Property Record
294 W MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | SCHLITZ HOTEL |
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| Other Name: | OAK HILL GIFT SHOP |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 28728 |
| Location (Address): | 294 W MAIN ST |
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| County: | Waukesha |
| City: | Waukesha |
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| Year Built: | 1901 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1979 |
| Historic Use: | lodging-hotel |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Downtown Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 10/28/1983 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: | Multiple Resources of Waukesha |
| Additional Information: | The Schlitz Hotel is a three story cream brick building. The exterior is simply detailed with bricks forming jack arches and keystones over the windows, and a decorative band at the cornice. A corner bartizan, covered with pressed metal, rises two stories on the facade. Two story oriels are situated on the west elevation of the building. Classical swags and laurel wreaths decorate the frieze of the bartizan and oriels. A heavy cornice completes the composition. The Schlitz Hotel is a nicely detailed example of Queen Anne design. Although less intricate or sculptural than many of the Queen Anne designs in the commercial district, the Schlitz Hotel remains an important component of the district. Sited on a prominent site on Waukesha's Five Points, the hotel marks the boundary between nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings to the west and the more recent facade designs to the east. In addition, scale of buildings shift to primarily one or two story buildings to the east. The Schlitz Hotel was built on this site approximately ten years after its predecessor on the site, the American House, burned down. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) The Five Points Downtown Historic District Walking Tour, Waukesha Landmarks Commission. (B) Sanborn-Perris Map 1901 (not on 1895 map). (C) Waukesha City Directory, 1901-02. (D) Griswold, Willard S., "Early Waukesha Travelers Stayed in These Hotels," Freeman Centennial, Sec. A, p. 14, 1959. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |