Property Record
1010 S 8TH ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Manitowoc County Courthouse |
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| Other Name: | Manitowoc County Courthouse |
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| Reference Number: | 16252 |
| Location (Address): | 1010 S 8TH ST |
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| County: | Manitowoc |
| City: | Manitowoc |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1906 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1985 |
| Historic Use: | courthouse |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | CHRISTOPHER TEGEN |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Manitowoc County Courthouse |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 4/16/1981 |
| 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, Division of Historic Preservation. ORIGINALLY HAD A GLASS DOME; IT WAS SHEATHED WITH STAINLESS STEEL IN 1950 AFTER A HAILSTORM. THE INTERIOR OF THE COURTHOUSE HAS BEEN RESTORED. INTACT ROMAN IONIC PAVILIONS ON ALL SIDES; DOME ON SQUARE BASE. THE MANITOWOC COUNTY COURTHOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1906 TO REPLACED THE OUTDATED 1857 COURTHOUSE. IT WAS DESIGNED BY LOCAL ARCHITECT CHRIST H. TEGEN IN THE BEAUX ARTS STYLE AND STANDS OUT TODAY AS UNDOUBTEDLY THE MOST ELABORATE OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN THE CITY. Around the turn of the century, reformers in many American cities tried to make municipal government more honest, efficient, and businesslike. This Progressive Era movement not only changed the way many local governments operated, but also left a distinctive mark on America’s urban landscape in the form of “City Beautiful” design. The idea behind the City Beautiful was to plot out grand public spaces and build lavish public edifices that would visually express the civic virtues of democracy and rationality that urban reformers wanted to instill in government. The favored architectural style was Beaux-Arts Classicism, named for Paris’s renowned academy of design, the École des Beaux-Arts. The style called for the essential parts of a public building to be organized logically, either along a circulation spine or its cross-axes. Exterior treatment typically drew on classical vocabularies that Americans had associated with rationality, democracy, and civic virtue since the age of Thomas Jefferson. But Beaux-Arts Classicism was more lavish, fitting a period of prosperity and imperial ambition. It became especially popular after the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, where designers displayed the potential for reshaping whole cities according to Beaux-Arts principles. In Manitowoc, architect Christ Tegen drew plans for a three-story county courthouse in this fashion, constructed of Indiana limestone and resting on a raised foundation of red sandstone. Strong horizontal rustication defines both the basement and the ground floor. Arcaded entries grace each of three principal elevations, where a two-story Ionic colonnade, supported by oversized console brackets, forms a balcony. The columns support a simple entablature, crowned by a paneled parapet. A tall copper dome terminates with a small lantern. Tegen, a locally prominent architect, studied at the Polytechnic School in his native city of Hamburg, Germany. He later designed the Oneida County Courthouse in Rhinelander, which is similar to this little gem in Manitowoc. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORICAL WALKING TOUR OF DOWNTOWN MANITOWOC, MANITOWOC COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1988. (B) STORY OF A CENTURY, P. 14. (C) FALGE, LOUIS H., HISTORY OF MANITOWOC COUNTY, VOL. II, P. 98. Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter 5/14/2004. Valders Journal 5/27/2004. Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter 3/24/1999. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |