Property Record
835 WISCONSIN AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | McSpaden Block |
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| Other Name: | Comfort Beauty Shop |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 28090 |
| Location (Address): | 835 WISCONSIN AVE |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Boscobel |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1867 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1976 |
| Historic Use: | retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | HABS WI-333. ARCHITECTURAL STATEMENT: THE McSPADEN BLOCK, CONSTRUCTED CIRCA 1867, IS A THREE STORY BRICK STRUCTURE. THE FACADE IS CAREFULLY ARTICULATED WITH BRICK QUOINS MARKING THE CORNERS, AND PILASTERS PROVIDING VERTICAL DIVISIONS BETWEEN ROUND ARCHED WIDOW OPENINGS. BRICK WINDOW CAPS AND RECESSED BRICK WORK IN THE PILASTERS PRODUCE AN INTERPLAY OF SHADOWS AND FURTHER ENLIVEN THE FACADE. TH CORNICE IS COMPOSED OF A SIMPLE BRICK BAND ABOVE A PLAQUE CONTAINING THE MASONIC LODGE SEAL. WINDOWS ARE ORIGINAL ALTHOUGH THE HEADS HAVE BEEN BLOCKED WITH PANELS IN THE MAJORITY OF CASES. THE ORIGINAL CAST IRON COLUMNS, WHICH DEMARCATE THE STOREFRONT, ARE AN IMPORTANT ASSET. THE McSPADEN BLOCK REMAINS SIGNIFICANT, AS AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF BOSCOBEL'S COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE. THE USE OF BRICK ALLOWED MORE INTRICATE DETAILING THAN WAS COMMONLY INCLUDED ON STONE STRUCTURES IN THE CITY. HISTORICAL STATEMENT: THE MASONIC LODGE, GRANT LODGE NO. 169 OCCUPIED THE THIRD FLOOR OF THE McSPADEN BLOCK FROM 1867 TO 1886, WHEN FIRE DESTROYED THE THIRD FLOOR HALL (B/C). IN THE LATE 1880S AND 90S, THE BUILDING WAS USED AS A VARIETY STORE WITH SOME ROOMS OCCUPIED BY THE POST OFFICE (D). IN 1899, PART OF THE BUILDING WAS OCCUPIED BY A CIGAR FACTORY (D). DATES USES SOURCE 1884 BAKERY (D) 1892 POST OFFICE, VARIETY STORE (D) 1899 POST OFFICE, CIGAR FACTORY (D) 1912 BARBER AND POST OFFICE (D) 1992- "This very fine three-story brick construction Italianate style rectilinear plan commercial building was built ca.l867 and it is the oldest of the buildings in the district whose date of construction has been identified. ·rhe main facade faces west and its first story is given over to a full-width five-bay-wide storefront that is set between rusticated brick pilasters located at each end of this story. The five bays are separated from each other by original panelled cast iron posts that rest on stone plinths. An early photo of the building shows that originally the first, third, and fifth bays each contained a nine-light display window set above a bulkhead while the second and third bays contained shallow, slightly recessed and canted entrance doors, one for the first story and one for the upper stories. The entrance in the second bay from the left is still intact, but the upper story entrance was moved at an early date to the fifth bay and contains a broad four-panel door of early date. Display windows still fill the first and third bays and a new one now fills the fourth bay as well. All three have single light windows and modern brick-clad bulkheads and the entire storefront is now surmounted by a full-width signboard and by a denticulated brick stringcourse. The symmetrically designed upper portion ot the facade is clad in tan-colored brick and the rusticated first story pilasters are continued upward as quoins and the facade is now terminated by two courses of brick, the lower of which is denticulated and the upper of which has a dogtooth design. Both the second and third stories are four-bays-wide and a tall semi-circular-arched window opening is placed in each story of these two-story bays. Each of these openings has a sill supported by two brackets and each opening originally contained a seven-over-tour light double hung window whose three uppermost lights were created when the arched upper portion of the sash was divided using two curved muntins that spring from a center point. Two of these complete windows are still visible in the first and fourth bays of the third story; all the rest are still intact but have had their arched upper portions covered. These bays are divided from each other by panelled two-story pilaster strips that terminate in capitals that appear to support a stringcourse that spans the facade just above the third story window heads. A plaque with Masonic emblems is centered on the parapet wall above; a reminder that the third story was once used as a Masonic hall. This building measures 30-feet-wide by 50-feet-deep and its side elevations (which were originally partially covered by other buildings) are clad in brick that is now covered in stucco and neither have no openings of any kind. The entire building is in very good, largely original condition and it is considered to be one ot the district's most important buildings." - Prepared by Timothy F Heggland (1992). |
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| Bibliographic References: | SEE BOSCOBEL DIAL, 6/28/90. A. LITHOGRAPH ON MAP OF GRANT CO. 1868. B. HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY. CHICAGO WESTERN HISTORICAL CO. 1881, P.790. C. HERITAGE ALBUM, BOSCOBEL 1973, P. 35. D. SANBORN PERRIS MAPS, BOSCOBEL 1884, 92, 99. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |