Property Record
324 E WISCONSIN AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | WELLS BUILDING / Eureka Investment Co. |
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| Other Name: | Wells Building |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 16188 |
| Location (Address): | 324 E WISCONSIN AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1901 |
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| Additions: | 1959 |
| Survey Date: | 1984 |
| Historic Use: | large office building |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | HENRY C. KOCH AND CO. |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | East Side Commercial Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 9/23/1986 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Henry Ferge was the builder. One of the first large office buildings to be constructed in Milwaukee. Ornate cornice work removed due to deterioration and replaced with plain brick. Much of the original ground floor façade is still extant. By 1900, businesses needed more clerical workers as they devised more elaborate management hierarchies. The resulting demand for office buildings reshaped the skyline of every American city as when real-estate mogul Daniel Wells Jr. hired Henry C. Koch to design a fifteen-story office tower for the corner lot. Koch's Beaux-Arts style Wells Building opened in 1901 as Milwaukee’s largest office block. The first two stories retain most of their original copper and cast-bronze sheathing, the upper stories their pressed-brick and terracotta cladding, but the gargantuan terracotta cornice was removed after World War II. The Wells’ grand arched entranceway has inset tile, the vestibule a domed mosaic ceiling, and the lobby white marble paneling. |
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| Bibliographic References: | ZIMMERMAN, 35. BUILT IN MILWAUKEE, LANDSCAPE RESEARCH, P. 88. MILWAUKEE HISTORIC BUILDINGS TOUR: JUNEAUTOWN, CITY OF MILWAUKEE DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT, 1994. Architectural Record, v. 17, p. 151, 2/1905. Tax Program. Permit. Architectural Record v. 17, p. 151, 2-1905. Milwaukee Sentinel, March 24, 1901. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |