Property Record
126 W MAPLE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | GRANT COUNTY COURTHOUSE |
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| Other Name: | GRANT COUNTY COURTHOUSE |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 16167 |
| Location (Address): | 126 W MAPLE ST |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Lancaster |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1902 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2005 |
| Historic Use: | courthouse |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | ARMAND D. KOCH; LOUIS CLAUDE; H.C. KOCH AND CO. |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Grant County Courthouse |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 10/19/1978 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| 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. AN OCTAGONAL GLASS AND COPPER DOME DOMINATES THE COURTHOUSE DESIGN. ADDITIONAL FEATURES INCLUDE BELT COURSES, WINDOW PEDIMENTS AND PILASTERS. BUILT IN A CROSS PLAN CONFIGURATION, THE THREE STORY BUILDING HAS A BRICK EXTERIOR WITH A BROWNSTONE TRIM. THE C. 1902 STRUCTURE WAS FOUND TO BE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. IT MAY HAVE TWO ADDRESSES ACCORDING TO THE DATA AVAILABLE: 126 W. MAPLE AND 130 W. MAPLE. SEE GORDON ORR'S LIST OF CLAUDE DESIGNED BUILDINGS IN WISCONSIN. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: ARCHITECTURALLY, THE GRANT COUNTY COURTHOUSE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE AND QUALITY OF RELATIVELY ABSTRACT NEO-CLASSICISM FOUND IN MIDWESTERN COUNTY CORUTHOUSE DESIGNS OF THE FIRST DECADE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE BUILDING'S GLASS DOME IS UNUSUAL AMONG WISCONSIN'S COURTHOUSES, THOUGH NOT UNIQUE. THE GRANT COUNTY EXAMPLE IS VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL TO THAT OF THE ONEIDA COUNTY COURTHOUSE (1908) IN RHINELANDER, SUGGESTING THE DOME WAS A STOCK ITEM. THE COURTHOUSE IS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH A SIGNIFICANT WISCONSIN ARCHITECT, ARMAND D. KOCH (1870-1931). KOCH WAS EDUCATED AT MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE ECOLE DES BEAUX ARTS, THE LATTER FROM 1894 TO 1898. IN 1902, HE BECAME A PARTNER IN HIS FATHER'S FIRM WHICH, IN 1905, WAS RENAMED H. C. KOCH AND SON. IN 1910, HE BECAME THE FIRM'S SOLE OWNER. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE GRANT COUNTY COURTHOUSE IS LIKEWISE HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT IN THAT IT REPRESENTS THE GROWTH OF POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT IN THE SOUTHWESTERN COUNTY. THE PUBLIC SQUARE, ON WHICH THE COURTHOUSE IS LOCATED, WAS DEFINED TO SERVE THAT PURPOSE IN THE LANCASTER PLAT OF 1837, THE YEAR OF THE COMMUNITY'S SELECTION AS A COUNTY SEAT. TWO PREVIOUS COURTHOUSES, BUILT IN 1838 AND 1853, OCCUPIED THE SITE PRIOR TO THE CURRENT STRUCTURE; THUS THE COURTHOUSE SQUARE HAS BEEN THE GOVERNMENTAL CENTER OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE COUNTY FOR NEARLY 150 YEARS. |
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| Bibliographic References: | B. CORNERSTONE. C. FENNIMORE TIMES 10/12/1995. D. MUSCODA PROGRESSIVE 10/12/1995. E. LANCASTER GRANT CO. HERALD INDEPENDENT 11/30/1995. LANCASTER GRANT CO. HERALD INDEPENDENT 7/25/1996. Lancaster Grant Co. Herald Independent 3/20/1997. Lancaster Grant County Herald Independent 4/20/1997. Fennimore Times 4/10/1997. 2005, Timothy F. Heggland. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Courthouse Square Historic District, Lancaster, WI. Lancaster's Historic Courthouse Square, Lancaster Historic Preservation Commission, 2006 |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |