| Additional Information: | 2017 survey information on proposed Mansion Street WWII Defense Homes Historic District:
This small, residential historic district is comprised of fourteen single-family houses located to either side of Mansion Street between S. Erie Street on the west and Jordan Road on the east (See map on page 20). All of the two-bedroom homes are generally side-gabled in form and average about 700 square feet in size. All but one of the houses has been re-sheathed with modern siding and windows replaced, but very few have undergone any significant additions (beyond a rear dormer or other minimal addition). The house at 942 Mansion Street continues to retain its original clapboard sheathing, as well as its original multiple-light sash windows.
The fourteen homes were built between 1941 and 1942 and were officially designated as defense housing; that is, housing that was available for workers engaged in defense occupations associated with World War II (See brief context on defense housing on pages 12-13). Construction on the initial house in the proposed district--located at 903 Mansion Street--was begun in April 1941. It was built by Edward Vercauteren, who served as the manager of the Standard Lumber Yards, Inc. of De Pere and, later, at Green Bay. It was purchased soon thereafter by Norbert Berken, who worked as a mechanic with the De Pere Motor Company. According to the permit information, this first home was the largest to be built, offering 780 square feet. It also carried the largest price tag, with an estimated cost of $4,200. The next two houses--located at 902 and 908 Mansion Street--began construction as of July; they were built by Ralph Belanger, a plaster contractor. Those two homes, each measuring 28 feet x 26 feet and estimated to cost $2,700, were purchased by Alton Dickey and Gerald Lasee, respectively. By the end of 1941, a total of seven homes had been built along the north side of Mansion Street, with just one located on the south side. Among them was the home of Edward Vercauteren himself, located at 915 Mansion Street.
Aside from the initial three houses, the remainder was constructed by the Standard Lumber Yards, Inc., again, for which Vercauteren served as manager. The final six houses were completed in 1942. As of 1945, five of the homes had not yet sold and were still in possession of Standard Lumber. As of 1946—following elimination of the defense housing restrictions, all fourteen homes were owner-occupied.
The first owner of this house, Alton L. Dickey, was a machine tender at the U.S. Paper Mills Corp. plant. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Permit dated 16 July 1941; owner R. P. Belanger; est. cost, $2,700.
The Dickeys are identified as the property owners as of the 1942 tax roll.
2017 survey info citations for material below:
Green Bay/DePere City Directories, 1943.
Building permit for 903 Mansion Street, 22 April 1941, est. cost, $4,200, owner Edward Vercauteren; Building permit for 902 and 908 Mansion Street, 16 July 1941, est. cost, $2,700, owner, R.P. Belanger; A review of the 1941 tax roll for the subdivision indicates that a total of seven homes had been built by the end of 1941, Tax Rolls, City of De Pere, Brown County, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, Located at the De Pere Historical Society, De Pere, WI; Green Bay City Directory (includes De Pere), 1943, 1946. |
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