Property Record
320 MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | |
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| Other Name: | DEMUTH'S CLOTHING STORE |
| Contributing: | No |
| Reference Number: | 30977 |
| Location (Address): | 320 MAIN ST |
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| County: | Lafayette |
| City: | Darlington |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
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| Year Built: | |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1982 |
| Historic Use: | retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Main Street Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 10/7/1994 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 7/15/1994 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A TWO-STORY COMMERCIAL STRUCTURE WITH A FLAT SLOPING ROOF THAT HAS STONE ELEVATIONS WITH A FACADE THAT HAS BEEN STRIPPED OF ITS HISTORIC DETAILS FOR PURPOSES OF CONTEMPORARY USE. FLUTED IRON COLUMNS FRAME THE ENTRY AND THE 2ND LEVEL ACCESS DOOR ARE ALL THAT REMAIN TO SUGGEST THE HISTORIC CHARACTER OF THIS STRUCTURE. THIS BUILDING HISTORICALLY KNOWN AS THE HEADLIGHT CLOTHING STORE HAS HAD A LONG-STANDING ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DARLINGTON'S COMMERCIAL DISTRICT. BUILT PRIOR TO 1884, THIS BUILDING HAS SERVED AS A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF STORE.(A) IN 1884 IT WAS A DRY GOODS STORE.(A) IT REMAINS UNDETERMINED WHO OPERATED IT THEN AND FOR HOW LONG. BY 1889, IT BECAME SAM MEYERS' HEADLIGHT CLOTHING STORE,(C) AND OPERATED AS A GENTLEMEN'S FURNISHINGS AND CLOTHING STORE TO ABOUT 1915.(A,B) IT THEN WENT UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT, STILL AS THE HEADLIGHT WITH JOE LYNCH AS PROPRIETOR. IT WAS ADVERTISED AS THE "HOME OF HART, SCHAFFNER AND MARX CLOTHES."(E) THE SECOND FLOOR FROM ABOUT 1908 TO 1915 WAS USED AS A BAND HALL.(A) THE DARLINGTON MARINE BAND UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF S. P. NELSON PERHAPS PERFORMED HERE.(F) THE BAND'S NAME LATER WAS CHANGED TO THE DARLINGTON FIREMEN'S BAND.(F) THE BUILDING REMAINS AS A PROMINENT COMMERCIAL STRUCTURE IN DARLINGTON TODAY. |
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| Bibliographic References: | SANBORN-PERRIS MAP, DARLINGTON, 1884, 1889, 1894, 1900, 1908, 1915, 1924 KENNETH SCHREITER, INTERVIEW, 1-10-83 "DARLINGTON REPUBLICAN," JANUARY 4, 1889. "WISCONSIN STATE GAZETTEER," 1895-96, P. 255. "REPUBLICAN JOURNAL," SEPTEMBER 13, 1917. "WISCONSIN STATE GAZETTEER," 1911-12, P. 268-269; 1919-20, P. 267. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |