| Additional Information: | Oriented to Division Street, this two-story, gabled T-plan house rises from a stone foundation and is entirely sheathed with clapboard. Wooden cornerboards accent all corners of the house above which runs a continuous, wooden frieze. All windows, which are generally regularly placed, are six-over-one-light sash. A two-story and fully pedimented porch is located along the Division Street elevation; the lower level has been partially enclosed with clapboard siding, while the upper story features grouped column supports and a spindled balustrade that may have been added after 1900. Both the east and west gabled peaks are pedimented like the front porch and are sheathed with clapboard, set at an angle, while the southward extending gabled peak features gabled returns. When surveyed in 1990, the porch along N. 2nd Street was enclosed; today it is open with simple column supports.
Local research efforts suggest that this house (or a portion thereof) may have been built by Charles B. Cox in 1856; assessor’s records cite an 1863 date of construction. Cox was the owner and operator of the River Falls Prairie Mill from 1854 to 1873. Because of a legal description change, deed research would need to be completed in order to properly trace this property’s ownership and date of construction in the tax rolls. Between the home’s appearance, plat maps, as well as citations in the local newspaper, the home’s first fully verified owner appears to be that of John D. Putnam, who appears to have purchased the property in 1873. Putnam, along with David Saunders, purchased the Prairie Mill in 1873 from Cox. An 1880 Birdseye map confirms a (T-plan) house at this location. In 1883, the newspaper reported that Putnam had built an addition to the west side of his house that was to be used as a wood shed. Indeed, the 1891 Sanborn map depicts the subject house with a wood shed (labeled as such) on the west side. That same year, J.B. Goss, purchaser of the Prairie Mill in 1891, is reported as having moved to the Putnam house, Putnam having relocated to California. The Prairie Mill went bankrupt under Goss’ ownership and in 1894, the house was purchased by George W. Chinnock Sr. and his wife Eveline.
George W. Chinnock Sr. was born in England in 1841 and immigrated to the United States the following year with his family. He served in the Civil War and, as of 1870 he is identified as a farmer in the Town of Troy, St. Croix County. Previous to moving into River Falls in 1894, Chinnock served in the state assembly (1891-1892). In 1895 he served as an alderman and, the following year, was elected mayor. He continued in that capacity through April 1899 and was re-elected in April 1900—serving until April 1902. During his tenure as mayor, a number of improvements were made to the community. Although the River Falls Light Heat & Power Company had been formed in 1891 and constructed a gas plant to provide power for the city, an electric powerhouse was completed at Junction Falls in 1900 (during his tenure as mayor) and, by the following year, it was noted that “1,500 lights were in use throughout the city.” In 1898, the city council purchased 21 acres of land for what would become Glen Park, a park that continues to provide recreation for area residents. In addition to his municipal efforts to improve the city, he was also involved in the farm machinery trade and was associated with the Farmers & Merchants State Bank, of which he would eventually be appointed as president. In April 1902, it was reported that he would build another house just south of his present home, that being the house at 421 N. 2nd Street. Eveline died in June 1918 and the 1920 census confirms that George Sr. was living (with a niece) at 421 N. 2nd Street, while the subject house had been utilized as a rental by no later than 1907. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Date of construction: appraisal card
RFJ, 5 September 1901: GW Chinnock sold his house on corner of Second and Division to WH Lansing of Madison.**deeds should be reviewed.
Research information suggesting that Charles B. Cox was the home’s original owner and a construction date of 1956 was offered by River Falls resident and local historian Dan Geister. Because the property’s legal description is an outlot (a later legal description change), tax roll information could not be confirmed and, therefore, deed research is suggested (time did not allow a visit to the Pierce County Register of Deeds). However, following review of River Falls Journal newspaper citations (compiled by Geister), combined with county plat maps, George W. Chinnock Sr. and his wife Eveline’s ownership of the parcel could be verified from at least 1895 to 1908. Additional newspaper citations that aided in the string of ownership backwards to Putnam include the following: Newsbrief (re: JD Putnam builds a woodshed addition to the west of his house), RFJ, 10 May 1883, Newsbrief (re: JB Goss moved to the JD Putnam House), RFJ, 5 November 1891; Newsbrief (re: Chinnock buys Goss house), RFJ, 12 April 1894. Maps that confirmed the Chinnocks’ ownership include the following: Atlas of Pierce County, Wisconsin (Ellsworth, WI: F.D. Lord and S.A. Carpenter, 1895) and Standard Atlas of Pierce County, Wisconsin (Chicago: Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1908), while the house is also clearly evident on the following 1880 map, Beck & Pauli, Bird’s Eye View of River Falls, Pierce County, Wisconsin, 1880 (Madison, WI: J.J. Stoner, 1880); Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map--River Falls, Wis. (New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1891). In a review of newspaper articles searching for Putnam and a property purchase produced the following: “John D. Putnam buys the Henry Childs property for $3,100,” RFJ, 28 March 1873; however, an association between Henry Childs and the subject property could not be found and, therefore, land records/deeds should be reviewed.
“River Falls, Wisconsin: Intensive Survey Report,” 66-67; Newsbrief (re: building another house), RFJ, 24 April 1902; Newsbrief (re: Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Zeisinger rent the GW Chinnock house on Second and Division streets), RFJ, 14 March 1907; U.S. Federal Census, Population, 1920; “River Falls Mourns Loss of Pioneer,” RFJ, 9 April 1925, 1/4. |
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