historic photos, two windows in the head house have either been covered or removed and the sliding sash window on the north elevation appears to be a replacement. In addition, two modern metal overhead sliding doors have been added to the south elevation.
The Tinkham Brothers Grain Elevator building was used throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, first by the Tinkham Brothers and then the Stellmacher Lumber Company beginning in the 1920s. Both businesses were diverse with interests in grain, lumber, coal, and mill feed. As a result, buildings were added to the original grain elevator to meet the needs of the business. Attached to the rear (east elevation) of the Tinkham Brothers Grain Elevator is a small grain mill that dates to c.1955. The concrete block mill has a rectangular plan, an irregular roofline, and is clad in metal on the upper portions of the building. Beginning in the 1950s, this portion was used for grinding, processing, mixing, and distributing grain. Its west elevation was used for unloading grain into the basement-level pits and grinders. The openings to the basement are still visible but are covered with wood planks. The west elevation also features a flat, facade-length awning covered with corrugated metal above an original three-panel, single light door and two original four-light windows; the east elevation also has a metal awning above several entrances. The distributor mechanism and conveyance ducts are located on top of the mill. The interior of the mill features a small office area and mixers; it is not known if the mixers are original to the building.
Three rectilinear side gable buildings are attached to the rear (east) elevation of the c.1955 mill. According to the property owner, these three buildings were constructed sometime after 1920 and were used for coal storage. All three of them have concrete foundations, frame construction with clapboard exterior wall cladding, and side gable roofs covered with a combination of corrugated metal and asphalt shingles. Their north elevations, adjacent to the railroad, feature a series of overhead wood sliding doors and openings covered with wooden awnings. Doors along the north elevation were likely used to service rail cars. Their east and south elevations also feature a series of overhead wood sliding doors and a small gable entryway with an overhead retractable garage door.
There are buildings across Main Street that are associated with the Stellmacher Lumber Company's lumber and construction business. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Frame, Robert. Grain Elevator Design in Minnesota. Washington, D.C.: National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 5 July 1990.
Stellmacher, Gerald. Interview by Mead & Hunt, Fairwater, Wisc., 3 December 2009.
The History of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. Chicago, IL:
Western Historical Company, - 1880
Wisconsin State Gazetteer, Chicago, IL: R. L. Polk & Co., 1879-1902
Population Finder, U. S. Census Bureau, 2000
http://www.census.gov/
Wyatt, Barbara ed. Cultural Resource Management in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1986.
Wright's directory of Fond du Lac Co. for 1905 comprising an alphabetically arranged list of business firms and private citizens; a classified list of all trades, professions and pursuits; a miscellaneous directory of city and county officers, schools, churches, banks, societies, etc. (Wright's directory of Fond du Lac County, Vol. XI)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: A. G. Wright, 1905 |
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