Property Record
919 WISCONSIN AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | State Bank of Boscobel |
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| Other Name: | Von Haden Insurance |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 28109 |
| Location (Address): | 919 WISCONSIN AVE |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Boscobel |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1906 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19821992 |
| Historic Use: | bank/financial institution |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | O. B. Shreve, Contractor; Thori, Alban and Fisher |
| 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: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. HABS WI-333. ARCHITECTURAL STATEMENT: A CLASSICAL INFLUENCE IS EVIDENT IN THE COMPOSITION OF THIS EXCELLENT, SMALL SCALE BUILDING. DOMINATING THE FACADE IS A STILTED SEGMENTAL ARCH WITH STEPPED VOUSSOIRS TERMINATING IN A SMOOTH, CARVED KEYSTONE. AN ENTABLATURE, LINED WITH MODILLIONS, OCCURS ABOVE THE ARCH AND PROVIDES A BASE FOR THE PARAPET WALL, WHICH ACTS AS A PEDIMENT. THE USE OF ROCK FACED SOTNE RESULTS IN A FEELING OF MASSIVENESS, IN WHAT APPEARS AS A DIMINUITIVE BUILDING. THE MAIN 'STOREFRONT' HAS BEEN LATERED WITH A STONE KNEEWALL REPLACING FRAME KICKPANELS AND A SIGN PANEL COVERING THE TRANSOM. HISTORICAL STATEMENT: THE FIRST MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE STATE BANK OF BOSCOBEL OCCURED IN 1892 WHEN MATT PITTMAN WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT. AT THAT TIME THE BANK OCCUPIED A PORTION OF PITTMAN'S DRUGSTORE (NOW 936 WISC. AVE. GT16/9). IN 1905, THE PITTMANS SOLD THEIR INTEREST TO LOUIS B., JOHN J. AND F.W. RUKA, AND IN 1906, THIS BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED. IN AUGUST 1930, THE STATE BANK OF BOSCOBEL AND THE CENTRAL STATE BANK CONSOLIDATED, FORMING THE BOSCOBEL STATE BANK (B). ORIGINALLY, THE MULLIONS OF THE MAIN WINDOWS EXTENDED INTO THE TRANSOM (D). THE BUILDING IS SIGNIFICANT AS THE ONLY EXAMPLE OF CLASSICAL REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE IN THE CITY. 1992- "'This highly intact one-story Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style-influenced bank building is rectilinear in plan, 25-feet-wide by 50-feet-deep and it was built with brick side and rear walls in 1906. Early photos show that the principal west-facing facade of this building is still largely intact. This tacade is clad almost completely with massive quarry-faced stone blocks and has a single storefront centered on it that is enframed by a very large stilted segmental arched opening. This storefront is three-baywide and it is surmounted by a large three-light arched transom that is now covered over with an arch-shaped signboard. The three bays below the transom are separated and enframed by thick metal-covered mullions and consist of two equal width end bays that flank a wider center bay. This center bay contains a large display window, the left-hand bay contains a smaller display window, and both windows share a common cut stone sill and a stone-clad bulkhead. The right-hand bay contains the deeply recessed entrance door. The storefront is enframed by massive stone-clad pilasters that rest on even more massive plinths and which are decorated with dressed stone capitals that act as imposts for the arch. This arch consists of massive stepped voussoirs that terminate in a dressed keystone. A dressed stone cornice decorated with modillion blocks spans the facade above the arch and it is surmounted with a stepped stone-clad parapet that has a name plaque centered on it that reads "State Bank of Boscobel-1906." The parapet is then crowned with stone coping." - Prepared by Timothy F Heggland (1992). |
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| Bibliographic References: | HISTORIC NAME, DATE OF CONSTRUCTION: ON BUILDING. A. INSCRIPTION ON BUILDING. B. SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN: OLD CRAWFORD COUNTY. CHICAGO: S.J. PUB 1. 1932 P.185. C. BOSCOBEL DIAL. DEC. 5, 1906 VOL. 34, NO.22 P.1. D. HERITAGE ALBUM, BOSCOBEL, 1973, P.105. The Improvement Bulletin 7/14/1906. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |