| 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. Parapet; brick panel with "Erected/1778, 1876, 1973/ Tilded Reform and Less Tax/Brand Official Thieves, Have Honest Men in center panel; first floor store front with recessed entrance altered.
After 1857, Wood formed a series of partnerships. In that year, the business was known as Wood, Loomis & Osborn; in 1858, he became Wood & Loomis. In 1859, N.H. Wood & Co. included N.H. Wood, R.O. Loomis, George H. Osaborn, and Frank E. Wood. The name altered again in 1861 to Wood, Loomis, and Osborn, and beteween 1863 and 1865 it became Wood, Loomis & Co. then including the partner C.R. Gallett. Osborn retired from the business. In 1865-67, it again became N.H. Wood & Co. The name remained the same with the addition of L.H. Breese to the partnership in 1867. Wood retired from the mercantile business in 1869, and the name of the firm became Loomis, Gallett, and Breese, wholesale and retail merchants. In 1883 to 1889, the business operated as Breese, Loomis & Co. with Ll. Breese, C.J. Loomis, and Wm. Ll. Breese as members of the firm. R.O. Loomis had died in 1883. The firm established a branch in Augusta, Wisconsin in the early 1880s. The partners discontinued the business in 1914. N.H. Wood's firms never occupied the building which he erected at 210 W. Cook in 1876 while he remained active. In its name block, he established his dislike for dishonest politicians applauding those who supported lower taxes. However, probably as early as 1877 until 1915, the firm of Loomis, Gallett, and Breese occupied the building which stood adjacent to the original store (Butterfield 1880: 527, 663, 911; Wisconsin State Register 1863 [3/14: 3/1]l; 6/13/1874; 1864: 12/3: 3/1; 1865 [1/30: 3/1]; 6/13/74; Register-Democrat 3/2/1915; 9/5/38; Portage Daily Register 12/23/89; Gregory 1870: 249; Wisconsin Necrology vol. 26, 52; Jones 1914 [2]: 644; Turner, A.J. 1903: 23-24, 36-37, 43; Merrill, Woodward & Co. 1877).
"The brick panel under the parapet announces the building date, 1876, and political sentiments of its eccentric first owner, N.H. Wood. Wood operated as a general merchant in Portage starting in 1850 and retired in 1869. His former partners, Loomis, Gallett & Breese and later Breese, Loomis & Co., continued the business in the building to the east, which later burned. After 210 W. Cook was built in 1876 the mercantile store expanded to fill it. Between 1915 and 1944, Adam Jacob Rebholz and his son ran a men's clothing store here. Both these businesses included large merchant tailor departments.
Edited from 1861 to 1878 by one of the city's most prominent citizens, A.J. Turner, the Wisconsin State Register[, a newspaper,] occupied many buildings. The newspaper was located on the second floor of 210 W. Cook from 1885 to 1889 while owned by S.S. Rockwood and B.F. Goodell." Historic Portage, WI: Downtown & Waterfront Walking Tour, 1995. |
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| Bibliographic References: | PORTAGE 1989 LANDMARKS CALENDAR.
Sanborn-Perris Map Co.
1929: store
1918: clothing; metal ceiling
1910: grocery
1901: grocery first, printing second
1894: glass signs and picture frames
1889: State Register Building; printing in the rear and binding in front, second dry goods first
1885: dry goods, boots and shoes, and groceries
Columbia County Treasurer 1863-
1925-30: Rebholz, Ed. A.
1895-1920: Dan Loomis Est.
1890: N.H. Wood Est.
1876-1885: N.H. Wood
1867, 1870: Wood and Loomis
The date block indicates a building date of 1876. The valuation between 1876 and 1878 rises considerably confirming this building date.
Directories:
1955: Goodland's (Johnson Printing Co.)
1948
1937: Rebholz Clothing Store (Commonwealth Telephone Co.)
1929: (210) Rebholz Co. (Smith-Baumann)
1927-28: Rebholz, A.J. & Co., A.J. Rebholz with pres. Edward Rebholz (R.L. Polk & Co.)
1919-20: Rebholz, A.J. & Co., A.J., pres. and F.E. Fink, Clothing (R.L. Polk & Co.)
1917: (210) Rebholz Clothing Store (Farrell
1913-14, 1915-16, 1917, no t 1919-20: Loomis Co., C. J. Loomis (R.L. Polk & Co.)
1911-12: Breese-Loomis Co., C.J. Loomis (R.L. Polk & Co.)
1910: (210) Breese-Loomis Co. (C.J. Loomis, pres.; Jas. Paterson, Jr. VP, R.C. Loomis, sec. dry goods and clothing (Voshardt)
1910: Rebholz & Co. listed at 114 W. Cook, A.J. Rebholz-clothing and men's fashions (Voshardt)
1908-09: (210) Breese Loomis & Co., clothing and men's furnishings (S.H. Moore)
1905-06, 1903-04, 1901-02, 1897-98, 1895-96, 1893-94: Breese, Loomis & Co. (Llewelyn and Wm. L. Breese, Carleton Loomis), dry goods (R.L. Polk & Co.)
1890: Breese, Loomis & Co., same prop., dry goods, clothing, merchant tailors men's furnishing goods, boots and shoes, carpets, hats and caps, and ladies' cloaks, s. W. Cook, 45w of Wisconsin (Wright)
1886: Breese, Ll. of Loomis, Gallett and Breese (Rockwood and Goodell_
1885: Loomis, Gallett and Breese (estate of Rodney O. Loomis, Charles R. Gallett and Ll. Breese), general merchants and lumbermen (Mahen and Eckstein)
1884-85: same except no lumbermen (R.L. Polk & Co.)
1873: Loomis, Gallett, and Breese, dry goods (Platt)
The Wisconsin State Register Portage dated May 1, 1880.
Inscription.
Historic Portage, WI: Downtown & Waterfront Walking Tour, 1995. |
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