Property Record
500-506 MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | H. Berger and Stireman Building |
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| Other Name: | Helke Optical/Cedar Lane/Community Camera |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 33081 |
| Location (Address): | 500-506 MAIN ST |
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| County: | La Crosse |
| City: | La Crosse |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1886 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1996 |
| Historic Use: | large retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | La Crosse Commercial Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 9/2/1994 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 10/8/1993 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | East half of brick block; beaveled projecting metal cornice with decorative brick work frieze; surface articulated vertically by full length brick pers supporting triangular pediment extending above the roof line with blind round arch above bay with 2nd and 3rd story paired windows; similar bay on both ends of east half of structure with projecting cornice at the top of the projecting bays, contrasting white stone accents used to give polychromatic appearance including stone voussoirs in the blind arches; stone belt courses and window heads; rough brick panels between 2nd and 3rd windows; store fron has been completely altered. West half of structure: Remodeling has eliminated most of architectural details. Although the west half of the three story Berger and Stirneman brick block is greatly altered, hte east half of the structure exhibits the original 1886 design. Originally used for Watson's Grocery and Richardson's Hardward store, the Berger and Stirneman Building is important as an example of the polychromatic Victorian Gothic influence on commercial buildings in 19th Century La Crosse. This was built as two separate buildings. The Stirneman Block at 500-2 housed the hardware store. The Berger Block at 504-6 housed the grocery. At 500-2, there was a club room and a hall on the second and third floors. The back part of the building (now listed as 113 South 5th Street with a separate entrance nd curtain wall separating it from 500-2) was merely the unfinished back room of the hardware store. It was only two stories instead of three. The Berger Block housed a studio and dentists offices on the 2nd floor and a public hall on the third. By 1891, the 2nd and 3rd floors were the GAR Hall.D A.M. Watson of the grocery store was a resident of La Crosse from 1856. In 1888 he also was the chief egineer of the fire department (C)/ |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Building Inscription B. Pratt and Owen, La Crosse Illustrated, 1877 (La Crosse: Art Publishing Co., 1887; Reprint: 1978)p. 51. C. La Crosse City Directory D. Sanborn-Perris Maps, 1879-1906, City of La Crosse. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |