Property Record
225 E WALNUT ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | McGiveran Building |
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| Other Name: | American Steam Laundry, Sagerman News Depot |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 36794 |
| Location (Address): | 225 E WALNUT ST |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | Green Bay |
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| Year Built: | 1901 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19862017 |
| Historic Use: | small retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
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| Wall Material: | Granite Stone |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Green Bay Downtown Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 5/13/2019 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 2/16/2018 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Original first floor now altered, but the rock-faced cut stone corner piers are still intact, as is the second floor, except for the windows, now filled with glass block. The center two of the second floor windows are coupled and are joined above by semi-circular arched panels with spokes radiating from their centers. Above this decoration is a blank name plate topped by the parapet of the facade. It is not clear whether the softened look of the stone work is the result of weathering or of sandblasting. 2017-NRHP District Nomination Per Sanborn Maps for Green Bay, there was no building at this site in 1900. The 1907 Sanborn map shows this building present and occupied by the American Steam Laundry company (there may have been an emphasis on "American", as opposed to another ethnicity). The City Directories show that the American Steam Laundry Company, Edward Irminger proprietor, was located at 122 N. Washington in 1900, but moved to 225 E. Walnut in August of 1901. A newspaper of the time notes that Irminger was moving into the new McGiveran building. City Directories show that the American Laundry Company remained at this location through 1910 and, by 1911, was replaced by the Gustav H. Sagerman news depot. Several different stores, restaurants, and taverns would follow. Interestingly, Edward Irminger was elected president of the Wisconsin Laundrymen’s Association in 1914. The principal character-defining feature of this two-story building is its rock-faced cut stone façade which gives the building a Romanesque look very similar to that at 115 and 117 N. Adams Street. At the first floor, the corner piers are original, but the storefront between has been altered. The corner piers have rough capitals that support a lintel beam above the storefront windows. A fascia covers this lintel beam. Four windows are arranged symmetrically across the second story façade. All four windows share a continuous band of sills which extends the full width of the façade. Every other stone immediately below this sill line protrudes slightly, creating a heavy dentil-like detail. The two outermost windows are rectangular, each with a single rock-faced stone lintel and a rough keystone like detail centered above each lintel. The two windows nearest the center of the façade are also rectangular and are the same height as the other two windows. Here, a single, large, carved stone is used as a lintel, with carved semicircular arches with fan details just above each of the two central windows. Another fan detail is carved between and above the two semicircular arches, all on the same stone. A slightly reticulated stone pattern is above the outermost windows, and a large, rectangular stone block is above the massive arch and fan block. This large, rectangular block would be well suited to display a name or date, but neither is present. A flat-top parapet above is divided by four stone piers. Old photographs show large stone finials above the parapet, with a central cartouche of the sort that typically displays a name or year of construction. A 1957 photograph shows these all removed. The same photograph shows the second story windows filled with glass block, just as they are today. Except for the storefront windows, this building appears largely as it did in the 1957 photograph, well within the district’s historic period. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) City assessor. (B) Green Bay Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. 14 Aug 1901, page 3. (C) Green Bay Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. 17 July 1901, page 5. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |