Property Record
26 HEWETT ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Bruly-Dewhurst House |
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| Other Name: | TUFTS' MUSEUM |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 3341 |
| Location (Address): | 26 HEWETT ST |
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| County: | Clark |
| City: | Neillsville |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1885 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2003 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | PROF. E.W. LONGENECKER |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| 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 State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. This fine example of Free-Classic Queen Anne architecture was built in two phases. Emery Bruley, a blacksmith from Ottawa, Ontario, who invented the widely-marketed Bruley steel fence post, erected the northern half of the house in 1885. The following year, the locally prominent Dewhurst family acquired the house. Richard was an attorney, Wisconsin legislator, and banker. The Dewhursts added the larger section to the south, and the building assumed its present showy appearance, befitting a man of his stature. The cross-gabled roof sheltering the two-story clapboard house is highly ornamented with scroll brackets, spindlework, and jigsaw-cut king posts. A tall, steeply-pitched hipped roof crowned by a roof-crest surmounts the northern bay window, lending a turret-like appearance. A graceful one-story veranda on the asymmetrical facade curves to form a semicircular entry porch and extends diagonally to create a porte-cochère. Along the length of this porch, Ionic columns support an entablature ornamented by modillion blocks, and a spindle-balustraded roof-deck provides a grand balcony. A later owner was Mary Dewhurst, who became president of the Neillsville Bank after her father's death in 1895. Such a prominent business position was unusual for a woman at that time, when women of her class generally stayed within the domestic sphere. MASSIVE, IRREGULAR PLAN, BRACKETS, KING POST TRUSSES IN GABLES. PORCH W/CURVED SECTION AT ENTRY. LANDSCAPE DESIGN BY PROF. E.W. LONGENECKER, DESIGNER OF UW ARBORETUM. 2016- "William Mahar was operating a stage line when he built the south portion of this house in 1878. Emery Bruley, a blacksmith, inventor and haberdasher, added the south portion of the house in 1885. Bruley duplicated the Italianate architectural details adding additional Queen Anne embellishments. Lumber baron, banker and state legislator Richard Dewhurst purchased the home in 1886. Dewhurst added the tower roof to the north angled bay and the Colonial Revival Porch with Porte-corchere." -"Neillsville, Wisconsin Historical & Architectural Tour", Prepared by the Neillsville Historic Preservation Commission, 2016. |
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| Bibliographic References: | EAU CLAIRE LEADER TELEGRAM 5/1/1995. NEILLSVILLE CLARK COUNTY PRESS 2/14/1996. NEILLSVILLE CLARK COUNTY PRESS 5/1/1996. A Self-Guided Walking-Driving Tour, Neillsville, Wisconsin Historical Homes by the Neillsville Improvement Corp., 1996. Neillsville Clark County Press 9/30/1998. Marshfield News Herald 5/19/2000. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |