Property Record
308-314 MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | SWIFT DRUG STORE |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 31110 |
| Location (Address): | 308-314 MAIN ST |
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| County: | Lafayette |
| City: | Darlington |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter 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: | Brick |
| 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 BLOCK OF RANDOM WIDTH STONE WITH A FLAT SLOPING ROOF THAT HAS A CREME BRICK FACADE WITH FLAT STONE WINDOW LINTELS AND SILLS AND A DECORATIVE CORNICE OF CORBELLED BRICK AND DENTICULATED BRICK PATTERNS. TWO IDENTICAL STORE FRONTS ARE FRAMED BY FLUTED IRON COLUMNS WITH DECORATIVE CAPITALS. FLUTED IRON COLUMNS BORDER THE RECESSED STORE ENTRANCES AND THE CENTRAL DOOR THAT LEADS TO THE UPPER STORY. A RECENT ROOF REPAIR HAS ALTERED THE ROOF LINE. THIS STORE OF STONE IS IMPORTANT TO THE HISTORIC DISTRICT AS ONE OF VERY FEW STONE STRUCTURES THAT RETAINED ANY RESEMBLANCE TO THE ORIGINAL 19TH CENTURY STRUCTURE. THIS DOUBLE STORE FRONT BUILDING CONSTRUCTED PRIOR TO 1884 IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF DARLINGTON'S COMMERCIAL DISTRICT AND IS HISTORICALLY INTERESTING. HISTORICALLY THE NORTH PORTION OF THE BUILDING HAS BEEN A DRUG STORE FROM 1884 TO 1967.(A,B) THE SOUTH SIDE HAS BEEN A POST OFFICE, GROCERY, DRY GOODS AND CLOTHING STORE.(A) THE NORTH PORTION FROM ABOUT 1889 TO 1924 HAS BEEN KNOWN AS THE SWIFT DRUG STORE.(A,B) THE DRUG STORE WAS MANAGED BY JOHN V. SWIFT, "DRUGGIST."(C) IN 1895, IT WAS CALLED THE SWIFT BROTHERS DRUG STORE, OPERATED BY JOHN V. AND HIS BROTHER FRANK.(D) BY 1901 IT BECAME AGAIN "JOHN V. SWIFT, DRUGS AND BOOKS" AND REMAINED THAT THROUGH 1920.(E), BY 1924 THE STORE HAD BECOME SWIFT AND BENSTON, OPERATED BY MRS. MARY SWIFT AND THOMAS C. BENSTON.(F) FOR ABOUT A FORTY YEAR PERIOD BEGINNING IN THE 1930'S TO ABOUT 1967 THE STORE WAS KNOWN AS THE SCHULTZ DRUG STORE.(B) THE SOUTH SECTION OF THE BUILDING HAS CHANGED USES A NUMBER OF TIMES. IN 1884 IT WAS THE U.S. POST OFFICE. FROM 1889 TO 1908, IT WAS A GROCERY AND FOR A VERY SHORT PERIOD AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, A DRY GOODS STORE. BY 1915 IT HAD BECOME A CLOTHING STORE.(A) AFTER THE 1917 FIRE WHICH DESTROYED THE BLOCK ON THE EAST SIDE SOUTH OF THE RAILROAD TRACKS, EDWARD SCHREITER MOVED HIS HARNESS SHOP INTO THE SOUTH SIDE FOR A SHORT TIME. THE CO-OP OIL COMPANY BOUGHT THE BUILDING IN THE LATE 1902S OR 1930S.(B) TO ILLUSTRATE A MODERN IMPROVEMENT THAT DARLINGTON EXPERIENCED IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY, THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE WAS LOCATED IN THE NORTH PART FOR A PERIOD BETWEEN 1908 AND 1915.(A) |
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| Bibliographic References: | SANBORN-PERRIS MAP, DARLINGTON, 1884, 1889, 1894, 1900, 1908, 1915, 1924 KENNETH SCHREITER, INTERVIEW, 1-10-83 "WISCONSIN STATE GAZETTEER," 1891, P. 241. "WISCONSIN STATE GAZETTEER," 1895, P. 256. "WISCONSIN STATE GAZETTEER," 1901-02, P. 279; 1919-20, P. 268. "WISCONSIN STATE GAZETTEER," 1924, P. 293. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |