Property Record
S3501 County Road S
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Avalanche Creamery |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | Avalanche Lutheran Chapel |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 246166 |
| Location (Address): | S3501 County Road S |
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| County: | Vernon |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Webster |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 13 |
| Range: | 3 |
| Direction: | W |
| Section: | 18 |
| Quarter Section: | SW |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | NE |
| Year Built: | 1908 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | 1947 |
| Survey Date: | 2023 |
| Historic Use: | cheese factory |
| Architectural Style: | Gabled Ell |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | N |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | 2023: Originally the Avalanche Creamery, a creamery and cheese factory, the small vernacular building was constructed circa 1908 at the northwest corner of County Roads S and Y in the small community of Avalanche in the Town of Webster, Vernon County. It is a one-story, gabled ell building that is T-shaped in plan with a cross-gabled roof. The T-shaped plan was altered with a small front gabled vestibule circa 1974. The vestibule is off-center from the front-facing volume and a shed roof addition in the rear ell of the building. The building rests on a concrete block foundation that is presumably an alteration to the original building. The exterior is clad in clapboard siding. The eaves overhang the building and are closed with wide wood soffit and a narrow wood fascia. A band of trim delineates the eaves in the gable ends. The cross-gabled roof is clad in metal. The windows in the original building are 2-over-2 hung wood sash windows whereas the windows in the vestibule and rear addition are 1-over-1 hung wood sash windows. An internal brick chimney rises from the west roof slope of the side-gabled wing. After an existing creamery was washed downstream by the 1907 flood, the extant creamery was constructed on the west side of the village of Avalanche. The creamery was subsequently converted to a cheese factory in response to the increased profitably of cheese. The cheese factory operated until 1947. The same year the Ladies Aid Society and the area Sunday school purchased the building. The community remodeled the building to serve as the Avalanche Lutheran Chapel hosting the “Ladies Aid and an occasional service…until 1986” at which time the Sunday School closed. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Mrs. Albin Neprud, “Avalanche,” Westby Area Historical Society. April 23, 2015. http://westbyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/04/avalanche.html “Webster” Vernon County Censor (Viroqua, Wisconsin) 15 January 1908:5. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |