Property Record
1400 Douglas Ave
Architecture and History Inventory
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| Reference Number: | 228131 |
| Location (Address): | 1400 Douglas Ave |
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| County: | Racine |
| City: | Racine |
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| Year Built: | 1890 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2014 |
| Historic Use: | large retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | This 2-story Commercial Vernacular retail building block was constructed c.1890. It is irregular in plan with brick walls and a flat roof. The front elevation faces east and is asymmetrical in plan. This building block consists of two distinct masses; both share the same address; historically, the entire block functioned as a wholesale grocery store and as individual dry goods and grocery shops. The southernmost building mass contains a three-bay facade; each bay is slightly angled to create a rounded appearance. Its cornice consists of patterned brickwork and a gabled parapet at the center. The first story contains a recessed front entrance flanked by banks of multi-pane shop windows with boarded-up transoms. Three 1-over-1 windows are located at the second story; each is separated by brick pilasters that define each bay. The northern building mass contains a bank of shop windows at the first story of the east elevation and four doorways, three of which are recessed. The second story contains six newer 1-over-1 windows. Pairs of brick pilasters separate the windows into three bays. A metal cornice with raised dentil detailing is located above the second story and a round-arched parapet projects from the center of the roofline. The building is in poor-to-fair condition, but retains only a low-to-moderate degree of integrity due to the loss of original shop windows and transoms and the replacement of all second-story windows. This property was previously identified in Racine's 1980 intensive survey, but no AHI record was created at that time. Since then, canvas awnings have been removed from the facade, but no other visible alterations have occurred. A new AHI record was created for the property. |
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| Bibliographic References: |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |