102 W 2ND ST N

102 W 2ND ST N

Rusk

Ladysmith

1912

1976

bank/financial institution

Neoclassical/Beaux Arts

Masonry

Granite Stone

W. E. Maddux

No

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. RED GRANITE VENEER OVER BRICK BLDG. PAIRED GRANITE DORIC COLUMNS SUPPORT MOULDED CORNICE & BALCONY. DENTILLED CORNICE TOPPED W/GRANITE PARAPET. SLIGHTLY PROJECTING WALL PILASTERS. SIGNIFICANT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LADYSMITH AND FOR ARCHITECTURE. In 1900, the fledgling community of Ladysmith gained stability when the Menasha Woodenware Company established a stave mill at Flambeau Falls. Hundreds of former lumberjacks flocked to this village in the cutover, seeking a fresh start. Key to the community’s economic development was the State Bank of Ladysmith (later, the Pioneer Bank Building), chartered in 1903. Contractor Maddux used rock-faced red granite stones quarried in Waushara County to create a vernacular building whose simplicity and sturdiness trumps imported ideas about style. Classical but rustic, the bank’s design seems to contradict the formalism of similar ones in larger cities. A one-story portico distinguishes the entrance: paired polished-granite columns support a blocky granite entablature crowned by a balustraded balcony that echoes the blind balustrade along the roof. On the first story, the windows--recessed into two-story, vertical panels--feature leaded-glass transoms with a delicate floral motif. Those upstairs are mostly tripartite sashes of the type known as Chicago windows.

LADYSMITH NEWS-BUDGET 07/26/1912. LADYSMITH NEWS 6/22/1995. Cornerstone. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript.

State Bank of Ladysmith

Jan 17, 1980

Jan 01, 1989